'Bachelorette' recap: The self-elimination shocker: 'Very possible that my person just left'

The final four "Bachelorette" contestants are now actually a final three – and not surprisingly, given that pesky, forever-churning rumor mill.

That's right: Michael A. sent himself home this week, leaving Katie to choose between Blake, Greg and Justin. But why did the single dad say goodbye?

Well, that's just it. The "dad" part.

Michael FaceTimes his 4-year-old son James at the beginning of this week's episode. What starts out adorable quickly turns agonizing.

"Maybe daddy left because he don't want to see me," James tells his dad over a tear-jerker of a call. Naturally, Michael freaks out. James – whose mother died seven months after he was born – is his only constant in life.

"To go through losing a mother, I don’t want him to ever think that he’s not enough," Michael says.

Last week's episode: Katie sets her final four contestants. But is Andrew's exit for good?

With hometowns coming up, Michael refuses to only give half of himself to Katie. So he breaks up with her.

Katie is confused and heartbroken by Michael's departure

Katie cries, choking out that she didn’t see it coming. "I saw us going to the end, which makes this really confusing for me right now," she says, reducing us to tears too.

He reassures her he's leaving for James – not because of their relationship. She supports him, as difficult as that is for her.

"You taught me how to love again," he tells her. Why make this even more difficult, Michael?!

"It’s very possible that my person just left," Katie relays in a confessional.

Whew. And that was just 20 minutes in!

The rest of the episode features former contestants in the series' traditional "Men Tell All" segment, where people have the opportunity to laugh, cry, fight and get things off their muscular chests.

And another recap: Katie gets 'physically ill' over Hunter drama: 'I had to get out of there'

Besides a retread of the season's drama, one major exciting development is math teacher Connor B.'s make-out session with an audience member. (We'd watch that spinoff, for what it's worth.)

We also witness an inside-look at former "Bachelorette" contestant Jason Tartick proposing to host Kaitlyn Bristowe (spoiler alert: she thinks they are about to host a podcast together, but he pulls out a ring instead).

Michael appears at the "Men Tell All," too, and says if Katie was interested in giving him another shot, he'd be all in.

Katie's all good, though. "My ending is ultimately how everything was supposed to happen," she says.

Only a few more weeks until we know exactly what that ending looks like.

Back to the beginning: Who was inside the box? Katie unpacks 30 contestants, sends 7 home

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Bachelorette' recap: Michael A. sends himself home, Katie devastated