She was my best friend for seven years, and we had been through it all together. I went out of state with my now-husband, but she persuaded us both to return to be closer to her after approximately a year. We had no genuine ties to the state we had tried out, so we decided let’s go back; she’s like family. We were all overjoyed to be reunited; she came over nearly every night for supper, and we all laughed, spoke, and had a great time.

The best year of my life. Then, gradually, she began attempting to turn my husband and me against each other. Anytime we had a dispute (as any couple does), she would text each of us about how correct we were, attempting to instill hostility between the two. She began talking to me about how she had a backup plan for “us”: if my husband and I couldn’t make it work, I could move in with her and we’d live happy lives together.

She started chatting to my husband about her infertility troubles and how she wanted to have a child like him; all she needed was a sperm donor. This all happened around the same time, and my husband and I figured it out through text messages. She wanted to use his sperm to have a baby with me. When challenged about it, she refused to confess it and began screaming out at both of us.

It grew to the point where she would arrive unexpectedly, knocking on the door, demanding a place in our home. It was so terrible and stress causing that we had to relocate and change our phone numbers. I guess it’s so upsetting because I’d never had a friend like her, only to discover that she, well, cared about me, but in an unhealthy and frightening way. But, yes, that’s my tale. My husband and I are doing fine right now.