If Mark was that persistent in going behind OP’s back to confess to his girl in addition to talking badly about OP, she should’ve realized their friendship is not worth valuing. She should’ve told him

So let me get this straight. Op on the ground getting kicked (nothing) getting head stomped (nothing) getting beat with a stick (still nothing)yet after the other guy gets jumped she's freaking out and drives him to the hospital? She chose her man and It wasn't op.

so, during the incident, she was protective of marc and ignored OP, she didn't enquired about his wellbeing. and after the incident, she didn't talk to OP for 5 days yet she found time to text marc to ask how he's doing ? yep, even if they never had sex, those 2 facts are enough betrayal for me to end a relationship over.

I call bullshit on emily....her concern for mark's well being after the fight tells me she did love him. More happened than what is being said.

Last update: Dude, wake up. She’s playing you like a goddamn fiddle.

She's either super manipulative or she's broken. It'll NEVER be the same. His trust is gone and she's broken. Actually given another chance they'll figure it out and realise it's over. That way no "what could've been."

So she lied about the reasons why it happened to trick him into staying in the relationship. Luckily he didn't take the bait. So she intentionally tried to look as pathetic as possible to try and get him back.

She’s an world class manipulator. Her actions even at the very end screams manipulative intent

If I was OP, once I realize she spent more energy being more concerned about Mark while he's attacking me than about me actually being attacked, my Spidey sense gets activated. Once I found out she checked in with Mark _before_ she checked in with me, done. Period. She could use my porch for shelter while she's waiting for another cab in her wet clothes, but she definitely isn't coming inside.

She didn't have sex w/ him *yet.* it was clear she would have if they had more time. She's not innocent, she's not a victim. Also notice this: despite her problem being a lack of solid boundaries, she falls into the exact same pit-trap and allows herself to be shoved into a girl's night. She hasn't fixed herself or changed in any way. Only turned jaded.

She lied too much to satisfy her desires. Not worth dealing with

"I hate seeing her like that" Well QUIT seeing her that's what NC is...

The worst type of betrayal: When a best friend and your girlfriend betray you simultaneously.

She chose to keep leading psycho 'friend' on, she chose not to immediately tell OP of 'friend's' confession and subsequent actions, she chose to help and defend 'friend' during and after the incident, she chose to get in contact with 'friend' before contact with OP, she CHOSE all of what has happened and now suffers the consequences of her choices. OP should NOT get back together cause it sounds like OP can never trust her again

Normally I'm not the type to accuse people of "emotional cheating" mostly because it tends to get twisted into partners thinking about people other than their SO and confiding in friends about their relationship to just vent or get advice as such. But this is the clearest case of emotional cheating I've ever seen. Emily might not have had sex with Mark, but she did keep talking to him and believing him in his threats. That gave Mark hope and allowed him to be bold. She didn't like OP getting better in his career and used Mark to get the emotional validation she wanted. The fact she was more worried about Mark and ignored OP says it all, regardless if Mark was beaten more badly. She should have told OP sooner, and OP is in the right for breaking up with her. Emily needs therapy and OP does too.

Here's the thing about a broken vase; you can glue it back together, paint over it, re-glaze it, do whatever you want, but at the end of the day, the cracks will still be there. It is still a broken vase no matter how much you attempt to repair it, it will never be as strong as it once was.

Respect to OP for recognizing the cheating right away

My guy, she CHEATED on YOU! Shes taking things to the grave, and you felt it ! This woman wouldve seen you get killed... TWICE and not said anything, defending the other guy ? Yet you still want her ? If you go back, you Deserve 100% what you get

If Emily is telling the truth, this is the WORST savior complex I've ever read. After updates: Called it

That ain’t your friend and that AINT your girl, both of them can kick rocks and Mark should be in prison.

The deal breaker was her concern for Mark while the fight was happening.. she lost him then..

Nothing really to say other than the "best friend" being a pyschopath.

No updates in 9 months. That actually annoys me to no end.

