WEBVTT 00:00.518 --> 00:04.121 [SPEAKER_00]: What happened when your ex got cheated on by the person they cheated with? 00:04.642 --> 00:05.242 [SPEAKER_00]: Story one. 00:05.683 --> 00:07.764 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex dumped me for his soulmate coworker. 00:08.305 --> 00:12.849 [SPEAKER_00]: He said they just had this magnetic connection and that I wouldn't understand real chemistry. 00:13.029 --> 00:15.471 [SPEAKER_00]: I cried for weeks then focused on rebuilding myself. 00:15.952 --> 00:17.753 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I get a message from him. 00:18.134 --> 00:19.315 [SPEAKER_00]: He wants to catch up. 00:19.455 --> 00:21.997 [SPEAKER_00]: Curiosity got the better of me and I agreed to meet. 00:22.517 --> 00:24.199 [SPEAKER_00]: He shows up looking ten years older. 00:24.679 --> 00:25.140 [SPEAKER_00]: Eyes hollow. 00:25.660 --> 00:29.584 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, she had cheated on him with her new coworker, someone higher up the chain. 00:30.044 --> 00:32.687 [SPEAKER_00]: When she got promoted, she tossed him aside like trash. 00:33.167 --> 00:36.590 [SPEAKER_00]: He tried to win her back with gifts and begging, but she blocked him everywhere. 00:37.071 --> 00:39.493 [SPEAKER_00]: He looked me in the eye and said, I had everything with you. 00:39.993 --> 00:41.815 [SPEAKER_00]: I ruined it for someone who didn't even care. 00:42.015 --> 00:44.337 [SPEAKER_00]: I just nodded, smiled, and walked away. 00:44.798 --> 00:45.378 [SPEAKER_00]: No revenge. 00:45.879 --> 00:46.399 [SPEAKER_00]: No drama. 00:46.820 --> 00:48.081 [SPEAKER_00]: Just sweet cold closure. 00:48.521 --> 00:49.082 [SPEAKER_00]: Story two. 00:49.642 --> 00:52.043 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-wife had an affair with a younger Jim trainer. 00:52.543 --> 00:58.246 [SPEAKER_00]: She claimed she finally felt alive and moved out to be with him, leaving me with our dog and silence. 00:58.746 --> 01:03.948 [SPEAKER_00]: Within three months, he cheated on her with one of his clients, who awkwardly was also married. 01:04.408 --> 01:07.610 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to come back, saying we could start fresh just us. 01:08.230 --> 01:09.711 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, you had fresh. 01:10.211 --> 01:15.173 [SPEAKER_00]: You just threw it in the laundry bin, she cried, the dog growled, we closed the door. 01:15.693 --> 01:17.294 [SPEAKER_00]: Last I heard she moved cities. 01:17.814 --> 01:21.936 [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed right here, got therapy, started dating again, and life's been peaceful. 01:22.416 --> 01:24.738 [SPEAKER_00]: She still watches all my Instagram stories, though. 01:25.258 --> 01:25.958 [SPEAKER_00]: Story three. 01:26.458 --> 01:29.260 [SPEAKER_00]: My high school sweetheart cheated on me with his best friend. 01:29.340 --> 01:33.402 [SPEAKER_00]: He swore nothing happened until the day he dumped me and posted a picture of them kissing. 01:33.962 --> 01:34.202 [SPEAKER_00]: Fine. 01:34.643 --> 01:35.563 [SPEAKER_00]: Let them be together. 01:36.043 --> 01:36.884 [SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward a year. 01:37.064 --> 01:39.466 [SPEAKER_00]: My bestie sends me screenshots from the girls TikTok. 01:39.966 --> 01:42.508 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she caught him cheating with her own cousin. 01:43.008 --> 01:45.490 [SPEAKER_00]: She filmed a whole breakdown, crying about betrayal. 01:45.870 --> 01:47.971 [SPEAKER_00]: How karma hit harder than she expected. 01:48.512 --> 01:49.052 [SPEAKER_00]: The comments? 01:49.632 --> 01:50.913 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, the comments were ruthless. 01:51.434 --> 01:53.375 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't comment, didn't like just watched. 01:53.855 --> 01:56.857 [SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes, silence is the most satisfying response. 01:57.398 --> 01:58.058 [SPEAKER_00]: Story four. 01:58.558 --> 02:00.760 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-boyfriend cheated on me with his barista. 