I (32F) read my (34M) fiancé’s personal texts with his best friend. How do I move on from this?

In a quiet apartment, over a casual lunch, a woman’s world tilted. Her fiancé’s lingering glances at a friend sparked a calm conversation, met with a quick apology. But a nagging gut feeling, like a whisper in the dark, pushed her to cross a line. Alone, she opened his laptop, diving into his private texts with his best friend. What she found wasn’t love or loyalty but a stream of harsh words painting her as a burden, shattering the joy she thought they shared.

This raw tale of betrayal and broken trust grips the heart, pulling readers into the woman’s spiral of doubt and pain. Caught between love and the sting of his words, she faces a wrenching reality: the man she planned to marry may not be who she thought. It’s a story of vulnerability laid bare, where love’s warmth clashes with cold reality.

‘I (32F) read my (34M) fiancé’s personal texts with his best friend. How do I move on from this?’

I know, no excuses, I breached his personal space, I fucked up. Now I might be spiralling. I don’t know how to feel and what to do. After lunch, he and I had our usual chats so I took the chance to ask him about something. I told him that I saw him paying extra attention to someone I’m close to.

While she was over, I saw him observing her for quite a while and so I asked him if there was anything there for him. Mind you, I asked him calmly and in the best way I can without it sounding like he did anything wrong. I genuinely wanted to know what he had in his mind.

He said he didn’t even realise he was doing that and apologised and we just sorta finished talking about it. I’m usually the type of person who’s always trusted their gut feeling so I felt like something was off with him after that conversation.

I don’t know what led me to do it. Deep insecurities or just distrust or both? When he went out, I looked at his messages on his laptop. I needed to know if somehow there’s something he’s not telling me.. I decided to open the chat with his bf (best friend), and now I can’t unread it all.

His bf, let’s call her Mia, apparently deeply dislikes me. We’ve never met so she’s only got stories from him to go by making an impression of me. I feel like I’ve either been living a lie or have been delusional this whole time because she seems to think I’m making his life harder for him and what hurt the most was that he seems to be the one fuelling it.

I get her anger, if I was told by my best friend that she was mistreated, taken for granted or unappreciated, I’d be angry too. My fiancé and I have had our fights, yes. And part due to my insecurities. I’ve been vulnerable and up front with him when I stray into those dark places. I know I’m not an easy person to love.

That’s always been with me, so when I met him, I really thought and still do think, he’s my person. But everything I read hurt so much. He’d tell Mia things like “I almost stole someone’s girlfriend”, “I’m such a whore”, “she’s insecure again” this was after I told him jokingly “don’t cheat on me” when he went out to the club and I stayed in.

And scrolling further I found him venting to Mia about a fight we had with him saying “this b**ch is insecure again”. It shocked the living hell out of me, cause i recall that fight. To my face he presented himself to be calm and forgiving, but when he’s describing it to Mia, it’s something totally different with him even saying “I just need to survive until the end”.

I didn’t see one exchange where he said nice things about our relationship, to be fair they call sometimes too and exchange voice notes but as far as the texts are concerned, nothing nice about us at all. I feel like I lived a totally different reality to what he lived. I felt loved, I felt joy.

Asides from those rare fights, we really do lean and support one another. I want to marry him one day. But does he feel the same? With me he is so loving and caring, more than anything I could ever ask for but how he’s venting off about our fights and how he’s not even once defended me when Mia speaks so ill about me…

Is this really the kind of man who wants to marry me? I know I won’t get sympathy, and really I’m not asking for it. But please tell me, is this normal for people to do? Those who love your partners to bits, do you vent about them like this to close friends? I just need to know.

Trust, once cracked, is hard to mend, and this woman’s discovery lays bare the cost of hidden disloyalty. Dr. John Gottman, a leading relationship expert, notes, “Betrayal in relationships often stems from small, unchecked acts of disrespect”. The fiancé’s vents, calling her a “b**ch” and fueling his friend’s disdain, reveal a double life—loving to her face, contemptuous behind her back. Her breach of privacy, while wrong, pales against his ongoing betrayal.

The fiancé’s failure to defend her and his harsh words suggest a lack of respect, a red flag for their future. Infidelity isn’t always physical—emotional betrayal, like venting to a friend who dislikes a partner, erodes trust.

Studies show 60% of couples cite communication breakdowns as a breakup cause (APA). This situation reflects a broader issue: the harm of unspoken resentment in relationships. Dr. Gottman advises rebuilding trust through transparency, but only if both commit.

For now, the woman should protect herself, perhaps by quietly planning an exit without revealing her discovery. Therapy could help her address insecurities and rebuild self-worth. Confronting him risks defensiveness, so prioritizing her emotional safety is key. This painful lesson underscores the need for mutual respect in love.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

Reddit users expressed strong support for the woman, condemning the fiancé’s duplicity as a profound betrayal. Most viewed his harsh vents and failure to defend her as evidence of disrespect, urging her to leave quietly without disclosing she read the texts.

Many highlighted the danger of his allowing his friend’s disdain, warning of potential future manipulation or isolation. The consensus emphasized her value, encouraging her to seek a partner who respects and uplifts her in all contexts.

No_Jaguar67 − He needs to put up with it until the end? Is he using you financially? When is yalls lease up?

