I can see Eleanor bursting into tears and throwing a tantrum at Joe when he tries to breakup, saying it's not fair and how she's treated him so well. She would then go into begging mode, promising to change as long as he stays and wives her up down the road. That whole process sounds exhausting when you're totally over it (as Joe seemed to be) and sometimes it's better to pull the plug. When someone loves you, they're willing to look past flaws but when they're over you, it's amazing how annoying little quirks can become and we all know Smelley had many unpleasant traits.I'm going to play devil's advocate and say I have broken up with someone by moving everything out while my partner was at work. I even asked my mom to help me move. On paper and on the exterior we seemed absolutely happy and perfect for each other, but behind doors we were fighting everyday and both loved each other too much to give up. Like, prior to the breakup we went to Paris and basically fought 80% of the time we were there, but had amazing photos of us that we posted on social media so we looked "so happy" It was taking a toll on my life and I knew it was destroying him too so one day when he was at work I called my mom and asked her to help me move out because I couldn't emotionally do it on my own especially when he's around because he would have begged to make it work and it would have been another week in hell (crying, fighting, screaming) I left a note apologizing for giving up and we got our closure a few weeks after when we were in a better place. He's in a a great relationship now with a better suited partner and I have been with my partner for years. I'm not sure if their relationship was like that's but I can see Elle being a beggar not letting Joe go so he would either cave and stay because he must have loved her quite a bit at one point. Or, maybe she's one of those girls that threaten when a guy leaves.
Elle seems like the type to become hysterical when she's not getting what she wants and given a man is her number one priority in life, breakups must be extra hard on her since she was counting on shopping on the man's dime and showing him off like an accessory in public with her smug mug.