Reddit Stories - Close FRIEND CONTACTED me in tears saying she had fled from a HARMFUL

Episode Date: July 20, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #friendship #contacted #tears #harmful #supportSummary: A close friend contacted me in tears, revealing she had fled from a harmful situation. I provided support and comfort during this difficult time, showing her that she is not alone in facing challenges.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, friendship, contacted, tears, harmful, support, comfort, challenges, friend, situation, difficult, alone, facing, contact, flee, emotionalBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Close friend contacted me in tears saying she had fled from a harmful partner and required a place to reside, so I offered her accommodation in my spare room, but she began to put on. My clothes and flirting with my husband and kissed him while I was away. My best friend Cassandra and I have been close since college, like really close, the kind of friendship where we know each other's deepest secrets and have been through everything together. She was my maid of honor at my wedding three years ago, and I was supposed to be

be hers whenever she finally found the right guy. But apparently that's never going to happen now because of what she did. Cassandra has always had terrible taste in men, and I mean terrible. Like she gravitates toward the worst possible guys and then acts surprised when they treat her like garbage. I've been there for her through every breakup, every heartbreak, every time she showed up at my door crying about some loser who cheated on her or treated her badly. I always took her in because that's what friends do, right? You help each other through the hard times, and you don't expect anything in return except loyalty and trust. About six months ago, she started dating this new guy Lucas, and from the beginning I had a bad feeling about him because he just seemed off. Like he was

too controlling and possessive, and he didn't like Cassandra spending time with her friends, including me. I tried to warn her, but she was head over heels and thought he was just being protective and romantic, which should have been a red flag. But Cassandra has always been naive when it comes to men and their real intentions. Things got worse over the next few months, and Cassandra started cancelling plans with me more and more often because Lucas didn't want her going out without him, or he had planned something for them to do instead. She stopped texting me as much, and when we did talk, she seemed different, more on edge and jumpy, like she was always looking over her shoulder or worried about saying the wrong thing. That's when I knew something

was really wrong. I tried to bring it up with her a few times, but she always brushed me off and said everything was fine and Lucas was just going through a stressful time at work, so he was a little more clingy than usual. I didn't buy it for a second, but I also didn't want to push too hard and risk her pulling away from me completely because I knew if things got really bad, she would need someone to turn to, and I wanted to make sure I was still that person for her. Then two weeks ago, she called me at like midnight sobbing hysterically, and I could barely understand what she was saying through all the crying. But I caught enough to know that something terrible had happened with Lucas.

She said he had gotten violent with her for the first time, and she was scared and had nowhere to go because he knew where all her other friends lived, and she didn't want to put anyone else in danger. But she thought maybe she could come to my place since Lucas had never been there and didn't know my address. Of course I told her to come over immediately. and my husband Carl was completely supportive even though it meant she would be staying in our guest room for who knows how long while she figured out her next steps. Carl has always been good about my friendships, and he likes Cassandra well enough even though

they don't have much in common. He's always been understanding when I need to help her through her relationship drama. Cassandra showed up at our door that night with nothing but the clothes on her back in a small bag with some essentials, and she looked absolutely terrible. Like she hadn't slept in days and had been crying for hours. She had a bruise on her arm that she tried to hide, but I saw it, and my heart just broke for her because nobody deserves to be treated that way no matter what. I was so angry at Lucas for hurting my friend that I wanted to call the police right then and there. But Cassandra begged me not to involve the authorities because she said it would just make things worse, and Lucas had connections that could make her life even more difficult

if she tried to press charges. I didn't agree with her decision, but I respect to you. I respect it because it was her choice to make, and my job was just to be there for her and give her a safe place to heal and figure out what she wanted to do next. The first few days went really well, and Cassandra seemed to be doing better. She was eating again and sleeping more, and she even started talking about maybe getting her own apartment soon so she could start over fresh somewhere Lucas would never find her. Carl and I both encouraged her to take her time and not rush into anything because we wanted her to feel completely safe and ready before she made any big decisions about her future. But then things started getting weird, and I'm not sure exactly when

it began because it was so subtle at first that I thought maybe I was just being paranoid or overly protective of my space. It started with little things like Cassandra borrowing my clothes without asking, and when I mentioned it, she acted like it was no big deal and said she thought I wouldn't mind since we used to share clothes all the time in college. The thing is, we did use to share clothes, but that was when we were roommates and poor college students who barely had anything to wear, not when we're grown adults living in separate homes with our own wardrobes and boundaries. But I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because she was going through such a hard time, and I figured once she got back on her feet and had her own place again, things would go