CordeliaJJ − I wouldn't ever let him know that I read those. Full stop. Don't reveal it ever. What you need to do is start preparing for the end. Get all your ducks in a row, tell him you fell out of love and d**p him. End it there. Keep it clean, simple, and then move on. Don't waste anymore energy or love on this.

Wanderful-Woman − Please get your ducks in a row and leave. None of this is normal. It’s one thing to vent to a friend- it’s another thing to lie and say only negative things about your partner. This man does not love or respect you.

Between that and the wandering eye you need to leave. Please don’t tell him what you read. Just tell him that you no longer love him. And then get into therapy for your insecurity issues.

rozlinski − I'm sorry that happened, but really it's a godsend, hon. Start making your plan to get out. You do not ever want to marry someone who speaks that way about you behind your back. This will never be a relationship where he respects you because he already holds you in contempt.

Make your plan, get your stuff together, and d**p him. do not reveal what you know, and don't reveal that you've read what he said to his so-called best friend. Just collect your self-respect and your belongings and separate as quickly as you can.

noteasytobecheesy − This is a complete breach of trust (not what you did, what he did) and a deal breaker. You did not live a different reality. You live(d) with a person who consciously creates two different realities based on what serves him - in front of Mia he paints himself as the victim, in front of you he puts up the mature and forgiving act.

I'd be very weary of starting a family with such a person. If he's putting you down as his fiancee, you can be certain he will put you down as a wife and as a mother. Are you prepared for that to be your life?

Chuck60s − No one in a true partnership would ever vent to someone the things he did, especially to another woman. What he did crossed too many boundaries to ever come back from..

From experience, this hurt doesn't go away, and the trust is permanently shattered.. Once you realize your own worth is so much more valuable to the right partner, you'll find peace.. I wish you all the best

cdogandru − I feel like people are minising this, I don’t think it’s ok at all, he’s basically being dishonest to you. This would be enough for me to leave - especially as he’s already anticipating it ending. He sees no future otherwise he wouldn’t say survive until it’s over.

ktizzy02 − you are not wrong. i agree it was a breach of trust to read the messages but since you did let’s unpack. first of all your financé is wrong for speaking about you like that to his best friend. there is nothing wrong w venting to close friends about relationships bc we all need outlets.

but it becomes a huge issue when he starts allowing the disrespect. if they are comfortable enough to speak like that through text imagine what they can say in person. since you all aren’t married yet i think you should ask you yourself do you wanna be the 2nd woman to your husband. because it’s obvious his best friend had his heart.

T00narmy1 − 1. Yes, you messed up by violating his privacy in this way but that's done and now you have to deal with what you found. Don't tell him, though. Because it's besides the point now. Don't tell him or anyone, ever.

2. No, people who love and respect their partners don't bad-mouth them behind their backs. Sure, there is some normal venting on occasion, but nothing like what you're describing. Either your partner truly doesn't like you (what the hell? Why would he act otherwise to your face)

OR he's lying to her to present himself as in an unhappy relationship (and again, what the hell, unless he just is trying to string her along or wants her to think he 'might' be available? I don't get it.) Either way, the reason is not great for your relationship.

He's lying TO you, or ABOUT you, and either way that's a HUGE betrayal in a relationship. 3. You already know you can't marry this person. He doesn't love you the same. He might love you, but not the kind of love you are talking about (real) becuase if he did he wouldn't be ABLE to be disrespctful to you in that way.

But he finds it pretty easy, honestly. You need to end it and find real love for yourself. I'm so sorry. Look, you have to do what you need to do for yourself, but you already know that you'll never be able to look at him the same again. If this were me, I wouldn't confront him.

There's no point, there's no fixing this. You can't trust anything he says anymore anyway. Make the decision quietly for yourself that you're done. Then, I would just start making arrangements for myself, and when I had my ducks in a row and a place to go I would break up with him.

'I've been unhappy in this relationship for quite some time. It's just not working for me. I wish you luck, but I'm breaking up with you.' You don't have to talk about what you found, you don't havce to confront him about his lying and talking s**t about you.

The best revenge is just walk away from this person and live a better life without looking back. Because now that you know you can't count on him or trust him, there's no point in continuing.

Ok_Introduction9466 − I caught my ex doing this to me right after we had a baby and I left him on the spot. It made his f**king head spin. You only go into the phone when you need confirmation and validation in leaving. You found what you needed to find so end it.

You don’t even have to tell him why, get your things and go. He’s just going to lie if you confront him or flip it on you for violating his trust. You were just trusting a gut feeling and he proved you right. He’s been betraying you in a really s**tty way and you also have to ask why he wants his loved ones to hate you.

That’s a dangerous situation to be in and mainly why I left my own partner over it. If he begins to abuse you someday and you speak out for help no one will believe you because he’s primed the people around you to believe you’re awful even when you’re not. Get out of there and don’t marry him. Seriously cut your losses he is a f**king weirdo. I’m sorry this happened. You deserve better than this.

This gut-wrenching story exposes the fragility of trust and the pain of hidden betrayal. The woman’s love, once a source of joy, now battles the sting of her fiancé’s words. Her path forward—whether to confront or quietly walk away—demands courage and clarity.

It’s a stark reminder that love requires respect, even in private. Share your thoughts below—how would you navigate such a betrayal, and what would guide your next steps?

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