I feel like I’m living in a prison of my husband’s making. His retroactive jealousy is a chain that keeps pulling me back to a past I’ve long since left behind. He’s constantly asking me about my exes, comparing himself to men I haven’t spoken to in years. It’s exhausting.

No matter how much I try to reassure him, it never seems to be enough. He wants to know everything—how I felt about them, what we did together, why I was with them. But these are old memories, faded and irrelevant to the life we’ve built together. Still, he can’t seem to let go.

It’s strange, this behavior. I never thought I’d be in a relationship where my partner was obsessed with my past. I understand jealousy in the present—when someone flirts with your partner or when there’s a real threat. But this? This is different. It’s like he’s fighting ghosts, and it’s wearing me down.

I don’t know how to make him see that he’s the one I chose, that those relationships don’t matter anymore. His jealousy is starting to push me away, even though that’s the last thing I want. I love him, but his constant need to compare himself to men from my past is suffocating. It’s like he’s insecure in ways I can’t fix, and I’m starting to feel trapped in a relationship that’s losing its joy.

How do you reassure someone who won’t let go of your past? I feel like I’m chained to old memories that don’t even belong to me anymore, all because of his insecurities. It’s strange, and I don’t know how much longer I can live like this.