Should I give my ex another chance in the future if I still feel he hasn't been completely honest with me?
My ex and I broke up after trust became a huge issue. Recently, he contacted me with what felt like a genuinely sincere apology. He said he wants to go to therapy, heal and work on himself so he doesn't repeat the same dynamics. He used to reject therapy completely, so I do see that as a meaningful step.
The problem is that I still feel he hasn't been completely honest about several things.
One day, he randomly looked at the trash bin on my phone. I found it strange and asked to see his. He became very nervous but showed me. It was completely empty, both his normal gallery trash and Google Photos. He gave me several explanations for why he'd emptied them, but none made much sense to me. I would never have thought of checking if he hadn't checked mine first.
Very early in the relationship, I also discovered inappropriate conversations with another person. I considered it cheating and broke up with him, but he came back several times and eventually I tried to forgive him. I asked him directly if there was anything else he hadn't told me, and he said no. Then, after another argument about it, while I was in the shower, he suddenly sent me messages saying he wanted to tell me something. When I asked what it was, he said it had been a lie and a joke. He has never admitted that he was actually going to tell me something and I feel it was about that situation.
There were also repeated situations early in the relationship where he became extremely tense and aggressive around his phone, which made me feel like he was hiding something.
More recently, after we broke up, he messaged me saying he missed me while I later found out he was simultaneously trying to pursue another girl. He apologized for that and, around the same time, told me he wanted to go to therapy and change.
In our latest conversation, I told him that if we ever tried again, I would need us to honestly talk about these situations first. His response was that he can't admit to things he didn't do, and that I'm stuck in a loop where I need everything to fit my version of events.
And maybe he's right. Maybe I am looking for validation and trying to make him confess to things I'll never be able to prove. But at the same time, I feel like some of these situations were objectively strange, and his continued defensiveness makes me question whether he's actually changed.
Logically, I know I probably shouldn't go back after everything that happened. But that recent apology affected me because I'd been waiting months to hear something like it, and for once he seemed genuinely remorseful and willing to work on himself.
So I'm conflicted: should I completely close the door, or is it reasonable to leave a possibility open for the future if he genuinely goes to therapy and changes, even if he never admits to the things I believe he lied about?
Has anyone been through something similar? How did you know whether your ex had genuinely changed or whether you were just hoping they would?
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC