A few nights ago I was scrolling through the Snapchat news feed when a Cosmopolitan story caught my eye: "12 Scandalous and Steamy Study-Abroad Cheating Confessions."

The article consisted of stories by women who cheated on their significant other while studying abroad.

Four of the women are still with their partner, but never confessed their infidelity. Seven of them ended their relationship at some point without telling their partner. Only one woman told her partner and ended the relationship (although I wonder if she still would have let him know if she hadn't found out he initially cheated before she left).

I noticed a pattern. It appears the women who cut ties assumed why tell their partner of their wrongful action if they were going to ultimately break it off when they returned?

So now my question is this: whether you cheat one time with a measly kiss or multiple times by having sex, should you let your partner know even if you're aware you are going to break off the relationship?

Some people might think why crush the person even more by letting them know you're leaving them and that you cheated on them. Others argue you owe your partner the respect of informing them you cheated because withholding that information, as painful as it is, is the most disrespectful thing you could do.

Being cheated on then dumped is a slap to the face while being completely unaware you were cheated is a concealed blow. I don't think one is necessarily better or worse than the other because like most situations, the preference between knowledge and ignorance is dependent upon the person.

Indeed, ignorance is bliss, but sometimes people need to hear the ugly truth for their own good. Therefore, whether you're going to stay with someone after you've cheated or you're going to break up then you owe them the disclosure of your infidelity.

If one can continue to maintain their relationship as if they never did anything wrong, as if the guilt isn't eating away at them, then you don't care about this person because you're completely disregarding their right to walk away from you for committing infidelity.

If the roles were reversed for the women from the Cosmopolitan article, they wouldn't have told their boyfriend, "What happens in Italy stays there. No need for you to let me know if you're hooking up."

Everyone has the right to stay or go if they discover their significant other cheated, but not offering them the choice to stay or leave is by far worse than committing the act in the first place. Furthermore, withholding the fact you cheated from someone you're about to break up with is also more disgraceful than infidelity itself.