02:01.300 --> 02:05.044 [SPEAKER_00]: Literally met her while ordering lattes and lied to me for weeks while working late. 02:05.145 --> 02:09.590 [SPEAKER_00]: When I found out, I didn't scream, I moved out, blocked him, and vanished from his life. 02:10.210 --> 02:16.237 [SPEAKER_00]: About six months later, he emailed me, not to apologize, but to ask if I'd ever talk to the barista's husband. 02:16.798 --> 02:19.080 [SPEAKER_00]: Husband, I had no idea she was married. 02:19.580 --> 02:25.324 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she was playing both men, and when he found out he trashed my ex's apartment and keyed his car with the word's liar. 02:25.784 --> 02:28.666 [SPEAKER_00]: I printed the email, framed it, and kept it in my closet. 02:29.126 --> 02:30.767 [SPEAKER_00]: Just for rainy days when I need a laugh. 02:31.308 --> 02:37.572 [SPEAKER_00]: Story five, she cheated on me with her funny coworker, said I was too boring and that he understood her darkness. 02:38.132 --> 02:38.733 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever that meant. 02:39.313 --> 02:44.458 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved in together a month later and flooded social media with poems and weird photo shoots in abandoned buildings. 02:44.978 --> 02:46.659 [SPEAKER_00]: Three months after that, she DM'd me. 02:46.719 --> 02:47.660 [SPEAKER_00]: He's seeing someone else. 02:48.181 --> 02:49.021 [SPEAKER_00]: She's even darker. 02:49.222 --> 02:50.483 [SPEAKER_00]: I almost choked on my coffee. 02:51.003 --> 02:57.249 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, he ghosted her after meeting a Goth model, who made TikToks about taro readings and vampire energy. 02:57.749 --> 02:59.110 [SPEAKER_00]: She begged me for another chance. 02:59.671 --> 03:00.972 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her, I'm boring. 03:01.492 --> 03:01.832 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember? 03:02.533 --> 03:03.393 [SPEAKER_00]: and blocked her again. 03:03.954 --> 03:08.816 [SPEAKER_00]: For the last time, story six, my fiance cheated on me with our wedding planner. 03:09.236 --> 03:12.117 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the woman we hired to help us plan our big day. 03:12.658 --> 03:17.840 [SPEAKER_00]: I had no idea until two weeks before the wedding, when I saw texts on his iPad, explicit ones. 03:18.280 --> 03:20.041 [SPEAKER_00]: timestamped during our tasting sessions. 03:20.541 --> 03:23.043 [SPEAKER_00]: My hands were shaking so badly I could barely breathe. 03:23.543 --> 03:24.303 [SPEAKER_00]: I confronted him. 03:24.763 --> 03:29.186 [SPEAKER_00]: He had the nerve to say it just happened that the planner understood the pressure he was under. 03:29.706 --> 03:32.547 [SPEAKER_00]: I canceled the wedding, called everyone, and packed my bags. 03:33.068 --> 03:36.449 [SPEAKER_00]: One year later, a friend sent me a photo of the planner's Instagram. 03:36.890 --> 03:42.773 [SPEAKER_00]: She was posting inspirational quotes about healing after betrayal, turns out he cheated on her with her assistant. 03:43.293 --> 03:44.974 [SPEAKER_00]: The same playbook, same tactics. 03:45.455 --> 03:48.056 [SPEAKER_00]: She lost her business and he moved back in with his mom. 03:48.577 --> 03:49.998 [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, I'm engaged again. 03:50.498 --> 03:51.119 [SPEAKER_00]: Different guy. 03:51.579 --> 03:52.400 [SPEAKER_00]: Different energy. 03:52.860 --> 03:54.981 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes karma's just a well-designed loop. 03:55.462 --> 03:56.142 [SPEAKER_00]: Story seven. 03:56.623 --> 03:58.704 [SPEAKER_00]: Back in college, I dated a guy named Lucas. 03:59.245 --> 04:01.626 [SPEAKER_00]: He was charming, smart, and very into himself. 04:02.147 --> 04:06.470 [SPEAKER_00]: He started acting distant, started studying late with a girl in his business class. 04:06.970 --> 04:09.251 [SPEAKER_00]: I knew something was up and eventually he admitted it. 04:09.731 --> 04:10.671 [SPEAKER_00]: He left me for her. 04:11.171 --> 04:11.792 [SPEAKER_00]: Cold as ice. 04:12.272 --> 04:14.032 [SPEAKER_00]: Five months later, they threw a party. 04:14.533 --> 04:17.174 [SPEAKER_00]: A mutual friend invited me, unaware of the awkwardness. 04:17.754 --> 04:19.374 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't go, but I got the update. 04:19.454 --> 04:23.256 [SPEAKER_00]: She caught Lucas making out with her roommate in the bathroom at the party they hosted together. 04:23.756 --> 04:24.436 [SPEAKER_00]: Full meltdown. 04:24.956 --> 04:27.097 [SPEAKER_00]: Screaming, crying, broken wine bottles. 04:27.617 --> 04:29.238 [SPEAKER_00]: Lucas texted me three days later. 04:29.858 --> 04:31.338 [SPEAKER_00]: I messed up, I didn't even reply. 04:31.978 --> 04:33.499 [SPEAKER_00]: I just sent a thumbs up emoji. 04:33.979 --> 04:36.040 [SPEAKER_00]: Blocked, deleted, moved on. 04:36.580 --> 04:37.981 [SPEAKER_00]: Now I run into him once in a while. 04:38.502 --> 04:39.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Still handsome, still alone. 04:40.343 --> 04:40.923 [SPEAKER_00]: Story eight. 04:41.424 --> 04:43.285 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex cheated on me with his therapist. 04:43.766 --> 04:45.027 [SPEAKER_00]: Yep, you read that right. 04:45.527 --> 04:47.548 [SPEAKER_00]: He had been in therapy for commitment issues. 04:48.029 --> 04:50.090 [SPEAKER_00]: And she helped him realize he needed a change. 04:50.291 --> 04:51.852 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out the change was her. 04:52.352 --> 04:53.393 [SPEAKER_00]: She lost her license. 04:53.713 --> 04:54.294 [SPEAKER_00]: He lost me. 04:54.794 --> 04:56.996 [SPEAKER_00]: I only found out because they went public on Facebook. 04:57.516 --> 04:58.556 [SPEAKER_00]: weeks after our breakup. 04:59.097 --> 05:02.658 [SPEAKER_00]: Comments were turned off, but someone screenshot the announcement and sent it to me. 05:03.179 --> 05:04.379 [SPEAKER_00]: Not even six months later. 05:04.899 --> 05:07.140 [SPEAKER_00]: I hear from a friend that she left him for another client. 05:07.621 --> 05:09.922 [SPEAKER_00]: A younger guy with a motorbike and a poetry blog. 05:10.382 --> 05:13.803 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex spiraled, posted cryptic quotes about trust and trauma. 05:14.323 --> 05:15.044 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't engage. 05:15.584 --> 05:16.404 [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the kicker. 05:16.865 --> 05:20.166 [SPEAKER_00]: The board revoked her license permanently, and she left the country. 05:20.626 --> 05:23.628 [SPEAKER_00]: He's now posting YouTube videos on emotional resilience. 05:23.928 --> 05:25.448 [SPEAKER_00]: I guess irony has a sense of humor. 05:25.989 --> 05:26.529 [SPEAKER_00]: Story nine. 05:27.049 --> 05:29.292 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-boyfriend and I were together for four years. 05:29.813 --> 05:30.794 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought we were solid. 05:31.255 --> 05:34.278 [SPEAKER_00]: Until I found a necklace in his glove box with another woman's initials. 05:34.779 --> 05:36.441 [SPEAKER_00]: He told me it was just a coworker. 05:36.942 --> 05:38.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Then admitted he was seeing her for six months. 05:39.244 --> 05:39.665 [SPEAKER_00]: I walked. 05:40.166 --> 05:42.228 [SPEAKER_00]: Three months later, she posted a story. 05:42.669 --> 05:45.472 [SPEAKER_00]: Her mascara running, her voice shaking, she said. 05:46.153 --> 05:48.134 [SPEAKER_00]: I just found out he's been sleeping with his boss. 05:48.674 --> 05:50.195 [SPEAKER_00]: And then, she tagged him. 05:50.695 --> 05:52.256 [SPEAKER_00]: The comment section exploded. 05:52.736 --> 05:53.916 [SPEAKER_00]: People from work chimed in. 05:54.437 --> 05:56.137 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, he had a thing for authority. 05:56.657 --> 06:02.940 [SPEAKER_00]: He lost both women, got written up at work, and is now single and renting a room from a guy named Mike who collects swords. 