I never expected to be in this situation.
It all started with Ethan.
We were together for two years before everything fell apart.
It wasn’t dramatic or sudden – our relationship just faded away.
The chemistry that once kept us up nights gradually faded away and we drifted apart.
But even after the breakup, I still cared about him.
I wanted the best for him, and when he called me one rainy night, desperate for a place to sleep after breaking up with Carla, I didn’t hesitate to offer him my guest room.
I thought I was doing the right thing – he had no family around, and I knew what it was like to be alone after a difficult breakup.
I couldn’t imagine what it would turn into.
It was okay at first.
Ethan kept to himself, working late and avoiding awkward moments between us.
He’d come home, eat something, and retire to his room.
I, in turn, enjoyed the silence and space after our breakup.
It was strange living under the same roof again, but I convinced myself that it was temporary.
He needed time to recover and I was happy to help.
But then things started to change.
One weekend, Ethan invited a friend over.
At first I didn’t pay much attention to it – he had a right to a private life.
But soon it became a habit.
Women began to appear in the house – sometimes just for a few hours, and sometimes they stayed overnight.
I could hear them laughing and talking in his room, and then, in the early morning, the sound of the door closing behind them gave me an uneasy feeling.
I tried to convince myself that I had no right to be offended.
After all, we weren’t together anymore.
He was free to do what he wanted.
But the situation was getting more and more unpleasant.
Every time I walked past his room, I heard muffled voices and laughter.
It was as if I had become invisible in my own home.
I didn’t want to cause a scandal, but the feeling of unease kept me going.
One night I came home later than usual, and when I entered the kitchen, I literally froze in place.
Ethan was sitting at the table with some strange woman, laughing and drinking wine.
I had barely made it to the fridge when Ethan turned to me with a smile.
‘Oh, hi Sarah!’ – He said casually. – ‘This is Jess. She’s just a friend.’
I nodded, trying not to meet her gaze.
I tried to keep my cool, tried to convince myself that it didn’t hurt me.
But something inside me broke.
It wasn’t just Ethan bringing other women into my house.
It was the fact that he acted like everything was okay.
Like he didn’t live in my house, which I’d offered him as a safe haven.
Like he wasn’t the man I had once loved.
The next day, I finally decided to talk to him.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I knocked on his door, but I didn’t wait for him to invite me in.
‘Ethan, we need to talk,’ I said, stopping in the doorway.
He pulled away from the phone and raised an eyebrow.
‘About what?’
‘About those women you bring,’ my voice shook. – ‘I didn’t invite you here to turn my house into a…entertainment venue.
I thought we were just…sharing space while you sorted out your life.
Not for you to bring random women over like I’m not even here.’
He sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair.
‘Sarah, we’re not together anymore.
You can’t control who I bring in.
You’re just my roommate.’
His words hit me like a slap in the face.
Just a neighbour.
It hurt me more than I could explain.
The way he said it – easy, indifferent – made it clear that everything we had, everything I thought was important, meant nothing to him anymore.
‘I don’t care that we’re not together,’ I blurted out, barely containing my anger. – ‘But I do care about respect.
You live in my house, and you can’t just bring anyone in without thinking about how it affects me.
I’m not some stranger you don’t know as your flatmate.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘You’re exaggerating everything.
It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong.
I don’t owe you anything else, Sarah.’
I froze in place.
The man I had trusted, the man I had shared my life with, now saw me as nothing more than a ‘neighbour’.
It was the ultimate, most brutal betrayal.
It was like he didn’t care that I gave him a roof over his head, offered my help, showed him kindness.
He had no boundaries, no understanding of what it meant to treat people with respect.
‘I think it’s time for you to move out,’ I said quietly, realising it was the right decision.
‘I can’t take it anymore.’
A look of surprise flashed across Ethan’s face for a moment, but then he stood up and a smirk appeared on his lips.
‘Okay.
I’ll leave.
But don’t act like I’m the bad guy here.’
The irony of his words was obvious.
I’d let him into my house when he was on the brink of despair, and now he was acting like I was the one doing him an injustice.
The next day, he packed his bags and left without a word.
I watched him go, feeling both relieved and sad at the same time.
He had turned my act of kindness into something poisonous.
But at least I had protected myself.
It took me a while to let go of the anger, but then I realised I had done the right thing.
I’d let him stay out of pity, but I couldn’t let him treat me like I didn’t exist.
I deserved better than that.
And never again would I let anyone-even a man I had feelings for-treat me without respect.
