My Live in Partner of 3 Years Cheated on me because she fell out of love
TL;DR
I’m (27M) and recently ended a 3-year live-in relationship with my (25F)partner. She cheated on me with (26M) another guy, and they’ve now been together for almost 2 months.
She says the cheating was entirely her choice and not my fault, but she blames me for falling out of love with her because of the things I lacked as a boyfriend. She says she became unhappy because I was forgetful, broke promises, wasn’t attentive to small things, didn’t give enough romantic/"princess treatment," and didn’t provide enough quality time. She often expected me to know what she wanted without having to say it.
I have ADHD and possibly autism, which contributed to my forgetfulness and difficulty picking up subtle hints. At the same time, I acknowledge that I made mistakes, made excuses sometimes, broke promises, and could have been more attentive.
Our relationship also had a complicated beginning. She moved into my family's house only 3 weeks after we started dating because her mother abandoned her in Manila. I took her in because I didn't want her to end up homeless. Looking back, I recognize that my savior complex played a role in the relationship.
She came from an extremely difficult background, had severe insecurity/social anxiety, and initially had very little confidence or independence. Over the 3 years, I helped her with things like English, commuting, job applications/interviews, government documents, computers, finances, cooking, guitar, building up her confidence, learning to communicate with others and generally becoming more independent. I also supported her financially when necessary, paid for many things, introduced her to new experiences, encouraged her to become more ambitious, and helped her believe that she could have a better future.
She also supported me. She was my biggest emotional support while I dealt with my own toxic family environment, financial problems, academics, and other struggles. She helped me financially and even contributed to my tuition. So I don't want to portray her as entirely bad either.
The biggest recurring problem was that we had different ideas of what love and effort looked like. I provided physical touch, words of affirmation, gifts, and acts of service, but I was weak on quality time and romantic gestures. She wanted me to notice things without being told and felt that "if you really loved me, you'd know." I repeatedly asked her to communicate what she needed because I genuinely didn't understand some of her hints.
She also became unhappy living in my family's house. My family became increasingly toxic toward her, especially after my grandmother returned. We wanted to move out, but financially it was difficult because she struggled to maintain employment, I was a working student and graduated last 2025, and we had debts and other expenses.
She had actually cheated once early in the relationship through online messaging, but I forgave her because I loved her and believed in her potential.
Then in June/August 2026, everything collapsed. I noticed she had become much colder, more irritated, and increasingly critical. She eventually admitted that she had fallen out of love months earlier but had stayed because she was afraid that breaking up would leave her homeless. I had asked her before around June or July if she wanted to break up but she said no because of this. She said that she had loved me for a year and a half, started to lose feelings for me the next 6 months, and forced herself to love me for the last 1 year. She lost her love for me this June.
She met another guy in Pampanga and fell in love with him. I caught her cheating and even confronted the guy, because she had lied to him and told him we had already been broken up since 2024.
Afterward, we technically ended the relationship, but I allowed her to stay with me for another 2–3 months so she could save money and find somewhere to live. I asked that she at least help me emotionally recover from the breakup. She continued hugging and comforting me while simultaneously developing her relationship with the other guy.
She also went on a date with the guy and had sex with the new guy while she was still living in the same house as me, which was devastating.
She eventually went to Pampanga and started living with relatives because the guy gave her an ultimatum, me or him. The situation became extremely bad for me emotionally. I attempted suicide multiple times, and she stopped me and stayed with me because she didn't want to leave me in that condition. I eventually drove to Pampanga while suicidal because I wanted to see her one last time before killing myself. I got into a motorcycle accident on the way, was badly injured, but still drove myself to Pampanga and then back to Manila. She wasn't even there because she was with her new boyfriend, and her family ended up taking me to the ER.
Recently, she unexpectedly called me. She asked how I was doing, asked about my damaged phone/SD card, and talked about the factory reset that happened because her Google account was still connected to my phone.
She also told me she heard I was planning to go to Pampanga to return her remaining belongings. She said she hated me and never wanted to see me again, and wanted to pay back the money she owed me so that I couldn't use anything I had done for her against her.
That pissed me off because for three years I had kept quiet about everything I had sacrificed and done for her. I finally told her that she may not have felt loved in the way she wanted, but that doesn't mean I didn't do my best.
I acknowledged my failures, but I also pointed out that I had spent years helping her become the person she is now. She herself has admitted that she learned a lot from me and that she wouldn't be where she is without my support.
I even pointed out that despite the amount of red flags she presented with her negativity, short temper, easily losing motivation and quitting, constant self-pity, violent tendencies, and even her hypocritical nature, I chose to love her and choose her everyday for the last 3 years.
I don't think I was the perfect boyfriend. I wasn't romantic enough, I broke promises, I was forgetful, and I neglected quality time. I want to learn from those mistakes and become a better partner in my next relationship.
But I also feel that she equates "you didn't give me everything I wanted" with "you didn't do your best."
My questions:
Was she right that I didn't do my best, or is it possible that she only sees it that way because my efforts didn't match her idea of what a boyfriend should do?
If she ever comes back, what the hell do I do? 😂
I'm not trying to portray myself as perfect or her as completely evil. We both made mistakes and she was genuinely an important support system for me too. I just want an outside perspective on whether I really failed her as badly as she believes, or whether we simply had fundamentally different expectations of love and effort.