06:03.420 --> 06:04.941 [SPEAKER_00]: I got a cat, and peace. 06:05.461 --> 06:06.061 [SPEAKER_00]: Story ten. 06:06.542 --> 06:08.763 [SPEAKER_00]: She left me for our friend group's dungeon master. 06:09.303 --> 06:14.205 [SPEAKER_00]: We all played D&D together, and I guess all that role play chemistry turned into real cheating. 06:14.725 --> 06:19.227 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out after a game night where she accidentally called him babe while handing him a potion card. 06:19.687 --> 06:20.587 [SPEAKER_00]: I was humiliated. 06:21.087 --> 06:21.707 [SPEAKER_00]: Left the group. 06:22.268 --> 06:24.088 [SPEAKER_00]: They became official a week later. 06:24.628 --> 06:25.869 [SPEAKER_00]: I quietly deleted everything. 06:26.129 --> 06:28.630 [SPEAKER_00]: Campaign nodes shared Spotify playlists pictures. 06:29.190 --> 06:30.710 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I got a message from her. 06:31.211 --> 06:32.111 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a single line. 06:32.711 --> 06:33.652 [SPEAKER_00]: You were right about him. 06:33.832 --> 06:40.658 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even know what she meant until another group member told me the guy had cheated with his ex, who had come back to town for a reunion game. 06:41.178 --> 06:42.059 [SPEAKER_00]: He ended up alone. 06:42.579 --> 06:43.520 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to come back. 06:44.020 --> 06:45.381 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even entertain the thought. 06:45.842 --> 06:50.305 [SPEAKER_00]: Because once someone breaks a character bond in real life, there's no resurrection role for that. 06:50.846 --> 06:51.486 [SPEAKER_00]: Story eleven. 06:51.907 --> 06:53.888 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex dumped me right after my miscarriage. 06:54.429 --> 06:55.510 [SPEAKER_00]: Said he couldn't do this. 06:56.130 --> 07:00.534 [SPEAKER_00]: And had reconnected with someone from his past, a girl from high school he claimed was his what-it. 07:00.694 --> 07:02.016 [SPEAKER_00]: I was too numb to process it. 07:02.536 --> 07:04.678 [SPEAKER_00]: Just went silent and disappeared from his world. 07:05.199 --> 07:08.422 [SPEAKER_00]: Eighteen months later, I ran into that what-if at a dog park. 07:08.902 --> 07:10.804 [SPEAKER_00]: She recognized me and apologized. 07:11.385 --> 07:14.348 [SPEAKER_00]: Told me she had no idea he left me right after I lost our baby. 07:14.888 --> 07:16.069 [SPEAKER_00]: She said he never mentioned it. 07:16.569 --> 07:17.530 [SPEAKER_00]: Then she dropped the bomb. 07:17.630 --> 07:20.312 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been cheating on her for almost a year with someone from his office. 07:20.832 --> 07:23.274 [SPEAKER_00]: When she found out she left and he begged to get her back. 07:23.795 --> 07:24.775 [SPEAKER_00]: He even proposed. 07:25.296 --> 07:26.276 [SPEAKER_00]: She laughed in his face. 07:26.777 --> 07:27.277 [SPEAKER_00]: She told me. 07:27.697 --> 07:28.678 [SPEAKER_00]: He talks about you a lot. 07:29.138 --> 07:30.359 [SPEAKER_00]: I think he thought you'd be waiting. 07:30.820 --> 07:31.220 [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't. 07:31.760 --> 07:32.441 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twelve. 07:32.941 --> 07:35.443 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with our band's drummer. 07:35.943 --> 07:40.266 [SPEAKER_00]: We had been making music together for years, and she always said she loved our shared rhythm. 07:40.426 --> 07:42.928 [SPEAKER_00]: Guess she wanted more solo time with the percussion section. 07:43.368 --> 07:44.609 [SPEAKER_00]: They toured together for a bit. 07:45.049 --> 07:46.430 [SPEAKER_00]: Small shows, dive bars. 07:46.951 --> 07:52.414 [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, I focused on myself, picked up producing, started doing studio sessions, got a few viral tracks. 07:52.955 --> 07:53.775 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I got a message. 