I Found Out I Was Getting Dumped When He Sent Me A Text Meant For His Friend

There I was thinking everything was great with my boyfriend when I received a text that wasn’t meant for me. It was, however, about me, and it was about to wreck our entire eight-month relationship. Here’s what happened.

  1. Clearly it was an accident. Of course I wasn’t supposed to receive a text that read, “Hey Josh, how’s it going? So I want to end things with G this weekend. It’s about time. I can’t carry on with this relationship. She just wants too much commitment from me. Will keep u posted on what happens, bud.”
  2. Wait, what? I was so shocked that I had to read and re-read the message. Was my boyfriend thinking of breaking up with me? Was this some kind of joke? Was I on Punk’d or something?
  3. He then sent me another text. My fingers were shaking as I read that message which was meant for his best friend. Then my phone beeped again. I assumed it would be my boyfriend (soon to be ex) who was going to try to do damage control for sending that text to the wrong person, but no.
  4. He actually invited me out. Instead of trying to clear up a terrible misunderstanding, he was totally clueless about the fact that he sent me a breakup text. He actually invited me out to a romantic dinner at one of my favorite restaurants that weekend. Ah ha—so this was his breakup plan! This guy was clearly showering me with affection to ease the breakup.
  5. I wanted to ignore him at first. I was in tears and really shocked by what happened. I didn’t want to deal with him just then but I realized I had to play this situation differently. I told him that dinner sounded great and I’d meet him at the restaurant on Saturday night. I wanted to act cool… for now.
  6. He told me he loved me. He replied to my text, telling me that he loved me. For real? This guy was totally lying to me! While he was planning with his friend how he was going to break things off with me because I was too demanding when it came to commitment (what BS), now he was trying to lure me into a trap? Screw that.
  7. It was time to get my power back. I’m not usually the type to play games or take revenge on people I’m dating but this guy was just pissing me off. He deserved to have his little texting mistake come back and bite him in the butt, so I started planning a little something-something of my own. I carried on playing it cool with him, telling him I also loved him. I didn’t want to give him any indication that I was about to throw him for a loop.
  8. He gave me a gift. There’s nothing worse than being blindsided by a breakup you never saw coming. This guy’s texting faux pas was actually quite a gift for me! It gave me the info I needed to reclaim my power by taking charge of the situation. I wasn’t some blindfolded lamb being led to the slaughter. I decided I would beat him to the breakup by ending things with him before he could. Yes!
  9. I waited until Saturday night to cancel. It might seem cruel to have waited until the night of our dinner but it wasn’t as cruel as what he was planning to do to me. Take me to a romantic dinner so that he can end things while we eat by candlelight? Oh, the insult! An hour before we were supposed to meet at the restaurant, I texted him to tell him that I wasn’t going to make it. I didn’t even apologize in that text.
  10. He asked questions. He wanted to know if something had come up and if everything was OK. He could clearly tell that something was up with me because I hadn’t been myself over the last few days and canceling a date in this way was something I never did. I told him that I wanted to end things. He wasn’t the person I wanted to be with anymore. Take that, loser!
  11. He got mad. I don’t know if he was just pissed because I’d stolen his lightning or his ego was bruised because he was now getting dumped, but he was angry with me. I never even mentioned the text he’d sent me by accident. I didn’t want him to think that I was just breaking up with him out of a reaction to that text. I wanted him to think he’d misjudged me and taken me for granted as the one who was always demanding things of him. Who did he think he was, anyway? He deserved what he got in the end: dumped!
Giulia Simolo is a writer from Johannesburg, South Africa with a degree in English Language and Literature. She has been working as a journalist for more than a decade, writing for sites including AskMen, Native Interiors, and Live Eco. You can find out more about her on Facebook and LinkedIn, or follow her on Twitter @GiuliaSimolo.
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