Have you tried exiting in the required script?

test.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;

require "test2.pl";

print "Shouldn't ever print me!\n";
[download]

test2.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;

print "In required\n";

exit;
[download]

Test it

> ./test.pl
In required
>
[download]