07:54.215 --> 07:54.656 [SPEAKER_00]: Can we talk? 07:55.236 --> 07:58.017 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she walked in on the drummer with the band's new singer. 07:58.577 --> 08:00.257 [SPEAKER_00]: In the green room, shirtless. 08:00.777 --> 08:04.218 [SPEAKER_00]: When she confronted him, he laughed and said, it's what musicians do. 08:04.658 --> 08:05.539 [SPEAKER_00]: She was devastated. 08:06.059 --> 08:08.639 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her I was headlining a small festival that weekend. 08:09.179 --> 08:10.340 [SPEAKER_00]: She said she'd come watch. 08:10.860 --> 08:13.621 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, you already missed the best part of the song. 08:14.161 --> 08:15.001 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirteen. 08:15.581 --> 08:19.184 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-husband left me after ten years of marriage for his massage therapist. 08:19.704 --> 08:23.707 [SPEAKER_00]: He told me it wasn't cheating just a deep emotional connection born out of vulnerability. 08:23.847 --> 08:26.149 [SPEAKER_00]: I told him it was a midlife crisis with scented oils. 08:26.670 --> 08:27.870 [SPEAKER_00]: He moved into her condo. 08:28.351 --> 08:29.392 [SPEAKER_00]: I moved into therapy. 08:29.912 --> 08:30.773 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years passed. 08:31.313 --> 08:34.696 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I got an email from his sister asking if I'd heard what happened. 08:35.176 --> 08:38.500 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, the massage therapist caught him sexting a woman from his gym. 08:39.021 --> 08:42.645 [SPEAKER_00]: She threw him out, kept the dog, and went public on Facebook with the screenshots. 08:43.146 --> 08:48.192 [SPEAKER_00]: The part that made me laugh the most, he used the same phrases with the gym woman that he'd used with me. 08:48.693 --> 08:49.374 [SPEAKER_00]: Word for Word. 08:49.874 --> 08:51.497 [SPEAKER_00]: Creativity wasn't his strength. 08:51.977 --> 08:52.877 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fourteen. 08:53.377 --> 08:57.099 [SPEAKER_00]: In college, I dated a guy who cheated on me with a girl from his philosophy class. 08:57.579 --> 09:03.041 [SPEAKER_00]: She always gave me weird vibes, very into Nietzsche, War All Black, whispered in corners. 09:03.581 --> 09:06.962 [SPEAKER_00]: When I caught them kissing behind the library, he said, it's not cheating. 09:07.222 --> 09:08.822 [SPEAKER_00]: If it's existential, cool. 09:09.262 --> 09:11.223 [SPEAKER_00]: I packed my stuff and left his dorm that night. 09:11.703 --> 09:14.684 [SPEAKER_00]: A semester later, I got invited to a group trip in the mountains. 09:15.224 --> 09:17.025 [SPEAKER_00]: He and the girl were there, awkward. 09:17.545 --> 09:20.689 [SPEAKER_00]: On night two, she got drunk and confronted him for sleeping with her roommate. 09:21.190 --> 09:21.731 [SPEAKER_00]: He denied it. 09:22.251 --> 09:24.014 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the roommate appeared with screenshots. 09:24.494 --> 09:26.116 [SPEAKER_00]: Full blown campfire meltdown. 09:26.637 --> 09:28.419 [SPEAKER_00]: I sipped hot cocoa and watched the show. 09:28.940 --> 09:30.602 [SPEAKER_00]: Best free entertainment of my life. 09:31.143 --> 09:31.944 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-fifteen. 09:32.404 --> 09:34.808 [SPEAKER_00]: She cheated on me with a guy she met in her cooking class. 09:35.288 --> 09:38.170 [SPEAKER_00]: Said he understood flavors better than I understood her. 09:38.650 --> 09:39.310 [SPEAKER_00]: I kid you not. 09:39.750 --> 09:41.231 [SPEAKER_00]: They opened a little bakery together. 09:41.732 --> 09:42.972 [SPEAKER_00]: Called it sweet beginnings. 09:43.513 --> 09:44.693 [SPEAKER_00]: Instagrammed everything. 09:45.213 --> 09:47.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, I kept my head down, kept working, kept living. 