Sad end but don’t forget she chose to take the best friend to the hospital and never once asked how OP was doing. She can be depressed all she want but in the end she chose her man.

“He picked up a wooden plank, lunges as me and swings at my head” Me personally: 🔫

She felt like his sister and took abuse and inappropriate acts from him? Then at the same time didn't give an ounce of a damn about her actual boyfriend. Honey, have the day you deserve.

OP should just end things off with Emily and never bother with her again because she'll only drag him down. As much as it would be nice to see her and Mark suffer for the things they've caused it wouldn't be worth it. He just needs cut her out of his life and move on from her because he's just living a fantasy that he needs to wake up from. Emily is one of those girls that jusr wants the validation that she was able to fix people and feel good about herself for doing it. Though in doing so she has become manipulative, doesn't care about the life of her boyfriend because she essentially allowed for things to go this far to the point that her life would have be just as bad for letting things get this far. OP is an adult and should take into consideration that this woman will be the death of him if he keeps her in his life. He also needs to explain to her parents that the reason the relation failed was because of the fact that their daughter allowed things to go this far instead of seeking help and trying to mend the relationship prior to the attack. All in all it's not worth being in a relationship that's bound to lead to the death of someone as it's just best to get out of it and go get therapy because OP definitely needs to speak to a professional and get help before things take a turn for the worst.

Forgiving cheating relationships rarely works either they will relapse sometime in the future or will get revenge on you for getting caught, these kind of people rarely feels sorry for what they did but because the humilliation that they got caught, and even if that doesnt happen its never gonna be the same trust has been broken, constantly policing or thinking someone you dont trust anymore is going to cheat on you again is taxing for your mental health. Just let go and move on...

If she checked whether Mark was ok, why not OP, he's your boyfriend for gods sake

Attempted murder is a crime in any country. Also his friends have nothing to fear because they saved his life. I call bs.

Emily's best friend getting flirty and sending sexual memes. What's dedication aye

Dual mating strategy. She had her long term partner, but was interested in Mark for some reason and decided to maintain that relationship, while simultaneously making it clear (to herself) that this would not impact the long term relationship. Note: while this term is commonly used to stereotype women and their behaviour, I see it as more describing their impulses, men have similar impulses too. We judge people’s character by how they manage their impulses and control their own behaviour, and we can see that Emily did not do that at all.

She didn't contact him for 5 days, but did asked Mark how he is??

I wouldn’t be so hasty with the manipulative liar accusations this time around. There do exist people out there who make it their life’s mission to always want to take care of others, a people-pleaser, if you will. Emily sounds exactly like that. The problem with being a people-pleaser is that these people often have zero boundaries and so will often make poor decisions that hurt existing relationships because they just go to where they think they’re needed most at the moment and not necessarily think about how others will see their actions. I wager that Emily saw Mark getting beat up worse than OP and that’s her real reason for going to Mark first. She wanted to keep the peace between all parties at all costs, not realizing that keeping the peace with toxic people is destructive. Mark threatening her with ruining her relationship with OP explains a lot of her actions, or lack thereof. This doesn’t excuse her behavior, but as far as cheating stories go, I’m willing to believe Emily to be guilty of emotionally cheating at most, and tenuously so at best. Obviously, the real problem is Mark. Dude’s actions were the catalyst for every broken relationship in this story because he took advantage of everyone’s trust and good faith with his jealousy. I’m convinced that Emily’s rant at 21:20 was not targeted at OP at all, but rather her finally realizing how much her kindness, however misplaced, had been taken advantage of by Mark, and genuinely cursing her own cowardice. I personally believe this relationship can be salvaged, but Emily needs a ton of therapy to address what are clearly deep seated issues with setting boundaries before OP can even consider giving her another chance. She’s got a lot of growing up to do.

Last Story- let her go, that's how you're the bigger Man.

Lmao she is playing him chess in 4d and winning

Am i the only one disturbed by the fact that Mark not only committed assault and battery, he also attempted second degree murder TWICE against Op?

