A 35-year-old married man in a multinational corporation (MNC) took to social media asking if he should confess his feelings to a 26-year-old woman he had been mentoring for eleven months.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man wrote: “I am married but its a loveless marriage. my wife and i are on the path to formal separation. I recognise that this might have caused some emptiness in me and made more susceptible to “catching feelings”. But now it has already happen and i cannot help myself”.

He wrote that when they met, their personalities clicked instantly, and he was flattered when she chose him as a career mentor.

“Over time we grew closer and we started sharing personal stuff with each other. I admired her strong work ethic and maturity in thinking – i felt she was an intellectual equal despite age or experience difference. There were some tough times at work for her where i was there as a pillar of support , and during those times she was vulnerable, seeing her suffer and affected me and emotionally broke my heart. This is how i know i actually truly care and have developed feelings for her”, the man wrote.

He added that he was trying to be strong and limit his unprofessional interactions with her such as messaging too much. However, he added that they would still have to meet for mentoring catch-ups and would end up chatting and enjoying the time they had together.

In his post, he wrote that he was realistic and said that while he had feelings for her, he did not think they were reciprocated because of the all the other guys she had trying to meet and date her. “but having those feelings stuck in me makes it a torture to continue being her mentor and also being friends. Even if the feeling is not mutual i still enjoy being her friend and helping her grow in her career (she is very talented). So my plan is to tell her my feelings in the hope that it will “get it out of my system” and somehow i can continue to enjoy our time together in a platonic way”, the man wrote.

“Will it work”, he asked.

Netizens who commented on the post said that he should end his marriage completely before telling her anything. Others also advised him to leave her alone.