back to normal. Then I started noticing that she was spending a lot more time talking to Carl than seemed necessary, and I don't mean just being polite or making conversation over dinner. I mean she was actively seeking him out when I wasn't around and finding excuses to be in the same room as him. At first I thought maybe she was just feeling lonely and needed human connection after being isolated by Lucas for so long, but something about it felled off and made me uncomfortable. Carl works from home most days, and Cassandra doesn't have a job right now since she had to quit her old one because Lucas was showing up there and causing problems. So they're both around the house during the day while I'm at my office job. I started noticing that when I got home, Cassandra would always have

some story about how Carl had helped her with something, or they had watched a movie together, or cooked lunch together. It was always innocent enough, but the frequency of it bothered me. I tried talking to Carl about it and asked if he thought Cassandra was being a little too friendly or clingy, but he just laughed it off and said she was probably just grateful for our help and trying to be nice. He said I was overthinking things and maybe I was a little stressed from having a house guest for so long, which was probably affecting my judgment and making me see problems where there weren't any. I wanted to believe he was right because I didn't want to be the kind of person who gets jealous and suspicious over nothing, especially when my best friend was in such a vulnerable

position and needed my support. But my instincts kept telling me something wasn't right, and I've learned to trust my gut feelings over the years because they're usually spot on even when I don't want them to be. The close thing kept happening and it escalated to Cassandra wearing my more expensive pieces and even some of my jewelry without asking. When I confronted her about it, she got defensive and said she didn't think I was so materialistic and possessive over things that didn't really matter. She made me feel like I was being petty and selfish for caring about my own belongings, which really hurt because I was doing her such a huge favor by letting her stay with us rent free. Then there was this incident last week where I came home from work

early because I had a headache and wanted to lie down, and I found Cassandra in the kitchen wearing one of my favorite dresses that I was planning to wear to a dinner party that weekend. She was cooking dinner, and when she saw she got this guilty look on her face and quickly said she spilled something on her shirt and needed to change and hoped I didn't mind that she borrowed the dress. But here's the thing that really bothered me about that situation. The dress was way too big for her because she's smaller than me, and it was hanging off her in a weird way that made it obvious she had chosen it specifically because it was mine, not because it actually fit her properly or looked good on her. It felt like she was trying to prove some kind of point or

send some kind of message, and I didn't like it at all. I told her I did mind actually, and I needed her to ask before taking my clothes. She got this hurt expression and said she she thought we were close enough that it wouldn't be a problem. She started crying and apologizing and saying she was just so grateful to have nice things to wear again after Lucas had commenced. controlled every aspect of her life, including what she was allowed to wear. I felt terrible for making her cry, but I also felt manipulated. That's when I started really paying attention to her behavior around Carl, and I noticed she was definitely flirting with him, touching his arm when she talked to him and laughing at all his jokes even the ones that weren't funny, and finding

excuses to be close to him when they were in the same room. She would wear my clothes when she knew he would be around, and she started doing her hair and makeup every day even though she wasn't going anywhere, which seemed like a lot of effort for someone who was supposedly depressed and traumatized. I confronted Carl about it again, and this time I was more direct about what I was seeing. He admitted that Cassandra had been a little more touchy than usual, but he said he just thought she was being friendly and maybe a little attention-seeking because of what she had been through with Lucas. He promised to be more aware of boundaries and maybe spend less time alone with her when I wasn't home, which made me feel a little better, but I was still worried. Then this past

weekend I had to go out of town for work, just a quick overnight trip to meet with some clients, and I almost cancelled it because I didn't feel comfortable leaving Carl and Cassandra alone together for that long. But Carl assured me everything would be fine and said I was being ridiculous and paranoid, and Cassandra even offered to stay at another friend's house while I was gone, which made me feel guilty for not trusting them. I decided to go on the trip because I didn't want to seem completely crazy and controlling, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen while I was away. Carl had been working really long hours lately on a big project and he was exhausted, like falling asleep on the couch every night exhausted, and I was worried about

it. When I got back yesterday morning, Carl was still sleeping because he had worked until like 3am, and Cassandra was making breakfast and acting completely normal like nothing had happened. She was extra nice to me and kept asking about my trip and offering to make me coffee, and it all felt a little too performative, like she was overcompensating for something, but I couldn't put my finger on what? Carl woke up around noon and he seemed fine too, maybe a little more tired than usual, but he said the project had been really stressful and he was just glad it was over. We all had lunch together and everything seemed normal enough that I started to think