Nah, she messed up too bad. OP should trust his gut. The way she defended and worried about the friend and not her BF was too telling, they probably have been f*cking. She wanted to have an adventure with the friend and keep the boyfriend as backup. The 'friend' was demanding she break up with OP but she refused. She wanted the cake and eat it too. Just stop t*rturing yourself and end it.

Emily is most certainly trickle-truthing, not a bloody chance she's telling the whole story playing dumb like that.

It sounds like Emily was more worried about Mark plotting revenge than him getting hurt. She probably has issues with self-respect and boundaries 😕. Not excusing what she did but that would explain the weird energy of her being closer to Mark than to OP because she's not scared of OP and she's scared of Mark. And relationships with people who only respect fear are never good to keep.

This grief process got OP lost, gotta stay away from each other frfr so you can process

This is I why HATE fake people, trying to be FAKE nice to everyone, like the world is SO beautiful and harmony, all of OPs friends are fake. I've seen people like these before. A group of friends always pretending they're loving each other. Once they betrayed one of the friend. That friend expose everyone in that group for backstabbing each other. I laughed when I heard about this. I mean come on, you befriend fake people and you're fake nice to others, you attract the same people. That's why I prefer people who's genuinely real. They say what they feel. Plus you only live once be real, this is your only chance in life to live, there's nothing to lose. What I noticed was fake people hated me for being real, but would RESPECT my opinion and asked my ADVICE over their friends cos they KNOW I'd tell them the truth. And those fake group friends even tried to befriend with me after their group was expose. I could smell the fakeness and said no thanks I'm good with my introverted friends who's honest with how real world is.

Nah, the other friends should’ve stopped Mark as soon as he started beating up OP. They only helped OP & started beating up Mark when OP was so badly hurt. Like, wtf.

Okay.. it's passable that Emily checked if Mark was okay, due to feeling like his big sister. But the fact that she checked on a psychotic creep, trying to have sex with her AND tried TWICE to kill her boyfriend, and didn't check in the actual victim.. that's messed up. OP was way worse off than Mark physically, as well as dealing with the shock of discovering that his girlfriend of 5 years (who he was probably going to marry soon) cheated on him with the same man who purely because of jealousy, tried to kill his best friend of 10 years. Like, she didn't even send him ONE message about anything! And in the end, the only reason she talked to him, was because of her parents. It's so messed up. Thanks for reading my novel

Geez. That is the saddest relationship breakdown story I've heard in a long while. While I believe OP is sincerely remorseful for her actions, It's hard to believe she couldn't have one of her friends to help her get out of that situation with OP's best friend. Why didn't she record the harassment and play it for OP to eliminate the doubt of not being believed? Hindsight is always 20/20. In time, they both will heal and hopefully learn from their mistakes and heartbreak and move forward.

Something like this story happened to a former colleague of mine. Her brother and his girlfriend/BM (can’t remember if she was his wife or not) were in bed sleeping and suddenly a man enters their bedroom window with a sledge hammer and began beating him. While he was defending himself, she did nothing. The guy survived but was pretty beat up. Instead of checking her man that got beat up, she went into the living room and asked why he attacked her man. It turned out to be an ex boyfriend of hers. Not only did she abandoned her man to be brutally assaulted, but she also left an infant by itself.

The most annoying shit about these stories is people being like "I asked how she could talk to them again", instead of digging in how unacceptable it is for them to ignore him for days while he is in pain and instead run to the loser friend he once had to ask if he was OK. And if she really cared at all, the dick head who attacked him would have been the LAST person on his mind.

She didn't react when you were getting hurt but when he did she went nuts. That should tell you more than enough. It's no longer your issue.

Mark's unhinged behavior being triggered proves he is unhinged. Emily Isn't any better, she isn't violent.

