She said, “If you don’t trust me hanging out with my ex every weekend, maybe we shouldn’t be together.” I replied, “You’re absolutely right.” Then I accepted the job transfer to London. I’d been declining for her. When she texted, “What are you doing this weekend?” I sent a selfie from Heathrow Airport. I, 31, male, had been with Jade, 29, for 3 years, living together for one.

Everything was decent until her ex Dylan moved back to town 6 months ago. Suddenly, she had a book club every Saturday. Except the book club was just her and Dylan at his apartment catching up and maintaining a friendship. When I expressed discomfort, she hit me with the classic, he’s just a friend now. We dated for like 2 months 5 years ago.

You’re being insecure. Fine, whatever. I tried to be the cool boyfriend. Then the book club became Saturday and Sunday brunch. Then Friday movie nights got added because Dylan’s going through a tough time with his dad’s health. The breaking point came three weeks ago. I’d been offered a massive promotion heading up our London office.

 130k salary, full relocation package, three-bedroom flat covered for a year. Dream job, but I’d turned it down twice because Jade couldn’t imagine leaving her family. That Saturday, she was getting ready for book club again. hair done, new dress, perfume that she never wore for our date nights.

 Are you sure you don’t want to skip today? We could check out that new Korean place. She rolled her eyes. God, Ryan, we’ve been over this. Dylan and I are friends. If you don’t trust me hanging out with my ex every weekend, maybe we shouldn’t be together. I looked at her for a long moment. You’re absolutely right. Finally, See, I knew you’d Wait, what? You’re right.

 We shouldn’t be together. Her face went through about 12 expressions. Ryan, I didn’t mean no, you made a good point. This isn’t working. I walked to our bedroom and sent an email to my boss. I’ll take the London position. Can start in 2 weeks. Jade followed me. What are you doing? I was just frustrated. You can’t just accept a job offer.

You should probably stay at your parents tonight or Dylan’s. Your choice. Are you seriously breaking up with me over this? You literally just said we shouldn’t be together. I agree. She started crying. Not sad tears, angry ones. You’re being ridiculous. It’s just friendship. Cool. Be friends.

 I’ll be in London. She grabbed her purse and stormed out. You’ll regret this. 20 minutes later, my phone exploded. Baby, let’s talk about this. You can’t just end 3 years like this. I’ll stop seeing Dylan if it bothers you that much. Ryan, please. This is so immature. I didn’t respond. Instead, I started packing. Update one.

 The last week has been illuminating. After our breakup, Jade went straight to Dylan’s. I know because she posted an Instagram story from his couch with a wine glass and the caption, “When life gives you lemons at 2:00 a.m. Her best friend, Mia, texted me.” “Did you guys really break up?” “Me?” asked Jade. She’s the one who suggested it.

 She says, “You’re moving to London?” “Yep, meup.” But she told everyone you’d never leave because you’re too attached to your mom. My mom lives in Florida. I see her twice a year. Meanwhile, I was busy. Submitted my two weeks notice. Started shipping stuff to London. Found someone to take over my lease. The company was covering everything.

 Movers, flights, temporary housing, the works. Jade tried to come by the apartment while I was packing. I’d already changed the locks. She wasn’t on the lease. just stayed over so much she basically lived there. Ryan, I know you’re in there. We need to talk. I texted her. Your stuff is in boxes by the door. Please take them. I’m not taking my stuff because I’m not leaving.

This is insane. The lease is under my name. You never officially moved in. Remember, you insisted on keeping your parents address for mail. That was her tax evasion scheme. Claiming she still lived at home to avoid city taxes. backfired beautifully. She left, but not before telling our entire friend group I was having a mental breakdown and abandoning everything for a stupid job.

 Then the Dylan truth came out. My buddy Ethan works at the same gym as Dylan. Overheard him on the phone. Yeah, she’s basically single now. Her boyfriend’s having some crisis. No, babe. I told you Jade and I are just friends. Yes, I’m still coming to your sister’s wedding. What do you mean? You saw Instagram? That was nothing.

 Turns out Dylan has a girlfriend, Olivia, who lives 2 hours away and comes down every other weekend. The weekends when Jade supposedly had family obligations. Ethan sent me screenshots of Dylan’s texts in their gym group chat from 2 months ago. Boys, you got to see this chick I’m hooking up with.

 Her boyfriend thinks we’re having a book club. Mo. I forwarded them to Jade with one word. Interesting. She called 17 times. I was busy booking my flight. Update two. My flight was Saturday at 3 p.m. The same Saturday Jade had a book club for 3 months straight. That morning, she showed up with her mom Diane and her sister Haley. Full intervention mode.

