Just Thinking Out Loud....

So I was watching As The World Turns and there's a story line that really models real life.  Jack is married to Janet but still in love with his ex-wife/love of his life Carly and wants to be with her and was going to leave Janet however Janet's daughter got cancer and so Jack decided to put his feelings aside for Carly and try and make it work with Janet and help her through this difficult time.  However, prior to finding out that Liberty(Janet's daughter) had cancer, Janet had developed feelings for her friend/boss Dusty and actually had an affair with him, while she was feeling insecure because she didn't like Jack and Carly's relationship.  Anyway to my point...Jack doesn't want to be with Janet however every time he sees Janet with Dusty(he doesn't know they slept together, just that they kissed) he gets territorial and defensive, and lets his ego get the best of him...and the same thing with Carly.

Sooo my question to you all is...why is it that people let themselves get manipulated into staying with someone they don't really want to be with.  Is it a ego thing? They don't want you, but they don't want you to want someone else or someone else to want you? Does that make sense?, I might have worded it wrong.  They let themselves get manipulated into staying with someone only to end up breaking up eventually down the road.  Their delaying the inevitable.  I dunno, just thinking out loud...