Sorry, but this is probably one of the worse stories. My apologies for the long read. I've been meaning to post my story for years.
We were married for a decade. She had a history of minor mental illnesses that developed into major ones during the last few years. At one point she quit her career to do what she loved while I supported her. As each year went by I noticed she missed milestones and goals that she had made for herself and our future. After a number of years of intense financial and emotional strain she had became a shell of who she was when I met her. Eventually, I realized I was no longer in love with this person and could not support her any longer. So I tried to call it off. Similar to /u/TheRandomlyBiased story, she begged and pleaded for me to give her another chance. So I did. Unfortunately, after a few days I could tell that she was lying about working on herself and our relationship. We argued and she brought out every lie and hurtful truth she could muster to hurt my feelings. When I couldn't take the vitriol anymore I walked out of the house to calm down, gather my thoughts and think of how we were going to separate.
When I returned I found the police waiting for me. I was startled and surprised that they were there and my first thought was that she might have hurt herself. Before I could even set foot on my driveway I was handcuffed and told that I was being arrested for beating her. I'm not a violent man and never have been. Bewildered and extremely confused, I was arrested and thrown in jail nearly 6 months.
There were a number of times that I broke down while incarcerated. The first week was the worst. I had no idea what was going on and why no one was reaching out to help me other than my immediate family. At my first court appearance, I understood. I was told she called everyone one of my friends to tell them the lie. Sadly, a lot of them believed her without question. Seated next to her was my best friend. With the help of my ex-best-friend, they lied some more and had one of the misdemeanors upgraded to felony aggravated assault. I had never been arrested before and now I was suddenly facing 20 years in prison. After months I was summoned for a court appearance only to be told that my lawyers had worked out a deal. I could either plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges, or go back to jail 12 months and await my trial where I would gamble the next 20 years of my life to 12 complete strangers. At this point I had more control over myself, but the thought of being locked up with child rapists, gang-bangers, murderers, mentally-ill/violent inmates and sheriffs who would rather tase you than answer a simple question I decided to take the deal.
Unfortunately, the story gets worse. Once I was out, I had to set up an appointment with the Sheriffs to escort me to my house to pick up my belongings. This is when I discovered that she had sold or destroyed everything I owned and vacated the house so she didn't have to confront anyone. My computers, clothing, books, IDs, photos of my family, childhood mementos. Everything. Not only had I lost my tangible assets but I also lost my career, my car, my house, my dogs, nearly all of my friends and professional contacts of 10+ years, and any reputation I had as good person. She hacked my email and took control of my websites and social media accounts before permanently deleting all of them. The only items I owned were the items I had on me when I went to jail (wallet, keys, clothing). Upon realizing this, I nearly broke down again in front of the sheriff.
It was really difficult for me to accept that it was over. A decade gone. Most people I tried to reconnect with hated me vehemently. I was uninvited from get-togethers, physically threatened and sent insulting and harassing anonymous emails for over a year for something I never did, but had to plead guilty to. Thankfully, despite the awful conditions I met some honestly good people in jail who helped clear my head and set me on a path to get better. I realized I could either grow old and spiteful for what happened to me, or I could use it as fuel to start my transformation into someone stronger.
Eventually, I got another job and learned how to date and socialize again. It wasn't easy. I had some great relationships and some awful ones. But, ultimately I learned what I was looking for in a healthy relationship. I'm now in a long term relationship with a woman who is beautiful, intelligent, level-headed and loves to communicate about our relationship and feelings.
This was the worst break-up I have ever experienced and I would never wish what happened to me upon my worst enemy, but I'm glad that it did. Because of that terrible experience I'm stronger and more prepared for what life has to throw at me than I was before all of this happened.