maybe I really had been paranoid and nothing had happened while I was gone after all. But then I remembered that we have security cameras in the common areas of the house because we had some break-ins in our neighborhood a few months ago, and Carl installed them for peace of mind. I had completely forgotten about them because we barely ever checked the footage unless something specific happens, but something made me want to look at what had been recorded while I was away. I waited until Carl went to run some errands and Cassandra was taking a shower,

and then I pulled up the camera app on my phone to check the footage from the night before. Most of it was just normal stuff like Carl working on his laptop in the living room and Cassandra watching TV and them eating dinner together, which all looked innocent enough. But then I got to the part around 1 a.m. where Carl had fallen asleep on the couch with his laptop still on his lap, and he was completely out, like dead to the world exhausted the way he gets when he's been working crazy hours. The camera angle shows the whole living room and couch area, so I could see everything that happened next, and I'm still trying to process what I saw. Cassandra came into the living room wearing one of my nightgowns, not her own pajamas.

but specifically one of my silk nightgowns that she had no business wearing, and she stood there for a few minutes just watching Carl's sleep. Then she moved his laptop carefully and set it on the coffee table and sat down next to him on the couch really close to where he was sleeping. I'm watching this footage and my heart is pounding because I can see exactly what's happening, and I know Carl is completely unconscious and has no idea she's there. Cassandra starts touching his hair and his face really gently, and he doesn't wake up at all because he's so exhausted from working.

and probably in such a deep sleep that he wouldn't notice anything short of an earthquake. Then she leans over and kisses him while he's completely unconscious and unable to consent to what's happening. She stays there for what feels like forever but was probably only a few seconds, and then she kisses him again. I'm watching this happen in real time on my phone, and I feel sick to my stomach. The worst part is that she clearly knows exactly what she's doing because she keeps looking around to make sure nobody can see her, and she's being so careful not to wake him up while she's basically assaulting my husband in his sleep.

This wasn't some innocent moment of confusion or gratitude, and I can't believe my best friend would do something like this to me and to Carl. After the second kiss, she just sits there for a while watching him sleep and touching his face, and I'm getting more and more angry as I watch because this is such a violation of trust and boundaries and basic human decency. Finally she gets up and goes back to her room, and Carl never wakes up or moves or shows any sign that he knows what happened, which confirms that he was completely unconscious during the whole thing. I sat there staring at my phone for probably 20 minutes trying to process what I had just seen

and figure out what I was supposed to do with this information. I also kept thinking about Cassandra and how she had been my friend for so many years and how she was supposed to be going through this terrible trauma with her abusive boyfriend, and he or she was taking advantage of my hospitality and my husband's vulnerable state to satisfy some sick fantasy or agenda that I still don't understand. When Carl got back from his errands, I showed him the footage without any explanation or warning because I wanted to see his genuine reaction and make sure he was just as shocked and disgusted as I was. He watched it twice, and his face went completely white, and he just kept saying he had no idea and he was so sorry and he felt

sick that it had happened while he was unconscious. His reaction convinced me that he really didn't know and hadn't participated willingly in what happened, which was a relief because I honestly didn't know what I would do if he had been awake and consending to Cassandra's advances. But I was still furious that it had happened at all and that my trust had been violated so completely by someone I thought I could count on. We decided to confront Cassandra together, and when she came out of the bathroom, we were both sitting in the living room waiting for her with serious expressions, and she immediately knew something was wrong. Carl showed her the footage on his phone, and her face went through about ten different emotions

in the span of five seconds before she settled on this fake, confused, innocent look. She tried to deny it at first and said the camera angle was misleading and she was just checking to make sure Carl was comfortable and maybe adjusting his blanket or something, which was complete bullshit because you could clearly see her lips touching his lips in the footage. When that didn't work, she switched to saying she was sleepwalking. and didn't remember doing it, which was also obviously a lie. Finally, when she realized we weren't buying any of her excuses, she broke down crying and said she was so sorry and she didn't know what came over her

