Breaking up is hard to do, as the song says.
The person initiating the break struggles to avoid hurting the other person's feelings, yet they also want to look after their own well-being by getting out of something that's not right for them.
But the person on the other end doesn't always receive the news that their relationship is over very well. They tend to reveal their true colors, verifying that they are not a good fit.
Sound familiar? Redditor Stock-Sport6830 thought it would and asked strangers online:
"What's the worst thing an ex have done to you after breakup?"
These exes took drastic measures.
The Arsonist
"Tried to burn our (my) house down with our pets inside. Threatened my entire family, from infant to grandma. Called my work telling lies trying to get me fired."
"Destroyed my clothes and broke my computer. Threw my cosmetics in the tub and filled it with water. There’s more but I’m tired."
"Believe it or not, this was all a last-ditch effort to get me to reconsider the relationship. Batsh*t. I still hope he gets better."
– softcore_UFO
"Something similar happened here! We suspect my mother in law’s husband set their bedroom on fire. Me and my then boyfriend (he still lived with his mother) were taking a nap with our dog and there were 3 more pets around the house. They were all her pets, he didnt care about them."
"I woke up with burned plastic smell, opened the door and saw a bonfire in the master bedroom. My boyfriend quickly put out the fire, that was starting to burn the matress, probably fire proof material, otherwise the apartment would be lost. We could never prove with was the husband, but who else would it be?"
"A few days later he became ex husband, but against her wishes, she was in denial, the entire family was mad and told her to get rid of him."
– Wonderful-Morning963
All Of Them, Psychopaths
"My ex used to sit and clean his gun, which he had named Christine after the Steven King movie and stare at me. One time, while cleaning his gun, he asked me how much life insurance I had. I felt like cold water had been dumped on me."
"I lied and said I didn't have any. He became angry and said that's a lie because you work for the post office and they provide that. I told him I was not a 'regular', that I was considered part-time even tho I worked long hours."
"I didn't get the benefits of a regular employee. Years later, I told our daughter about this, and she said Mom, he was planning on killing all of us."
– Little_Mammoth417
If She Can't Have Him She'll Take His Ammo
"Stolen a bunch of my guns and tried using the return of them to extort a large sum of money from me. I didn't bite. Instead I recorded all of her conversations and played along enough to get her admitting to taking them and agreeing to return them in exchange for money."
"Annndddd then I turned all of that in to the police, had her charged with 7 counts of felony theft of a firearm and 1 count of felony extortion. All of which stuck because proof."
"They consolidated the gun charges but still 2 felonies, losing a job, going broke, losing everything else, credit being tanked, 18 months incarcerated and a permanent record were a good enough parting gift in my opinion so eat it b$*ch 😂"
– Muted-Program-153
Some exes just can't move on after having their hearts broken.
Stalker Alert
"Stalked me for 8 years. I moved, blocked him from everything, got off social media, and continued to block every new email and number he created."
"He even messaged my parents and left chocolates on their doorstep a year later. Last I heard from him was when I went overseas and started a WhatsApp account."
"I woke up one day with multiple voicemails from him crying and telling me to give him another chance."
"It was not endearing it was crazy."
– whelpseeyoulaterr
Netflix Revenge
"My ex changed all my Netflix recommendations to rom-coms and reality shows. Now I can't escape 'The Bachelor' and 'Love Actually' reruns."
– Lucky_Maintenance_30
Lies, All Lies
"She spread all kinds of lies about me just to deliberately hurt me and make me lose as many friends as possible. She told people I hit her, cheated on her, lied to her constantly and all kinds on completely made up bullsh*t. :("
"Luckily she came to her senses a few months later and admitted to many of them that she had lied just to hurt me, but I still lost a lot of old friends during the turmoil."
– Ok-Boomer4321
They Should Plead Insanity
"Tell me he was watching me through the windows."
"Guessed my Facebook password and messaged multiple people telling them I had an STI."
"Found out that he had cheated on me, which I suspected but he always denied. Until we split up, and then he admitted that this girls kid could be his."
"Reported me to social services 7 times in 4 years (they always said it was anonymous, but they would only mention the child we had together, not the one I had a couple of years after we split)."
"Reported me for benefit fraud, meaning my house was being watched (funnily enough nothing came of it because I was doing nothing wrong)."
"Took our son and refused to bring him home. I had to trick him into bringing him back, then said he can take me to court to sort custody. Apparently he was going to go for full custody, but his solicitor must have told him he had no chance, as all he asked for was what he had before he took our son. Two weeks after court, he had to drop days."
"Has never paid child maintenance, and somehow doesn't need to according to the CMS, despite him and his wife working full time."
"He seems to have backed off now, but I have a baby due in a couple of months, and that's usually the kind of thing that kicks it off again (eg, social services and calls from unknown numbers in the middle of the night)."
– ellyfishAway3787
Love makes people do crazy things.
The Other Perspective
"She broke up with me because she felt like we want different things from life."
"3 days later she tried inviting the guy she was cheating on me with into MY apartment to cook dinner for him. She thought I was away that night. When I came home from work and saw her prepare dessert, I knew what was up and found out about her infidelity."
– PatientLettuce42
"Oh man. This reminds me of my buddy."
"He moved in with his girlfriend into a single bedroom apartment. She started cheating on him with a coworker, told him, and they broke up. The problem is that neither could afford to move out, so they lived together for a couple months."
"He slept on the couch during this time. She would bring guys over all the time, and he would be either forced to leave or sit and listen to his ex having sexin the bedroom. Multiple times I let him crash at my place just to get away. Dude was down BAD."
– Sometimes_Stutters
Useless Career Destroyer
"He began calling my work over and over trying to get me fired. I ended up blocking him on every platform I could. Luckily my boss was really understanding and knew anything he said was baseless."
"He still makes fake profiles every once in awhile to look me up on LinkedIn."
– Compulsive-Gremlin
Responsible For A Leak
"Had an ex break into my house while I was living with my parents and poke holes in all of my condoms. Luckily, one of her friends wasn’t nearly as psycho and let me know."
– Quarantine722
I knew a guy whose heart was absolutely torn after his boyfriend cheated on him.
News of the betrayal tore his heart to shreds, and in a fit of rage, he smeared his cheating lover's bronzer all over his expensive designer jeans and threw them out the window.
Fortunately, he found me afterward, and I helped mend his heart and restore his sanity. Sixteen years later, we married.
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
