RE: A 7 year chess match.

Brutal would've been very fitting in my opinion :-D And no, I hope that it doesn't either. The good thing is that I was able to work through that trauma, and it hardened me in a way that I wasn't as easily to blackmail. Around half a year after coming back from that first trip, the mother told me that she was going to move to Colombia, and either I gave her permission and was allowed to maintain contact and even follow them, or I'd never see the little one again. Back then, it worked like a charm. She tried similar things like that afterwards, too, but the more I worked through it, the easier it was for me to say "no".

I already had gone through hell once. I was stronger than I though, and strong enough to do it again. And those "no" accumulated, ironically, to a better relationship in the end. Limits are important.