Relationships between two people can take the most incredible forms, and not always does everything turn out to be as cloudless as they tell us in romantic movies. Alas, life is a much crueler thing than even ‘ultra-realistic’ art can be.

So here’s the story we’re going to tell you today, which was recorded by the TikToker @mels_scribblings, and went really viral, gaining more than 3M views and over 309K likes so far. An eye-opening story about how the author gave another chance to her ex-boyfriend – and how it all ended.

More info: TikTok

The author of the video started dating her boyfriend in high school but they split after graduation

Image credits: mels_scribblings

The problem was that the guy behaved in quite a two-faced way, throwing himself from pure admiration to insults and back

So, the Original Poster (OP) tells us that she and her future husband started dating back in high school, but things didn’t go any further. Firstly, after graduation, our heroine didn’t want to immediately commit herself to a long-term relationship but instead travel and explore the world.

Image credits: mels_scribblings

And secondly – and this is probably the main thing – the author’s boyfriend behaved as if Jekyll and Hyde lived inside him. One day he could be the kindest, most sympathetic and considerate person in the whole world, literally raising the OP to heights of happiness. Another day, he was a cruel and cold abuser, from whom she simply wanted to run to the ends of the earth.

And so, one fine day, our heroine got tired of all this and ended the relationship. Several years passed – and periodically, from mutual acquaintances and friends, the woman heard that her ex had started counseling and taking proper meds – and had generally turned into a completely different person. In fact, into the Jekyll of their relationship – if it’s actually appropriate to speak in allegories here.

Image credits: Katerina Holmes / Pexels (not the actual photo)

In a few years, they met again and it turned out that the man had started counseling and taking meds to become a better person

An unexpected personal meeting only confirmed these beliefs – the guy literally had changed for the better. And the original poster realized that part of her had still continued to love him. And when, after some time, the man offered to resume their relationship, she happily agreed.

Admittedly, it was probably the best time of her entire life. Our heroine saw her boyfriend regularly taking his pills, he kept going to sessions with a counselor – and everything was nothing but great. So great that when the guy proposed, the OP agreed without much hesitation.

Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)

They reconciled and even got married – and then the man opened up that his story about meds, counseling, and changing himself were just lies to manipulate her into marrying him

True, on the eve of the wedding, the guy was hit by a real series of failures – he lost his job, his health insurance, the ability to buy medication – but the author, as a loving partner, said that after the wedding, he would have access to her insurance and her resources. And so it happened. The original poster gave the new spouse her insurance, helped him get set up…

And so, a couple of weeks after the wedding, while talking, her husband literally burst out laughing in her face. He said that he simply couldn’t believe that the OP was “so stupid that she believed him.” It turned out that all the stories about counseling were lies, and the medications were just ibuprofen pills in an old pill box that had once been prescribed to him. That he had simply put on an act and manipulated her into marrying him…

You can watch the original video here

@mels_scribblings #stitch with @Susi it’s been years #mentalhealthmatters #storytime #crazy ♬ original sound – MelsBells

In one of the subsequent videos, the author said that she subsequently faced a long divorce process, communication with a psychoanalyst due to the developed PTSD, but she was still able to get back to normal – and even wrote her own book. However, not always can people recognize such problems in relationships.

Well, it seems that there is indeed a real cycle of relationships with a narcissistic person. In her article on the Choosing Therapy website, Dianne Grande, Ph.D., describes a cycle of four stages of narcissistic abuse, and they really are similar to what our heroine had to go through.

1. Idealization, when the narcissist puts the significant other (as far as this term is generally applicable to such kind of relationships) on a pedestal and makes them feel really special.

2. Devaluation – at this stage, the narcissist knocks the person off their pedestal and puts them down, using any means. Gaslighting, criticism, insults, controlling behavior and even physical abuse are just a short list of their ‘weapons.’

3. Rejection – this time the narcissist discards the partner, being less interested in love and security than feeding their insatiable ego. At this stage, a breakup usually occurs – and of course, it’s anyone’s fault but the narcissist, according to themselves.

4. Finally, the fourth stage is hoovering, when the narcissist retains a sense of power and control. They can literally ‘accidentally’ run into their ex, make a lot of empty promises – and make one feel like they are forced to engage with them. And then it all happens again and again…

Well, commenters on the original video also admitted that it practically sent shivers down their spines. “My entire body ran cold when you revealed he was acting the entire time,” one of the responders sincerely wrote. “I can’t imagine the absolute horror, I hope you’re doing okay now.”

By the way, some people in the comments also admitted that they had similar experiences in their relationships too. “I experienced a very short, much less intense version of this with my first BF. It ruined my brain. I didn’t date for 8 years,” another person added. And what do you, our dear readers, think about this story?

People in the comments gave the author their sincere support, and some of them said they faced similar cases in their relationships too

Image credits: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels (not the actual photo)

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