My Bf Gave Me A 5-month Ultimatum To Lose Weight After My Dad Died. I Lost The Weight, But Rejected His Public Proposal In Front Of Everyone. Was I Wrong For Humiliating Him?”

I told her I was fine but needed to leave right away. She nodded and moved aside.

Justin tried to follow me out, but the manager put her hand up and asked him to please return to his table.

I pushed through the door into the cold night air. My car was parked three blocks away. I walked fast. My heels clicked on the sidewalk. I could hear Justin yelling my name from the restaurant entrance, but I didn’t turn around.

I got to my car and my hands shook so bad I dropped my keys twice before I got the door unlocked. I climbed in and locked the doors. Started the engine. Justin wasn’t following me.

I pulled out of the parking spot and drove straight to Haley’s apartment across town. The drive took 20 minutes. I didn’t cry. I just gripped the steering wheel and focused on the road.

Haley lived in a small building near the college where we’d met 8 years ago. I parked in front and texted her that I was outside. She opened her apartment door before I even knocked. Took one look at my face and pulled me inside without saying anything.

Her apartment smelled like vanilla candles. She guided me to her couch. Asked if I wanted water or tea. I shook my head.

Then I started crying. Not quiet tears. Big ugly sobs that made my whole body shake. Haley sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. She didn’t ask what happened. Just let me cry.

After maybe 10 minutes, I could breathe again. I told her Justin proposed. She waited.

I said,

“I told him no.”

She squeezed my shoulder and said,

“Good.”

My phone started buzzing in my purse. Once, twice, then constant buzzing. I pulled it out. Text messages filling my screen. Justin’s name. His brother. His mom. Numbers I didn’t recognize. The buzzing wouldn’t stop.

Haley took my phone and looked at the screen. She scrolled through some messages. Her face got angry. She turned the phone toward me.

Justin’s message said I was an ungrateful bitch who embarrassed him in public after everything he did for me. Said I owed him an explanation. Called me selfish and cruel.

Haley asked if I wanted to read the rest. I shook my head. She held down the power button and turned off my phone. Set it on her coffee table face down. The apartment got quiet without the buzzing.

Haley asked if I wanted to stay the night. I nodded. She got me pajamas and a spare toothbrush.

I changed in her bathroom. Washed my face. Looked at myself in the mirror. My makeup was smeared. My eyes were red and puffy. But I didn’t look sad. I looked relieved.

We stayed up talking until 3:00 in the morning. Haley made tea. We sat on her couch with blankets. I told her everything Justin said over the past year. The comments about my weight. How he stopped touching me. The way he only got interested again after I lost the pounds.

Haley listened to all of it. Then she started pointing things out. Said Justin only ever complimented my looks, never my personality or brain or kindness. Said he withdrew love and affection as punishment when I didn’t meet his standards. Said that wasn’t love; that was control.

She reminded me how he used to get mad if I wore clothes he didn’t like. How he always wanted me to post certain photos on social media. How he showed me off to his friends like I was something he owned.

I’d known all this somewhere deep down, but hearing Haley say it out loud made it real. Made it clear.

We finally went to sleep around 3:30. Haley gave me her bed and took the couch. I lay there in the dark thinking about 6 years with Justin. How much time I wasted. But also how glad I was that I said no.

Morning came too fast. Light through Haley’s curtains woke me up at 6:00. I checked the time on her alarm clock. I was supposed to meet Antonio at the gym at 5. I’d missed our session.

I found my phone on the coffee table where Haley left it. Turned it on. 53 notifications. I ignored all of them except I opened my messages and found Antonio’s name.

Texted him that I couldn’t make training today. Then I typed out what happened last night. Kept it short. Said Justin proposed and I said no and I needed a day to deal with everything.

Antonio responded in less than a minute. Said he was proud of me. Said I did the right thing. Offered to help if I needed anything. Said his support wasn’t going anywhere.

Reading his message made me start crying again. But different crying. Relief crying. Because Antonio’s support never came with conditions or requirements or standards I had to meet. He just cared about me as a person, not as a body or a trophy or something to show off.

I wiped my eyes and called my mom. She answered on the second ring. Asked if I was okay because I never called this early.

I told her everything about Justin’s proposal. About saying no. About all the cruel things he said that I’d been too ashamed to tell her before. The comments about my weight. How he said he was embarrassed to be seen with me. How he only proposed after I lost 40 lb.

Mom got quiet for a long time. Then she said she was furious. Said she never liked how Justin showed me off like a prize when I was thin but treated me like a burden when I gained weight. Said she’d been biting her tongue for months hoping I’d figure it out myself. Said she was proud of me for walking away.

We talked for almost an hour. By the time I hung up, Haley was awake making coffee in her kitchen. She poured me a cup. We sat at her small table.

My phone buzzed. My sister Scarlet calling. I answered. She said mom told her what happened. Said she was coming over. I gave her Haley’s address.

Scarlet showed up 40 minutes later with a grocery bag full of my favorite snacks. Chips and cookies and chocolate. She hugged me tight in Haley’s doorway. Said she took the day off work to help me figure out my next steps.

We sat back down in Haley’s living room. Scarlet looked at me and said she’d been waiting for me to leave Justin for 2 years. Said she saw how he changed after I gained weight. How he got mean and cold. How he stopped treating me like a girlfriend and more like a project he was disappointed in.