It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend getaway, but instead, we were sitting in silence, the tension thick between us. My husband had brought up another man from my past—again. This time, it was someone I hadn’t thought about in over a decade. “Do you think he’s happier now?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I felt the familiar frustration rise in me. Why does he keep doing this? Why does he keep dragging us back into a past that has no bearing on our present? “I don’t know, and I don’t care,” I said, trying to stay calm. “What matters is us, here, now.”

But my words didn’t seem to reach him. He’s caught in this cycle of comparison, always wondering if he measures up to the men who came before him. It breaks my heart because he doesn’t see that none of them matter. He’s the one I chose, the one I love. But his constant need for reassurance is wearing me down.

I just wish he could let go of these insecurities and trust in our relationship. His retroactive jealousy is turning our marriage into something suffocating, and I’m not sure how much longer I can bear the weight of it.