There may be many questions you have about ending a relationship with a married man that can be easily answered:

1.) Yes, you must finish it, and 2.) you must finish it right now.

While society and the law would dictate that you must end this relationship for ethical reasons – the risk of breaking up a family, especially when children are involved – there are other reasons as well on how to end the relationship with a married man. In fact, these are reasons that have more to do with your genuine happiness than anything else.

So regardless of whether you’ve just found out that the guy you’re dating is already tied to the sanctity of marriage or you knew the status of your relationship but moved on without even thinking about it, remember this:

It may not go away: One of the many reasons many women prefer to stay with a married man is because they are finally promised a marriage. Most of the time, these married men promise mistresses that they will leave their wife for her after this happens or after it happens. But even if your man promises to meet with his divorce attorney this weekend or next month, doing so is an entirely different ball game. In fact, most studies show that only 5 out of 10 married men who promised their lovers to leave their wives actually do so.

Even if he leaves, things will be different: In the rare event that the man you are dating chooses to leave his wife, family, and marriage, your relationship with him still has very little chance of survival. This is why you have to stop seeing a guy who is already married: Only about 5% of love affairs end up working in the long run.

Label of the-other-woman: In this equation, the man who is cheating on her and cheating on his marriage, especially his wife, is the most guilty party. But if you’re still dating someone, even if you know he’s already married, there’s no question that you share your guilt. Because even if you don’t believe all of this, society will get away with seeing you differently and eventually label you the “other woman”, this could haunt you and your married boyfriend every time you go on a date in town.

The once cheater is always a cheater adage: Another reason you should stop dating a married man comes from the famous adage “once a cheater, always a cheater.” Your boy has already shown you a flaw in his character: he has two times. If they’ve already done it once, there may be a higher chance they’ll do it again (and it could be for you this time). Actually, it’s very simple: follow the example of what a person has done in the past; you will probably see what you are going to do in the future.

You deserve better: To top off the reasons why ending a relationship with a married man has a lot to do with your own well-being: you deserve much more than this. Dating a married man means going through the hoop, sneaking off in the hope that there is no one that he and his wife know, acting quite immoral, and hurting other people. On the other hand, dating a man who is not engaged involves hearts and roses, a weekend getaway, and being able to go out in public without fear of anyone. Dating a man who is not engaged also means pure and genuine loyalty and commitment, something a married man will never be able to offer you.

Dating someone who is already tied to the sanctity of marriage means that you must compromise not only who you are, but also your own happiness. In short, this can be summed up in just four little words: not worth it.