On Valentine’s Day, he bought me two beautiful dresses. When I put them on, they fit as though I had been measured and tailor-made for them. I called to thank him, jumping with joy. He told me he was on his way to my place. When he arrived, he was holding a beautiful hamper in his hand. “Here. This is also for you,” he said.

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I looked at him as if I were seeing a ghost. No one had ever done something like this for me on Valentine’s Day. To be honest, I never believed Valentine’s Day was a special day. It was just a normal day for me until he came along. This was our first Valentine’s Day together, and he went all out for me. I was even embarrassed that I hadn’t gotten him anything. I told him, “This is so sweet. Trust me, I’ll make it up to you someday.”

He urged me to open the hamper, and I did. Inside, I found the surprise he had intended for me: a pair of panties with a matching bra. I was speechless. I had already said thank you so many times that evening that I felt saying it again wouldn’t be enough. So, I asked, “What do you want me to do? Just tell me.” He replied, “Nothing. Being my girlfriend is enough.”

Writing about this experience is making me feel a certain way, but it’s not entirely my fault.

There was a man who used to talk to me. I knew he was married, so when he approached me, I didn’t think he had any romantic interest in me. But over time, he started saying things that made me uncomfortable. I told him I had a boyfriend, and he seemed to back off. Occasionally, he would send me messages, and I would respond. He invited me to his birthday party, and I initially accepted but later changed my mind.

He confronted me, saying he had made preparations for me, and I didn’t show up. Out of guilt, I told him we could go on a date someday, and he agreed. Every time he texted, he would bring it up as if I had made a life-long promise. I would give him a date and then change my mind. One day, he told me he was meeting his business partners and wanted me to accompany him.

I thought it was a safe option since other people would be there. On the day of the date, I dressed up, and he picked me up at a junction. We went to a restaurant before heading to the agreed meeting place with his partners. I was with him from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., but no one joined us. I kept asking when his partners would arrive, and he assured me they were on their way. By 10 p.m., they still hadn’t shown up. That’s when he admitted that no one was coming—they had cancelled the meeting the day before, but he didn’t want to cancel on me.

There was a guy sitting several tables away from us. Occasionally, he would turn and look at us, then quickly look away when he realized I was watching him. I even asked the man I was with if he knew him, and he said no. The way the stranger was looking at us made me suspicious. It wasn’t normal for someone to be so interested in strangers.

I asked him if we were safe. I even joked, “Are you sure it’s not your wife who sent someone to spy on you?” We both laughed it off and continued eating and drinking. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my back. I turned around, and there was my boyfriend, standing right behind me. I glanced at the guy who had been watching us and realized he was getting up to leave.

My boyfriend was so angry that he almost caused a scene. The man I was with stood up and gently suggested we go outside. My boyfriend shouted, “Hey, keep quiet over there. I’m not here because of you.” The man started walking outside, assuming we would follow. My boyfriend grabbed my hand and dragged me to a waiting taxi.

I was wearing one of the dresses he had bought for me. He kept yelling, “So I buy you a dress, and you wear it for another man? Is that how wicked you are?” I kept telling him it wasn’t anything serious—just a date. That only made him angrier. “A date isn’t anything? I’ve been reading your messages. Didn’t he propose to you, and you said no? Why are you on a date with him?”

Everything I said made him angrier, so I stayed quiet while he ranted about me cheating on him and wearing the dress he bought for me to do it. He drove me straight to his house and locked the door. I got scared and started begging him not to do anything crazy. I was crying and pleading. He asked me to take off the dress, but I resisted.

He unzipped the dress and told me to step out of it. When he saw the bra and realized it was the one he had bought for me, his anger escalated. Then he saw the matching panties. “You went prepared. He was going to take off what I spent money on. Is that how wicked you are?”

I was shaking and begging him not to do anything rash. He took the dress and folded it. “The bra,” he demanded. I took it off and handed it to him. Then he pointed at the panties. I said, “What are you doing? Why don’t you trust me? Nothing was going to happen. I was meeting him and other people.” He snapped, “And you’re dressed like this? New inside and out?”

I went home that night with a cloth tied around my neck, covering my body down to my knees. I was terrified. The taxi driver thought I was unwell. He kept asking where I was coming from and if someone was chasing me. He drove me home, and as soon as I got inside, I saw a message from my boyfriend: “I’m coming for the rest of the things tomorrow. If they want you, they should buy you what you’ll wear to see them.”

I didn’t wait for him to come. I packed everything he had given me into a bag and sent it to him through a delivery service. I thanked him and ended things. I had never been so scared in my life. I saw him in a completely different light. He had always been loving and gentle until he showed me his true colours.

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In his next relationship, he might tell the girl that he caught his ex cheating and left her. He might carry this distorted story with him for as long as he can, and that’s what bothers me. But I have a clear conscience. I didn’t know there was an unwritten rule that said we shouldn’t wear what our boyfriends bought us on a date with another man. If I had known, I wouldn’t have made that mistake. But we live and learn, and I’ve learned a lesson I’ll carry with me into the future.

—Barbie

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