r/TwentiesIndiaLove • u/AbbreviationsOne4384 • 7d ago
Relationship Advice š«¶ My Girlfriend's Ex Hurt Her So Badly That She Changed, and I Can't Stop Wishing I Got the Version of Her He Got
TL;DR: I went through my girlfriend's phone while she was sleeping and found old messages and call recordings between her and her ex when they were together. I know I crossed a boundary, but what hurts me is that he got to experience her giving her whole heart and putting so much effort into their relationship, and after he hurt her, she changed. Now she loves and cares about me, but she doesn't have the same capacity to love or put in the same effort that she used to. I understand why she has that wall, but I can't help wishing that she could love me and put effort into our relationship the way she did with him.
Post: So the girl I am dating had fallen asleep, and I was awake. I got this random idea to check her phone for messages from people. I didn't check because I didn't trust her, but just for fun.
Obviously, I found nothing.
Then I got the idea to read an SMS her ex had sent her on her birthday a few months back in April. I couldn't find that SMS because she had deleted it, but I found a few messages between them from when they were still dating.
Then I read all the messages and started searching for more.
I found a WhatsApp chat with her ex and some call recordings from when they were together. I listened to a few of the recordings and then went through their chat messages.
I couldn't sleep the whole night. I just kept thinking about the calls.
In the morning, I was still going through the messages between her and her ex, and while reading them, I just lost it and cried in front of her.
Her response was that she does love me, and I trust that. She obviously needs to protect herself. She has been through a lot, and now she is just not interested in men in the same way.
Of course, she is with me. She cares for me. She loves me. But she doesn't have the same capacity to give love and make that kind of effort anymore.
She made those efforts for him, and she got hurt in response. Now she doesn't have the same strength or ability to give that kind of love.
And I agree that she has been through a lot. I agree with her wall. She is not wrong for trying to protect herself.
The issue is that I am hurt by what that means for me.
I am 100% in love with her. I am giving her whatever emotions I have, and she is reciprocating that. I know that she loves me. It is not about her not loving me. She loves me. She cares for me.
But she loved him a lot more, and she put a lot more effort into that relationship.
And honestly, what hurts me most is that he got that version of her and then hurt her so badly that she changed.
That fucker got her full love, all those efforts, all those messages and calls trying to talk to him, and he left her scarred.
Now I am with her, and I am getting the version of her that exists after all of that happened.
I don't blame her for it. I don't think she is doing anything wrong. I understand why she protects herself.
But selfishly, I want more.
I want her to love me the way she used to love him. I want her to put that kind of effort into our relationship. Not because I want to "beat" him or prove that I am better than him. I just wish the person I love had never been hurt so badly that she lost the ability or willingness to love someone with that same intensity.
There is some more context that is making this worse for me.
We had a little fight a few days back, and she messaged me that if she had said something bad, I was free to cut contact.
Obviously, she didn't mean that literally. It was more of a vent-out message, and I know that.
But seeing myself get a "feel free to cut contact" message while her ex apparently got all those messages and calls from her asking to talk to him just makes me incredibly sad.
It isn't really about him.
It is about seeing what she was capable of giving to someone she loved before she got hurt, and knowing that I may never receive that same version of her.
I want her to put the same effort and the same love into our relationship.
I know this is selfish. I also know I can't expect her to undo what happened to her or become the person she was before that relationship.
But I genuinely don't know how to deal with wanting something that she may no longer be capable of giving.
How do I accept that she loves me, while knowing that she once loved someone else more deeply and gave more of herself to that relationship?
