I hear what you're saying. At this point, I'm certain there was just the one dude. More context would be important to adequately show this of course, but it's a lot of unimportant details.
I understand it's a fools errand to give her another chance. Unfortunately I happen to be that fool.
Being single does kick ass, I have thrived, but I'd like to be in another serious relationship at this point in my life...definitely going against my intuition, and common sense, with this decision.
Ya, younger than me by ~4.5 years (I'm 31). Valid point, none of the mistakes she made indicate a show of love or respect. I realize it's a gamble that I'm favored to lose.
The relationship is definitely no longer what it was. I've matured a significant amount in my late 20's up until now, thank goodness, because I was doing a really good job of fucking around/fucking up between 18-26/27.
She was selfish, point blank. She was given every opportunity by me to keep it casual, retain independence and see if things could get serious, and if not then that would be ok..but both of us caught very real feelings very quickly (which is out of character for me). Unfortunately she wasn't mature enough to separate her feelings for me, her uncertainty about committing to something serious, and her feelings for this other guy, from the reality that she would have to take a chance we don't end up together by being honest with me.
Long story short, she chose to make me her "primary" in very real ways, but obscured her uncertainty and engaged in deception, ultimately cheating on me. I wasn't aware of this, obviously, until recently.
She's got to earn it back now. The onus is on her to prove everything, with grandiose gestures, a significant period of time and effort, etc. She no longer has the right to ambivalence. If she wants this, she has to go all in. Currently, we aren't in a relationship, because she wasn't acting like we were, so fuck that noise.
If what she says is congruent to what she does for a long enough period of time (no idea if I'll even get back to a trusting place) then we'll talk about getting back into a relationship. In the interim if she can't prove I'm the only person she wants to be with, all while knowing I have the right to field superior alternatives, then it's a wrap.