and she had been feeling so lonely and confused after everything with Lucas. She said she never meant for it to happen and she would never do anything to hurt our marriage, and she was just so grateful to us for helping her that she got confused about her feelings. But I wasn't buying the confused gratitude excuse either because what I saw on that footage was deliberate, not some spur of the moment emotional reaction. She had put on my nightgown specifically for that encounter, and she had been careful not to wake Carl up, which shows she knew exactly what she was doing and that it was wrong. I told her she needed to pack her things and leave immediately because I couldn't have someone in my house who would take advantage of my husband

while he was unconscious and vulnerable. She started begging and saying she had nowhere else to go and Lucas might find her if she didn't have a safe place to stay, but I was done feeling sorry for her and making excuses for her behavior. Carl backed me up completely and said he felt violated and uncomfortable and couldn't trust her to be in the house anymore, especially when he was sleeping or working late hours. He said he understood she was going through a hard time, but that didn't give her the right to assault him while he was unconscious, and she needed to find somewhere else to stay immediately. Cassandra packed her stuff while crying and apologizing and trying to hug both of us goodbye, but we weren't having any of it and just wanted her out of our house as quickly

as possible. She kept saying she would call us when she got settled somewhere and hoped we could work things out and still be friends, but I told her that wasn't going to happen and she had destroyed our friendship with her selfish, disgusting behavior. After she left, Carl and I talked for hours about what had happened and how we were feeling about everything, and I keep going back and forth between being angry and being sad about losing my best friend and being disgusted by what she did. keeps apologizing even though it wasn't his fault and saying he wishes he had been more aware of her

behavior and set better boundaries from the beginning. I'm also angry at myself for ignoring my instincts when I knew something was off about her behavior around Carl and for making excuses for her when she was clearly crossing lines and being inappropriate. I should have trusted my gut feelings and either set stricter boundaries or asked her to leave before things escalated to this point, but I let my sympathy for her situation cloud my judgment. Now I'm sitting here unable to sleep, and wondering if I did the right thing by kicking her out or if I should have tried to work things out somehow because we have so much history together. But then I think about that footage and how she kissed my unconscious husband while wearing my clothes in my house after I had opened

my home to her when she needed help most, and I know I made the right decision. Carl has been amazing through all of this and hasn't made me feel crazy or paranoid for being suspicious of Cassandra's behavior even though he didn't see it himself at first. He's been supportive and understanding and angry on my behalf, which is exactly what I needed from him right now, and it's made me feel more confident that we can get through this together. I guess I'm just writing this all out because I need to process what happened and figure out how to move forward from here and maybe get some perspective from people who aren't emotionally involved in the situation. I keep second-guessing myself and wondering if I overreacted or if there was a better way to

handle things, but every time I think about that footage, I know I did what I had to do to protect my marriage and my home. Update 1. It's been three days since I kicked Cassandra out, and I thought I should update because some things have happened that I wasn't expecting, and I'm still trying to figure out what to make of all of it. I've been reading through all the comments and messages, and I appreciate everyone who took the time to respond and give me their thoughts on the situation. A lot of people asked what happened to Cassandra after she left and whether she was really in danger from Lucas or if that was part of her manipulation too, and honestly, I don't know the answer to that question.

She hasn't tried to contact me directly since she left, but she has been calling and texting Carl, which is making me even more angry because she should be leaving us both alone after what she did. Carl showed me the messages, and they're mostly her apologizing over and over and saying she understands why we're angry but hoping we can eventually forgive her

and maybe help her figure out where to go next. She keeps saying she's staying in some cheap motel right now, but it's not safe and she's scared Lucas will find her, and she doesn't know what to do without our support and friendship. But here's where things get weird, and I'm not sure what to think about this part. Yesterday I was at work and got a call from my neighbor who lives across the street and has lived in the neighborhood for like 30 years, so she knows everyone and everything that goes on around here. She said she had seen a man parked outside our house in a dark sedan for several hours the day before, and he seemed to be watching our house and taking pictures.

My neighbor said she almost called the police because it seemed suspicious, but then the man left and she wasn't sure if it was anything to worry about. She described him as tall and dark-haired and maybe in his 30s, which could match Lucas based on what Cassandra had told me about him, but it could also be anyone, and I might just be paranoid because of everything that's been going on. I told Carl about it when I got home, and he said we should probably install more security cameras and maybe change our locks just to be safe, which seems like a good idea regardless of whether the man my neighbor saw was actually Lucas or just some random person. But it does make me wonder if Cassandra was telling the truth about him being dangerous and if

my decision to kick her out might have put us in danger too. Then this morning, I got a text from Cassandra's sister Erica, who I've met a few times over the years but don't really know that well. Erica said Cassandra had called her crying and told her some story about how Carl and I had kicked her out over a misunderstanding, and she was scared and had nowhere to go and needed help but couldn't explain exactly what the misunderstanding was about. Erica was asking me to call her because she wanted to understand what really happened and maybe help figure out a solution that would keep Cassandra safe while also respecting our boundaries.

