When you gotta go, you gotta go…

That goes for a lot of things in life, and bad relationships are definitely one of them.

Which brings us to today’s story…

Did this woman handle the situation with her boyfriend the wrong way?

Read on and see what you think!

AITA for leaving my ex while he was away, taking our dog, and now refusing contact outside mediation?

“I recently ended a long term relationship with my ex and I’m struggling to make peace with it.

We did long distance for two years, and eventually I moved cities to close the gap — leaving behind my friends, my job of several years, and my family.

I built a good life in the new city, surrounded mostly by his friends and family.

Throughout the relationship, he often said I wasn’t putting enough effort in — not just with him but with the people around him too.

I’m quiet when I first meet people but usually warm up. Despite that, I genuinely thought I got along well with his family and friends.

This guy sounds like a bit much…

Over time, though, he nitpicked things like how I stacked the dishwasher, how I chewed, even how I sang during fun car karaoke sessions — telling me I wasn’t “trying properly.”

Arguments became more toxic, often revolving around how I supposedly didn’t try hard enough to care about his interests.

I did try — but it always felt conditional. He’d shut down any talk about his work because it stressed him out, and if I made an effort with his hobbies, he’d say it was obvious I wasn’t being “genuine.”

He also told me I’d emotionally abused him for years and I’ve never ever shown interest in his interests throughout the whole relationship.

I always felt blamed for things, like we would fight before a big event and he would blame me for bringing up the fight and ruining that event.

Wow…

He always called me a narcissist and manipulator and gaslighter.

He told me at one point he wouldn’t marry me because of my “lack of effort” and said we couldn’t buy a house together.

When I asked why he stayed if he was so unhappy, he said it was because he’d “never gotten anything from me.”

He compared me to his father (who apparently didn’t make effort with his mother), saying I’d end up just like him, sad and alone.

During fights, I’d often go silent because I didn’t know how to respond without making things worse. Saying “I’m trying” was never enough — he’d demand examples, and any answer I gave felt dismissed.

Interesting…

Later in the relationship, I found out he had been sending flirty Snapchats to another guy. I never confronted him at the time. I buried it.

After we broke up, it came up again, and he said he did it because I “treated him poorly” and he “felt lonely.”

Eventually, I asked for a break — just space to think. At first he refused, then agreed. When I took the space, I realized just how unhealthy the dynamic had become.

She was over the whole thing.

While he was away on a vacation, I packed my things, wrote a letter ending it, and moved back to my hometown with the dog we’d gotten together.

I had paid for the dog in full when we got him, and my ex had agreed to pay me back but never did.

Now, the only contact I’ve received from him has been about the dog.

He’s said I “stole” him, begged to see him, and made emotional appeals about how gut-wrenching it’s been for him without the dog — but never acknowledged how the relationship ended, or how things got to this point.

It’s all been centered on the dog, not the relationship, or any understanding of my pain.

Since we now can’t come to an agreement over the dog and he continues to say that Ive stolen the dog were going through mediation and I’ve since blocked him since the messages are too emotionally charged.

AITA for leaving like I did, taking the dog, and now blocking him and only communicating through formal mediation?”

Let’s see what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person had a lot to say.

Another individual weighed in.

This Reddit user said she’s NTA.

This person agreed.

And this reader spoke up.

She finally decided that this relationship was DONE.

As well she should.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.