So I actually know a couple where something like this happened. And while for a long time it was chaotic, they did end up patching things up and now have a daughter together. Nothing is ever as simple as it may seem, and while Emily fucked up, it was clear she knew it and was not trying to press anything to fix it. This may be one of the rare times where something can be salvaged.

“I’m done with men” as if she didn’t betray a man. Can’t imagine how horrible op must’ve felt when she ran to console the deadbeat “friend” instead of the actual victim, her own boyfriend. She claims he trapped her yet she prioritises him over her SO

Leave your friends behind as well. Jane, Tom and Katie are snakes🤮🤮 Get out of those friendships.

Good story, too bad OP had to ruin by saying “fellow redditors” at the end

First thing Id do is to get Mark in prison for as long as possible. Then cut off Emily and get an restraining order. Then get a therapist and try to move on.

This is one of the few times I actually believe she's telling the truth, but that the truth is, in this context, actually worse than the alternative.

Emily might actually be telling the truth. I know its slim who's to say that things can't work out. Sure they'll never be the same but the fact that she showed up to Op's house in the pouring rain, denied attention from other guys, and went home without any protest shows a lot that she actually regrets her actions. And of op still feels strongly about her maybe they can work something out. They just need to make sure mark stays out of it

This is wild emily should never be trusted and it was shown at the very end there she was very manipulative insane how op thinks contacting again is a good idea its just makes him vulnerable to manipulation

I did have a guy friend whom I treated as a brother. Literal brother, it included the annoying petty fight parts. Only later I found out he had a crush on me and being the idiot dense I was, even his friends could only pat his back. Even when we were left in a room alone, I unwittingly managed to turn his advances into sibling rivalry. In my defense, I was a late bloomer and was 10 years younger in mind than body. 2 decades later, we are living our own lives now

I've had my trust betrayed by so many past partners, which have reduced my self esteem to drop by so much. And this has become the reason why I haven't really tried to get back into the dating scene in a long time.

Emily is getting ready to take her own life I’m like 70% sure

She was boneless and innocent, could give a straigh answer and suffered because of it.

I’m torn. On one hand, Emily’s testimony that nothing progressed past Mark’s kissing her, the testimony of Sarah corroborating that narrative, Mark’s own words that they did not sleep together, and Emily going pretty far to try and make things better. On the surface, things seem to point to Emily really didn’t do anything past Mark getting handsy and blackmailing her. My heart wants them to get back together since Emily and OP clearly still love each other. BUT On the other hand, Emily jumping to defend Mark during the assault and reaching out to him and not OP after is incredibly suspicious behaviour. So I’m torn. My heart says they need to at least try to work things out and start over, but my brain says Emily was likely just really good at hiding evidence, even if her still loving OP is genuine.

Man, Emily should just take the L for supporting the wrong man and moved on already!

She does sound like she’s sorry, but that doesn’t make her mistakes suddenly disappear. She saw marks behavior for way too long, and she didn’t shut it down.

Her prioitizing the psycho best friend shows how she didnt really love OP to begin with, but rather what he provided before. She can't even say she didnt know this was a issue when her best friend was very capable of understanding what the main problem one despite the little she knows the truth. She isn't worth forgiving or taking back because she showed what her true priorities were when you break the status quo down to it's very raw form.

A year of secrets.. yeah, not salvageable. These remind me why I avoid relationships. Married 22 years, it went south, I've done my time. XD

Shit reads like a book. Makes me question if it’s real

I'm going to make this real simple her actions in caring for Mark checking on Mark's well-being, and ignoring her own partner, after Mark try to be into a pulp speaks volumes. Her actions show she made her choice, even if it was blackmail or pressure from him. He's right to go no contact, and I'm saying this as a female because her actions show she doesn't know who she really cares and loves in her heart period at the end of the day, if somebody is hesitant on who they want to choose you should always tell that person to take the other person, because there should be no thought especially if you're already in a established relationship. And I do believe it's possible she's not being honest and did have sex and is holding back on that, to leave a door open to possibly getting back together . Because no guy acts like that just out of love only, or female

OP will take her back, he is so into her and lets himself be manipulated.