I haven't called her back yet because I'm not sure how much I want to get into the details with someone who is essentially a stranger to me and who might not believe me anyway if Cassandra has already filled her head with lies. But I'm worried that Cassandra is going to going around telling people some version of events that makes her look like the victim and makes Carl and me look like terrible people who abandoned our friend in her time of need. I don't really care what strangers think, but I am concerned about our mutual friends and whether Cassandra might try to turn them against us with some sob story about how we mistreated her.

Carl thinks I should call Erica back and tell her the truth about what happened, including showing her the security footage if necessary, because he says people deserve to know what kind of person Cassandra really is before they let her into their homes and put themselves at risk. I'm not sure I want to get that involved in the drama, but I also don't want Cassandra to keep manipulating people and potentially doing the same thing to other couples. The other thing that's been bothering me is that I keep thinking about our friendship and all the good times we had together over the years and wondering if any of it was real or if Cassandra has always been this manipulative and selfish and I just never saw it before.

I've been going through old photos and texts and trying to see if there were red flags I missed, but everything seemed normal and genuine at the time. Maybe she really did change after the situation with Lucas and trauma can make people do things they wouldn't normally do, or maybe this is who she's always been and she just hit it better before she was in a desperate situation. Either way, it doesn't excuse what she did, but it might help me understand how someone I trusted so completely could betray me so badly. Carl and I have been talking a lot about trust and boundaries and how to protect ourselves from people who might take advantage of our generosity in the future. We're both naturally helpful people who want to support our friends when they're

going through hard times, but this situation has made us realize we need to be more careful about who we led into our home and our lives. The security footage was really the only reason I was able to prove what she did and protect Carl from being falsely accused if she had tried to claim something had happened between them consensually. Without that evidence, it would have been her word against ours, and who knows how that might have played out or what damage she could have done to our marriage with lies and manipulation. I think for now we're just going to focus on moving forward and rebuilding our sense of security and trust in our home and our relationship. We're planning to take a little vacation together next month to get away from all this drama

and reconnect as a couple, which I think will be good for both of us after everything we've been through. Update 2. Okay, so it's been two weeks since my last update, and I really need to get this down because the situation has gotten so much weirder and more complicated than I ever expected it to be. I keep thinking I'm done dealing with Cassandra, and then something else happens that pulls me back into a drama, and I'm getting really tired of it all. So remember how I mentioned that Cassandra's sister Erica had texted me asking about what happened and wanting to understand the situation better? Well, I decided to call her back after talking it over with Carl because we figured it was better to tell the truth and let Cassandra control the narrative and potentially manipulate more

people into helping her. Erica seemed genuinely shocked when I told her what had actually happened and asked if I could send her the security footage so she could see for herself. I was hesitant at first because it felt weird sharing something so personal and violating, but Carl said we should do it because Erica needed to understand how serious Cassandra's behavior had been and what kind of person she was dealing with. When Erica saw the footage, she was quiet for a long time, and then she started asking questions about Cassandra's behavior leading up to that incident and whether there had been other red flags that we had noticed. I told her about the clothes stealing and the inappropriate flirting and the way Cassandra had been

manipulating situations to be alone with Carl, and Erica just sighed and said she wasn't entirely surprised. Apparently this isn't the first time Cassandra has done something like this, and Erica told me about two other situations over the years where Cassandra had gotten involved with married men or men who were in relationships and caused problems. One was their cousin's husband who Cassandra had an affair with that broke up the marriage, and another that she didn't want to explain. Erica said she had been hoping Cassandra had grown out of that pattern of behavior,

but clearly she hadn't, and she apologized for not warning me earlier because she hadn't known Cassandra was staying with us until after everything had already happened. She said she felt terrible that we had been put in that position. But here's where it gets really messed up, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around this part. Erica also told me that she had some doubts about Cassandra's story regarding Lucas and whether the abuse situation was as bad as Cassandra had made it seem. She said Cassandra had a history of exaggerating or even making up dramatic situations to get attention and sympathy

