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?”

We were loading the last box when Justin’s car pulled into the parking lot. He parked right behind Scarlet’s car. Blocked us in completely. Got out and walked toward us. His face was red.

He looked at the boxes in the trunk. At me. At Scarlet and Haley standing on either side of me.

“We need to talk. Alone.”

Scarlet crossed her arms.

“She’s not going anywhere alone with you.”

Justin’s jaw tightened.

“This is between me and Amy.”

Haley stepped closer to me.

“Anything you need to say, you can say in front of us.”

Justin looked at me like he expected me to tell them to leave. I didn’t say anything. He ran his hand through his hair.

“Look, I didn’t mean those things I said about your weight. I was just trying to motivate you to be healthy.”

“That’s not how you motivate someone you love. Love doesn’t come with a weight limit.”

He took a step closer. I backed up.

“You don’t get it. I was helping you.”

“Helping me? You called me fat. You said you were embarrassed to be seen with me. You stopped touching me. You made me feel worthless. That wasn’t help. That was cruelty.”

“It was motivation.”

“Motivation is support and encouragement. What you did was make love conditional on how I looked. And that’s not love at all.”

His expression changed. Got harder.

“You’re the one who embarrassed me in front of everyone at that restaurant. All those people recording. You made me look like a fool.”

“I made you look like a fool? You got down on one knee and proposed only after I lost 40 lb. You treated me like garbage when I was grieving my dad. You only wanted to marry me when I met your physical standards. You made yourself look like a fool by thinking love works that way.”

“Real love isn’t conditional on dress size.”

“That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair is 6 years of comments about my body. 6 years of being treated like a trophy when I was thin and a burden when I wasn’t. What’s not fair is finding out you were shopping for my replacement on dating apps while telling me you were proud of me.”

His face went white.

“You went through my laptop?”

“Scarlet found it open. We saw everything. Your profiles, your messages, your search filters for athletic body types. You were looking for someone else the whole time I was killing myself at the gym trying to be good enough for you.”

Another car pulled into the parking lot. Justin’s best friend Caleb got out and walked over. He looked at the boxes. At Justin. At me.

“What’s going on?”

Justin gestured at me.

“She’s throwing away six years over one bad moment.”

Caleb looked at me.

“Come on, Amy. You guys have been together forever. You can work through this.”

“It wasn’t one moment. It was years of him treating me differently based on how I looked. Years of cruel comments. Years of withdrawn affection when I didn’t meet his standards. Years of being made to feel like I wasn’t good enough unless I was thin.”

Caleb shook his head.

“Everyone has rough patches. You’re making a huge mistake.”

“The mistake was staying as long as I did. The mistake was thinking someone who only loved me when I looked a certain way actually loved me at all.”

Justin tried to move closer, but Scarlet blocked him.

“Move your car. We’re leaving.”

“Not until she agrees to talk to me properly without you two interfering.”

Haley pulled out her phone.

“Move your car or I’m calling the police. You’re blocking us in. That’s unlawful detention.”

Justin stared at her.

“You’re not serious.”

“Try me.”

Justin and Caleb looked at each other. Caleb said something quiet I couldn’t hear. Justin’s shoulders dropped. He walked back to his car. Moved it to a parking spot.

Scarlet, Haley, and I got in the car fast. Scarlet started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. I looked in the side mirror. Justin and Caleb were still standing there. Justin was yelling at Caleb about something, getting smaller and smaller as we drove away.

I felt relief. Not sadness. Not regret. Just relief that I was leaving. That I’d finally seen who he really was. That I’d chosen myself instead of trying to be what he wanted.