I might be going against the grain here, but the more I digest the situation, the more it sounds like Emily is suffering some kind of neurological disorder or something... the story is so closely akin to when a loved one changes because of a tumor or disability... In Emily's case, seeing it manifest in an obsessive need to be needed. (Hence why she is obsessing over Mark now, and he is the one needing her.) If I am right, the solution would be quite similar... Emily should see a psychologist/psychiatrist, to sort out the triggers, the underlying causes, and ways to shift the focus (such as a support animal). Next would be to have a sit down with the parents and OP (if he chooses to stay) about the issues and ways to cope, and then private sessions with OP to help him overcome the harm that came about. When all is said and done, OP (or someone as kind) and Emily could then love a long and wonderful life together with the added quirk of maybe the former causing small metaphorical fires for the latter to put out every now and then...

Its highly unlikely him stomping on your head with multiple witnesses doesn't end up with him in jail? Sounds like bullshit

I’m annoyed with OP. How many “one last, honest, heart to heart, put everything out on the table” talks does he need? She’s not going to tell him the truth. She may not have loved Mark but she definitely liked the secrecy/bad boy/obsessive behavior/affair they had going on. Sarah already told him she enjoyed him being needy and obsessive. I also think she did more than just kiss him. He threatened to tell OP they were secretly chatting and kissed once. That’s not much to freak out over nor is it much to continue on in secret. He was also willing to kill his best friend over a girl he never slept with??? Who never made some sort of promise they could be together if he wasn’t around?? Right in front of her while she did nothing to help OP and never checked on OPs injuries. She’s lying and is only mad Mark talks too much.

Sometimes, there is no right answer, and she was a fool with her Mother Teresa complex. And Op is a fool for not letting her go

A possessive harassing creep constantly pushes boundaries but she was "leading him on". Fuck that. Emily needs therapy. Mark needs to be on a watchlist, ideally locked up because he will find another woman to harass and abuse, and he will snap at another guy who stands up to him. Only his next victims may not be that lucky. Still, OP needs to close this chapter behind him. Block her and move on.

Never show sympathy to those who have wronged you, just makes you look like a doormat

She didn’t check on OP directly after the assault, and she didn’t check on him for nearly a week… but she stayed in contact with the friend that attacked him. That tells me all I’d need to know.

Op needs to leave Emily alone. She played with fire and got burned. Now she is manipulating the hell out of Op to get her way. He's crazy if he takes this trainwreck back.

The emotions people have are honestly so complicated. This story makes me angry, not in the "Emily is a cheater kinda way" but a "why is Emily so stupid" kinda way. I honestly am constantly finding new emotions for each and every one of these stories. One made me feel pity for the problematic party, particularly because their personalities/actions are so stupid and/or fragile that it makes you pity them despite their horid personalities.

story 1: sara knows how to cheer men since she sends memes and flirted you don't have to fall in love to flirt so long as there is limit to the flirting like flirting with guys guys flirt with guys lightly.

I won't lie. I would have broke during that last part. Then I'd always be looking over my shoulder. I had a guy try the same kind of thing with my wife. She felt so guilty thinking she was why our friendship ended and never realized it was always him.

I'm sorry. Emily was harassed, intimidated, and verbally and PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED by Mark, didn't know how to handle it, showed up to his house tipsy and depressed, and SHE'S THE PROBLEM?!?

Block her, if your that concerned about her talk to her parents about her mental health. If you keep being wishy-washy your ex is going to think there's a chance to reconnect. Nip it in the bud and move on 😢

This is weirdly a situationg where, they could have worked this out. He literallys SAd her, and blackmailed her. Im starting to think she has issues with liking sad men. This could be a relationship that works if she gets therapy. There was no cheating, she never initiated.

