“He Left Me for Another Woman. How Do I Move On?”

Due to my work and co-parenting schedule, I was able to go up to see Ryan one to two times a month and stay several days each visit. I met his friends and parents and they even came down to stay in my area — I live in a vacation town — for week-long visits. He visited me too, though not as often due to his work schedule. After six months, I introduced him to my three-year-old daughter. When he visited, he spent time with her, and when his family visited, I introduced her to them as well.

Then, in early August, we had a heated argument that I assumed was growing pains as things became more serious. The only real red flag was his social media behavior — liking and commenting on other women’s photos. I confronted him, and he apologized, saying he was drunk and stupid and that it wouldn’t happen again.

In early September, I took my daughter up to his city, rented an Airbnb, and stayed for over two weeks. We spent time with Ryan’s friends, and his mother even watched my daughter so I could work remotely. She took her to the zoo one day so Ryan and I could have a date. It was a wonderful trip and set the tone for how we hoped to make this work long-term — living between two cities, bonding as a family, buying a home, possibly trying for a child, discussing marriage.

A few weeks later, I received a text that shattered my world. He confessed that back in August, he had cheated twice with another woman, and she became pregnant. He found out about the pregnancy while my daughter and I were visiting him in September. He said he loved us, was ashamed, that he wished it hadn’t happened, and that he knew there was nothing he could say to make it better.

I found the woman’s Facebook page, which showed she was “in a relationship” with him, dated just two days after he told me about her. I messaged her — kind but firm — explaining everything. She claimed she didn’t know he was in a relationship when they hooked up but said he had since come clean, that she chose to keep the pregnancy, and denied any intent to trap him. Her tone was oddly self-righteous, and I left it at wishing her well.

I sent him a few messages in response — some angry, mostly respectful — and then stopped. He never replied again. Instead, he blocked me everywhere, even deleting Venmo transactions, as though he were erasing me and rewriting a new narrative with the other woman who has publicly posted endless photos with him, including with her son, and one with a ring on her finger.