When You Realize the Friend Was Never a Friend

 

It’s wild how life will put someone in your path and make you believe you’ve found a safe place to land.
Someone you thought was a confidant. Someone who made you feel like your trust was finally in good hands.

And then one day, without warning, you see it.
The truth.
The little cracks in their mask that they tried so hard to keep hidden.

I think the hardest part isn’t the betrayal itself — it’s replaying every conversation, every laugh, every moment you thought was real, and realizing they were just… playing a part. A role.
And you? You were just the audience.

It makes you question your own instincts. Did I miss the signs? Was I so desperate for connection that I ignored the red flags waving in my face?
Or were they just that good at pretending?

People like that… they don’t break you with one big act. They chip away at you slowly, making you believe they care, while quietly stacking the pieces they’ll later use against you.
And by the time you see it, the damage is already done.

I’ll recover. I always do. But what they’ve really stolen isn’t money, or time, or opportunity.
It’s the version of me that still believed people like them didn’t exist.

So here’s to lessons learned the hard way.
Here’s to boundaries.
Here’s to recognizing that not everyone clapping for you is in your corner.

And here’s to the quiet satisfaction of knowing…
if you’re reading this, you know exactly who you are.