I'm a 25-year-old female and I haven't been able to get past the album of half-nude pictures (including one of my ex) that I discovered on my boyfriend's phone about six months ago. Any suggestions on how to handle this? :(
Six months ago, I went to make the bed before work and discovered my boyfriend’s old phone hidden under the pillow. We both know each other's passwords, and I had never felt the urge to snoop before, but I found it strange that he had left it there before taking a shower. Curiosity got the better of me, and when I unlocked it, I found an album open with pictures of partially clothed girls. Most of them were "friends" and other women from Instagram, including an ex of his who was fully dressed and kissing another friend— that one hit me the hardest. He had even gone through my phone to take a picture of an old gym photo of me when I was 18. When he got out of the shower, I confronted him, and he burst into tears, apologizing profusely. He got rid of his old phone and deleted his Instagram account altogether. However, I can’t shake the feeling that we hadn’t been intimate in two months, and knowing he was looking at those photos really bothers me— he denies that he was using them for pleasure and claims he doesn’t understand why he had the album in the first place. I had also expressed before how uncomfortable I felt about him following so many scantily clad women on Instagram. Has anyone experienced something similar? I love him deeply, but I struggle to get past what happened and often feel insecure and unattractive because of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :'(