 Ryan’s sweetheart Diane started. Jade told us about your mental health crisis. What crisis? The sudden decision to abandon your life and move across the world. It’s clearly a cry for help. It’s a 70% pay raise and an executive position. Haley jumped in. But what about Jade? You can’t just leave her. She ended things. I’m respecting her decision.

 She didn’t mean it literally. Jade screamed. Then maybe don’t use ultimatums you don’t mean. Diane tried another angle. What about the apartment? Jade’s been living here. No, she’s been visiting. All her mail goes to your house. She’s not on any bills. Legally, she’s a guest. You’re really going to abandon her over one little friendship? Haley asked.

 I pulled out my phone and showed them Dylan’s gym chat screenshots. Silence. Diane went pale. Is this real? Jade turned red. Those are out of context. What context makes her boyfriend think we’re having a book club? Better. They left after Jade called me emotionally abusive for spying on Dylan. I wasn’t spying.

Ethan volunteered the info because he thought I should know. At noon, I posted a photo on Instagram. New adventure begins. London, here I come. The comments were immediate. Wait, what? Bro, when did this happen? Is this why Jade’s been crying on her stories all week? At 2:30 p.m. while boarding, Jade texted, “What are you doing this weekend? Can we talk?” I sent back a selfie from the gate at the airport with the London flight board clearly visible behind me.

 Her response, “This isn’t funny, Ryan.” me not trying to be funny. Board closes in 10 minutes. You’re seriously leaving? You seriously thought I’d stay after you chose your ex over our relationship? I didn’t choose him. Every weekend for 3 months says otherwise. I’m coming to the airport. I’m already through security. Bye, Jade.

 Then I turned off my phone and enjoyed my flight. Update three. Life in London is incredible. The flat they provided is insane. Exposed brick. view of the tames walking distance to the office. My new team is brilliant. I’m actually excited about work for the first time in years. But the drama didn’t stop. Jade went nuclear on social media, posted this long thing about how I abandoned her without warning and refused to work on our relationship and chose money over love.

 The comments were brutal, though. Didn’t you basically dump him for Dylan? Girl, you posted stories from Dylan’s place every weekend. Team Ryan Teh. She deleted it within hours. Then came the truth bomb. Olivia, Dylan’s actual girlfriend, found out everything. She reached out to me on Instagram. Hey, you don’t know me, but I’m Dylan’s girlfriend. Or was.

 I saw your ex’s posts about you leaving for London. Dylan told me she was psycho and obsessed with him. I’m guessing that’s not true. I sent her everything. The book club lies, the screenshots from the gym chat, the timeline of their meetups. She was devastated but grateful. Then she sent Emmy something.

 Screenshots of Dylan’s texts to her. Jade’s just lonely since her boyfriend works so much. She needs a friend. Yeah, she’s pretty, but nothing compared to you, babe. Her boyfriend’s kind of a loser anyway. Probably makes like 40k doing it or something. I made 75K, now I make 130K, but sure, Dylan, go off. Olivia dumped Dylan spectacularly.

 posted all the screenshots on her Instagram story, tagged # cheater, liar, book club my ass. Dylan called me from three different numbers. Bro, you need to control your woman. She’s destroying my life. Not my woman, not my problem. This is between me and Jade. You had no right. You had no right to bang my girlfriend every weekend, but here we are. We weren’t.

 Dylan, I literally don’t care anymore. I’m in London. Deal with your own mess. He tried to spin it as Jade seduced him. Jade tried to spin it as Dylan manipulated her. They deserved each other. Update four. So Jade tried to play the ultimate card. She flew to London. Showed up at my office building. Security wouldn’t let her in.

 God bless corporate security. So she waited outside for 4 hours until I came out for lunch. Ryan, we need to talk. How did you even? Mia follows your colleague on Instagram. Saw the building in his story. Stalker level expert. Jade, you can’t be here. I flew 4,000 miles. The least you can do is have coffee with me. Against my better judgment, I agreed.

One coffee public place. She looked rough. Hair unwashed. No makeup. Same sweatshirt she’d been wearing in her Instagram stories for a week. I made a mistake. She started. Which one? The ultimatum. The lying Dylan. All of it. Ryan, I I thought I could have both. I thought you’d always be there. Why would you think that? Because you always were.

You never stood up to me. Never called me out. I thought you thought I was a doormat. She started crying. That’s not Jade. You told our friends I was too attached to my mom to leave. You lied about the book club for months. You were sleeping with Dylan while I was turning down my dream job for you.

 We only slept together twice. Oh, just twice. My bad. That makes it fine then. I mean I mean it didn’t mean anything. Neither did our relationship, apparently. She pulled out her phone. Look, I’ve changed. I blocked Dylan. I’m in therapy. I’m working on myself. Good for you. Genuinely, but I’ve moved on. You’ve been here a month.

 You can’t have moved on. I moved on the moment you said we shouldn’t be together. I just took your advice. Then she played what she thought was her ace. I’m pregnant. I laughed. Actually I laughed. No, you’re not. How are you? Because we haven’t had sex in two months. You were always too tired after book club. Unless it’s Dylan’s. Her face crumbled.

 I’m not pregnant. I know. I just needed you to care. I did care for 3 years. You just didn’t notice until I stopped. She flew back that night, but not before sending one last manipulative text. I’ll wait for you. However long it takes. I blocked her. Update five. Remember how I said Jade would wait? Yeah, that lasted about two weeks.

 She started dating someone new. Kieran, her CrossFit coach, posted constantly about how the right person comes when you’re working on yourself and sometimes your soulmate is at the gym all along. Mia sent me the tea. She’s basically living at his place already. Been like 3 weeks. Pattern’s going to pattern.

 But here’s where it gets wild. Dylan reached out on LinkedIn of all places. Hey man, heard you’re killing it in London. I actually just got an offer there myself. would love to buy you a beer and clear the air. This absolute walnut thought we’d be buddies now. No thanks. Good luck, though. Come on, bro. Water under the bridge.

 Jade meant nothing to me. That’s exactly the problem, Dylan. He took the job anyway. Guess where his flat was? Same building as mine. Because of course it was. I ran into him in the lobby my second week with a girl who wasn’t Olivia who looked about 19. Ryan, bro, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is my buddy Ryan. We’re not buddies, Dylan.

Khloe looked confused. Dylan went red. Don’t be like that, man. We’re neighbors now. I’m moving next month. I wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. Chloe Googled Dylan that night. Found Olivia’s tagged posts. Dumped him via text in the building’s WhatsApp group by accident instead of texting him directly.

 Dylan, I can’t believe you’re the book club cheater. We’re done. 212 residents saw that message. The security guys call him book club now. Final update. Jade’s relationship with Tyran exploded. Shocking, I know. Turns out Tyran was also just friends with his ex. They had workout sessions every weekend. Jade found them in a very compromising stretching position.

 She messaged me on WhatsApp. Forgot to block her there. Now I understand how you felt. I’m so sorry. I left her on Reed. But the real karma came from an unexpected source. The tax thing. Remember how Jade claimed she lived with her parents to avoid city taxes? Well, someone reported her that someone may have been Olivia who works for the state tax department and takes fraud very seriously.

 Jade owed 3 years of back taxes, penalties, and interest. About 18 canalers total. Her parents had to bail her out, but only after making her move back home for real this time. Dylan’s still in London, but his reputation preceded him. The book club story spread through our industry. It’s smaller than you’d think.

 He’s been on exactly zero dates from work events. Still calls me bro in the elevator. I still ignore him. Haley reached out last week. Jade wanted me to tell you she’s sorry. She’s really working on herself now. That’s nice. I hope she figures it out. She also wanted to know if you’re seeing anyone. Yes, I am.

 Her name’s Awif. She’s Irish, works in publishing, thinks the whole book club story is hilarious, and has exactly zero exes she hangs out with every weekend. Last week was my six-month review. Got another raise and a permanent position. The company wants me here long-term. I said yes immediately.

 Jade’s last Instagram post was about growing through what you go through, and sometimes the best thing someone can do is leave so you can find yourself. The comments were turned off. To everyone who said I should have fought for the relationship, why? She literally told me we shouldn’t be together if I couldn’t handle her hanging with her ex every weekend.

 I disagreed with her assessment. To those saying I was too harsh, I turned down a life-changing opportunity twice for someone who was cheating on me every weekend while calling me insecure. I wasn’t harsh enough. And to those asking if I regret leaving, I’m making almost double my old salary, living in an amazing city, dating someone who actually respects me, and Dylan has to see me thriving every single day in the building where everyone calls him book club.

 My only regret is not taking the job the first time it was offered. Oh, and Jade, since I know you still check my socials with fake accounts, we are planning a weekend trip to Paris. Don’t worry though, it’s not with her ex. She doesn’t need a book club to be happy. Cheers from London. Edit: Stop asking for Dylan’s LinkedIn.

Let’s not do that. Edit two. Yes, Olivia really works for the tax department. Yes, she really reported Jade. No, I didn’t ask her to, but I’m not mad about it. Edit three. To everyone saying this is fake because of the coincidence of Dylan being in the same building. It’s corporate housing.

 The company has a deal with the building. There are four other people from my industry here. London’s big, but professional circles are small.