OP should talk to Mark. He never really had the Full Story from his perspective. Yes he coule Lie since he wanted to be with OPs GF but to get some closure the should talk When he heard both sides, decide on either giving his a Second Chance or cutting both of them out

This ex gf cheated with the friend and it was more than kissing! She cared way too much for the friend then her own bf and the only reason she wants to be with the bf is because he is more financially stable but she is sexually attracted to the friend she want both men one as her bf and the other as her secret bf!

She’s playing you !! You need to suggest to her parents that she see a therapist so she can cut through the bs and not manipulate you to what is truly going on !!

This man needs someone who actual partner who loves him and is honest with him

Am I the only one who thinks it's gross how the EX values people being dependant kn her too much?

I feel like the deal breaker here wasn't that she was entertaining this other dude, cuz they just kissed twice and that was mostly forced upon her by Mark, but what really broke it was that when OP was being beaten down, nearly killed and in pain for days, she said nothing to him, but she did console his ATTACKER. That's the only part that baffles me. She sounds pretty mature and aware of what happened as well as her own wrongdoing on leading him on, not throwing tantrums or acting entitled or selfish like she has zero blame and sounds like she genuinely loves OP. Then why, WHY pick up conversation with the guy that's torment her for months and nearly killed her beloved boyfriend after the latter was is pain, confused and distraught and really needed her support?? I'm not as upset as I am genuinely confused

bro she does not love the op. mark quite literally tried to make op "bite the curb" and she fawned and was worried about the mark instead of her bf??????

something similar happened to me except that i ended up beating the brakes off him after the dude tried to attack me at work. the girl i was dating at the time rushed to him and crying, then i knew something was up and didn't try to get closure, i just absolutely stone walled her, every time she spoke to me, blocked her, literally wouldn't answer when she spoke or screamed at me, hit me on my arms and chest. she ended up giving up and im glad it ended.

1) Mark deserves nothing good in his life. The way he stole OP's girl, trashed talk OP, and beat OP, after everything OP did for him is unforgivable. 2) Emily had SO MANY opportunities to come clean and tell OP everything Mark was doing, but she DIDN'T. Knowing how OP still had something for her still at the end makes me think that OP would believe Emily if Mark tried to separate them by telling the truth. 3) That ties in to the fact that OP is stupid for still talking with Emily. She didn't give a shit about you until you called her out. That brother-sister excuse she had is bs. You still want someone who prioritized your friend OVER you? Who refused to tell you that they kissed? OP, you need to move on, period. 4) Jane and Kate knew about Mark and Emily. Even if Kate knew barely anything, that's still something she should've told OP about. Jane is a pos. She kept it a whole secret and she covered for Emily and Mark.

She knows that Mark is a trash person and yet she chose to let OP and Mark stay friends? Is she dumb or is she lying.. That's the part where I would've lost all respect on her.

Yes, cheating is cheating they kissed and didn’t check on you… but id give her a strict 2nd chance

What the hell is wrong with Mark??? He's a psychopath!

She was probably on depression meds. That and alcoholic will make her numb. I don't think she will cheat on OP but she needs to be able to make her own happiness otherwise she will not be able to disassociate how she feels will how the relationship is doing. Every fight, bump or hiccup will send her into a depression. Meanwhile she will feel uncomfortable with talking to him about anything that might upset him.

She wanted to mommy Mark, quite obviously. Even a baby can tell Emmy had issues on being in boring usual relationship and needed to feel like hero in relationship by supporting man, any man. And that 'any man' was Mark. Since OP succeeded in his career, Emmy's need of him diminished and she didn't feel like a hero in their relationship. She felt off so she needed Mark to console her hero feelings.

Yeah he gets hit, then stomped then beat up with stick and she doesn't do anything but when the other guy gets jumped and hit by couple of guys she looses it and doesn't even ask her boyfriend for 5 days how he is. If a neighbor treated him this way it would've been inappropriate but a long time girlfriend is entirely new level of betrayal.

With this kind of bestfriend who needs enemies😂😂😂😂

Emily be yapping about shit in that car ride