from people, especially when she wanted something from them. Erica wasn't saying that Lucas was definitely not abusive or that Cassandra deserved to be hurt, but she said there were inconsistencies in Cassandra's story that didn't add up, and she suspected Cassandra might have been used. using the abuse narrative to manipulate people into helping her and feeling sorry for her. I asked Erica if she thought the bruise I had seen on Cassandra's arm the night she came to us was real or fake, and Erica said Cassandra was definitely capable of hurting herself if it would help sell her story and get her what she wanted. The idea that someone would fake being a victim of domestic violence is so disgusting to me that I almost couldn't believe it,

but given everything else Cassandra had done, it didn't seem impossible. Carl was even more angry than I was when I told him what Erica had said because he felt like Cassandra had manipulated his natural instinct to protect women who were in danger and used it against him to get access to our home and our relationship. He said it made him feel sick to think that we had opened our door to someone who was playing games with such a serious issue just to get what she wanted. So that was already a lot to process, but then yesterday something happened that made the whole situation even more complicated and honestly scary. I was coming home from work around 6 p.m., and as I was pulling into our driveway, I noticed the same dark sedan that my neighbor had described parked about half a block down

from our house with someone sitting in the driver's seat. I couldn't see the person clearly because of the distance and the angle, but something about the whole situation made me nervous. So instead of getting out of my car, I called Carl and told him what I was seeing. He told me to stay in the car and keep the doors locked while he looked out the front window to see if he could get a better view of the person and the license plate. While we were on the phone, the car suddenly started up and drove away quickly, like the person had realized they had been spotted and didn't want to stick around to be identified. Carl got a partial license plate number but not enough to be really useful, and we decided we

should probably call the police and report it as suspicious activity just to have it on record in case anything else happened. The police officer who came to take the report was nice enough but didn't seem too concerned about someone sitting in a parked car on a public street since they hadn't actually done anything illegal or threatening. He said they would increase patrols in our neighborhood for the next few days, and we should call immediately if we saw the car again or if anything else suspicious happened. After the officer left, Carl and I talked about whether this could actually be Lucas trying to find Cassandra or if it might be someone else entirely, and we realized we didn't have

enough information to know either way. If it was Lucas, then Cassandra's story about him being dangerous might be true even if she had lied about other details, but if it wasn't him, then we might be dealing with some completely different problem. I decided to text Cassandra and ask her directly if she had given Lucas our address or if there was any reason he might know where we lived and be looking for her at our house. I didn't want to have any contact with her, but I felt like we needed to know if we were in danger because of her situation, and I couldn't think of any other way to get that information. Cassandra texted back within minutes saying she had never told Lucas where we lived, and she had been very careful not to let him follow her the night she came to our house.

She said she was staying at a different motel now and hadn't been anywhere near our neighborhood since we kicked her out, and she was sorry if someone was bothering us, but it wasn't her fault and wasn't connected to her situation with Lucas. But then she said something that really bothered me, which was that she had been thinking about our friendship and how much it meant to her, and she hoped eventually we could work things out and move past what happened because she missed us and knew we were good people who would understand if she could just explain herself better. The fact that she was still trying to manipulate the situation and act like what she did was some minor misunderstanding made me furious all over again.

I showed Carl her messages, and he said we should block her number completely because any contact with her was just going to encourage her to keep trying to worm her way back into our lives, and we needed to make it clear that there was no possibility of reconciliation or forgiveness. So that's what we did, and I actually felt a lot better after cutting off that last avenue of communication between us. I'm still worried about the car situation and whether we're actually safe or if there's something we don't know about that's putting us at risk. Carl thinks we should install more security cameras and maybe get an alarm system for the house just to be on the safe side, and I think he's probably right even though it feels unfair that we

have to spend money and change our lives because of Cassandra's drama. The whole thing has made me realize how little I actually knew about Cassandra despite being friends with her for so many years, and it makes me question my judgment about people in general. If I could be so wrong about someone I thought I knew well, then how can I trust my instincts about anyone else, and how do I protect myself and Carl from people who might have hidden agendas or bad intentions? I've been having trouble sleeping lately because every little noise makes me worried that someone might be trying to break in or whoever was in that car might escalate their behavior and actually try to hurt us. Carl has been great about reassuring me and making sure all the doors and windows are locked and secure.

I don't think I'll be posting any more updates about this situation unless something significant happens because as far as I'm concerned, it's over and done with.