Torn between a rigorous internship offer and [22M] my abused LDR girlfriend [23F] who is begging me not to go. I feel completely lost.
I am in immense pain right now and feel like no one around me can truly understand the weight of what I'm going through. I desperately need some advice.
I just finished my pre-final year semester exams and came home two days ago. I got an internship offer, and my joining date is in exactly one week. I’ve already been told by the company that this is going to be a very rigorous and demanding role.
The heartbreaking part is my girlfriend. We are in a long-distance relationship and haven't been able to meet in the last 3 months. She is currently trapped in a highly abusive family situation. She has no mother; her dad remarried, and her stepmother and father actively torture her. She lives with her grandparents, but her grandfather constantly makes her feel like a burden. The only person on her side is her grandmother.
She desperately needs someone safe around her just to survive and do basic things, like taking her to the doctor. Last night, she cried the entire night begging me not to go to this internship. It escalated to the point where she attempted self-harm. She is very weak right now, and she was screaming so much that her whole body is in physical pain today.
She wants someone who can either be physically present with her or constantly on call to help her feel safe. Because of how demanding my upcoming internship is, I literally cannot do either.
Walking away or breaking up feels impossible and terrifying. She is the type who cannot handle breakups. She was in a toxic relationship with an ex for 3 years, and when he dumped her, she completely lost her mental peace and overdosed on high-dose medicines.
I don't know what to do. If I take the internship, I can't be there for her the way she needs, and I'm terrified for her life and safety. But I also know I need to build my future, and I can't be physically present anyway. I feel so helpless. Please, if anyone has an outside perspective, what do I do?
TL;DR: I start a highly rigorous internship in a week. My LDR girlfriend lives in a severely abusive home, attempted self-harm last night begging me not to go, and needs me constantly on call/present, which I won't be able to do. She has a history of overdosing after a past breakup. I am lost, terrified, and in pain.