She (26F) Cheated, so I (30M) cheated back, but feel bad.
I (30M) found out last year December 31st that my girlfriend(26F) cheated on me a month (5 Nov) earlier, but I chose to stay with her.
So on the 5th Nov ’22 my girlfriend and I had a bit of a misunderstanding, which lead to her telling she’s going to spend the night with her friend (female). I thought nothing of it. 6th Nov ’22 we spent the day together after talking through our differences and she spent the night.
24th Dec ’22 was her birthday and I was unable to spent it with her, I needed to attend a family funeral. We didn’t see each other for a couple of days, so I was not aware that she was upset that I could not be with her. Fast forward a few days and on the 31st Dec ’22 we broke up, she told me in my face that she had slept with someone on the 5th Nov out of spite.
A couple of days later I struggled with her through what has happen and found out the night of the 31st she slept with someone else and continues to be in touch with him. We agreed that we’d try again after a lengthy fight and she promised to never see him again.
Two months went by with us dating and I lost my phone so she offered to let me use hers for a few days… Driven by my curiosity I went through her phone and found that she had done a good job of clearing the phone out, but forgot to disconnect her google account, so I had access to all her Google Maps trips and saw that she still visited the guy she cheated on me with.
Out of frustration I went out with some friends and because I am not exactly unattractive and have a bit of charisma getting a lady’s attention that night was not at all difficult, so I chose to ignore the constant thought of me being in a relationship crossing my mind and went forth to sleep with the lady I met.
The lady and I understood it was a one night thing, but I felt so bad, and refuse to go see my girlfriend the next day. When I did finally see her I broke down and confessed, I told her everything I did and she was hurt, but chose that we should still be together. I asked that I need some time to process it all…
Do you think this is something that can be salvaged? Or do I really just need to get out of this? I love her so much!