‘Run. Do not look back’: Toxic boyfriend goes for the gold when he mangles his partner’s car just to keep her from leaving

The internet is home to a truly upsetting number of terrible partners, but few can compete with the man TikTok user @itsastarwarslife is hopefully leaving in the rear-view.

The content creator typically keeps to being a professional nerd on her page, where she frequently shares takeaways on her favorite sci-fi and fantasy staples, but she took a break from that wholesome aim to give viewers a harsh dose of reality.

The creator was prepped to ring in the 4th of July with her boyfriend and his family, but instead she ended the day down several lug nuts and one toxic man. That’s all thanks to the man in question, who began his holiday with a girlfriend at his side, but likewise ended it single and, for his efforts, with a few hundred fresh TikTok enemies.

According to a straightforward minute-long video posted to @itsastarwarslife’s page, she and her former boyfriend were headed to his family’s house when the now-ex started in on the toxic behavior. After enduring his crap for awhile, the TikToker decided she was done — she informed him that he could enjoy the family visit solo.

Unfortunately for her, this story’s villain is criminal levels of controlling. He refused to leave her alone — in HER car, by the way — in case she decided to take off. She was left with no choice but to take a break from the toxic man she used to call her partner, so @itsastarwarslife pulled over, took the keys (again, to HER CAR) and embarked on a walk through the park to cool off.

And what did her “boyfriend” do while she was away? In order to ensure she was good and trapped, he removed one of her tires. And, for good measure, he stole each of the lug nuts that held it in place, in hopes of making it impossible for the content creator to get home — or away from her increasingly concerning partner.

@itsastarwarslife was left alone at the park on a busy holiday with no option but to ditch her recently mangled car or stay put. Thankfully, her video stirred up more than sympathy among commenters — it also wrangled up plenty of advice.

A few car-savvy TikTokers joined the comment section to advise @itsastarwarslife where to go from here. One particularly helpful soul suggested that she remove one lug nut from each of her remaining three tires and screw them in a triangle pattern on the removed tire. So long as they were secured nice and tight, the TikToker assured our newly-liberated queen that she would be safe to get the car to a mechanic, who could then replace the missing parts and get her back on the road.

Lug nuts are thankfully a pretty cheap fix, particularly compared to the often eye-watering prices attached to car maintenance. On average, the parts themselves only cost between $5 and $10, and a full replacement of your lug nuts likely won’t run the average car owner more than $50 to $100.

That’s exactly what the creator did, later returning to TikTok to inform other car-confused girlies that the hack worked perfectly. She also seems to have left the dead weight behind — thank god — and she’s moving on with plenty of life lessons learned about cars, and about the men she shares her life with.