I told him it made me uncomfortable, but he just said, “She doesn’t have anyone else.” I tried to let it go—until she called during our anniversary dinner about a leaking sink. And he left.
I sat alone at the table, wondering when our marriage became a waiting room. Later, my ex texted about a charity event and I agreed to help. I mentioned it at dinner. His jaw tightened.
A few days later I said I planned to meet my ex for coffee. “You’re not seriously going?” he asked.
“Why not?” I said. “He just needs a friend.”
That’s when something finally shifted. He went quiet that night. The next morning he showed me a message he’d sent her: “I can’t keep fixing everything for you.”
He didn’t love how I made my point, but he understood it. Sometimes people only learn boundaries when they experience what it’s like to live without them.