SPITEFUL REAL LIFE
Jasmine Lavery, 26 from Pontypridd, thought she’d found love, until a cosy night in went very wrong...
Handing my partner a little package, I had a surprise.
Having been dating for a couple of years, I was ready to move to the next step.
It had just been me and my little girl, now seven, at home for a long time.
And watching Luke, 31, open his present, a big grin had spread across his face.
‘Will you move in?’ I asked as he held up the key.
‘Of course,’ he replied, happily. ‘I love you.’
It felt perfect and we had a few drinks with our friends and family to celebrate.
I wasn’t looking for love when we first met
Luke and I had been friends for five years before the connection turned romantic back in 2019.
With both of us going through breakups, we had found comfort in each other.
I hadn’t been looking for romance, but it seemed to have found me.
And in March 2020, we went for our first date at Nando’s, and started seeing each other when my daughter was at her dad’s.
And Luke couldn’t do enough for me.
I found that I really saw a future with him.
In the weeks before Luke moved in, I noticed he was calling me more and more – checking up where I was. But I figured he was just being caring.
Money was tight but we’d have date nights at home, sharing a glass of wine over dinner. I loved cooking Italian, curries and Mexican food, I was always making sure food was dished up, ready for when Luke got home from work. But after a month of living together, I found that I was walking on eggshells around Luke.
Once a sunny person, he seemed snappy.
‘Where’s my bloody wallet?’ he shouted one morning.
Accusing me of stealing and moving his things, Luke seemed paranoid – I was shocked, I’d never seen him act like this before.
‘I’m sorry,’ Luke would later apologise. ‘I’m just stressed and tired from work.’
But Luke had a short fuse. Whenever I was on the phone to family and friends, Luke would sit at the top of the stairs and listen in.
‘I know you were slagging me off,’ he’d snarl.
And over the next year, his anger got worse.
He really didn’t like it when I wore skinny jeans or makeup and I found myself withdrawing into myself.
The majority of my time was spent waiting on Luke.
I’d wash all his clothes, run him baths and always have dinner on the table – anything to keep the peace.
Sometimes he’d come home and be the nicest, most loving person, but often it would be the opposite.
I could always tell when Luke was getting angry – he’d start pacing around.
‘You’re a tramp,’ he’