09:48.415 --> 09:50.496 [SPEAKER_00]: Then someone sent me a link to a local blog. 09:50.936 --> 09:53.398 [SPEAKER_00]: The headline, sweet beginnings turned sour. 09:53.878 --> 09:57.020 [SPEAKER_00]: Co-owner accused of stealing recipes cheating on partner. 09:57.560 --> 10:03.222 [SPEAKER_00]: He had taken all their business accounts, the recipes she developed, and run off with one of their part-time employees. 10:03.702 --> 10:07.684 [SPEAKER_00]: She was left with debt, a burned reputation, and a closed storefront. 10:08.184 --> 10:09.104 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to reach out. 10:09.604 --> 10:10.945 [SPEAKER_00]: Said she missed our stability. 10:11.445 --> 10:13.326 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her, hope you find your flavor. 10:13.826 --> 10:14.806 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-sixteen. 10:15.286 --> 10:18.847 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my first serious relationship, and we were together through grad school. 10:19.368 --> 10:22.489 [SPEAKER_00]: He was brilliant, ambitious, and increasingly cold. 10:22.949 --> 10:23.969 [SPEAKER_00]: I chalked it up to stress. 10:24.489 --> 10:25.610 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I found the texts. 10:26.190 --> 10:26.830 [SPEAKER_00]: Hundreds of them. 10:27.330 --> 10:29.571 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been cheating with a professor in his department. 10:30.111 --> 10:31.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Twice his age, married. 10:32.231 --> 10:33.272 [SPEAKER_00]: I left without a word. 10:33.792 --> 10:35.552 [SPEAKER_00]: I moved back home, started over. 10:36.052 --> 10:38.913 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I was working in a bookstore when he walked in. 10:39.413 --> 10:40.653 [SPEAKER_00]: Gone, broken looking. 10:41.174 --> 10:42.394 [SPEAKER_00]: I almost didn't recognize him. 10:42.934 --> 10:44.254 [SPEAKER_00]: He asked if I had time to talk. 10:44.734 --> 10:46.515 [SPEAKER_00]: Turned out the professor's husband found out. 10:47.095 --> 10:50.476 [SPEAKER_00]: Not from me, but from her accidentally texting him instead of my ex. 10:51.016 --> 10:57.077 [SPEAKER_00]: Divorce followed the professor lost tenure, and with her academic reputation in shambles, she blamed him. 10:57.617 --> 10:58.138 [SPEAKER_00]: Completely. 10:58.618 --> 11:03.879 [SPEAKER_00]: She cut him off, publicly blamed him for coercion, and he became a pariah in their academic circle. 11:04.379 --> 11:08.580 [SPEAKER_00]: He looked at me with eyes full of regret, asked if we could find a way to talk again. 11:09.180 --> 11:12.102 [SPEAKER_00]: I smiled politely and told him, you're not the same man I loved. 11:12.602 --> 11:14.143 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not the same woman who waited. 11:14.664 --> 11:15.604 [SPEAKER_00]: Story Seventeen. 11:16.065 --> 11:16.885 [SPEAKER_00]: She was my wife. 11:17.345 --> 11:17.846 [SPEAKER_00]: Eight years. 11:18.326 --> 11:19.327 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought we were solid. 11:19.787 --> 11:23.149 [SPEAKER_00]: We had a kid together, a mortgage, shared Spotify playlists. 11:23.650 --> 11:24.990 [SPEAKER_00]: Then came her new coworker. 11:25.150 --> 11:26.471 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a friend, she said. 11:26.932 --> 11:28.853 [SPEAKER_00]: He started coming over for work projects. 11:29.353 --> 11:30.514 [SPEAKER_00]: They laughed too easily. 11:31.014 --> 11:31.675 [SPEAKER_00]: He brought wine. 11:32.175 --> 11:33.935 [SPEAKER_00]: One day I came home early and there it was. 11:34.496 --> 11:35.276 [SPEAKER_00]: I left that night. 11:35.776 --> 11:38.897 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I heard from a mutual friend that they'd broken up. 11:39.357 --> 11:39.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Badly. 11:40.317 --> 11:44.418 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, he cheated on her while she was pregnant, with someone from his CrossFit class. 11:44.938 --> 11:49.559 [SPEAKER_00]: She found out through a group chat when the other woman bragged about stealing a man from a mom to be. 11:50.099 --> 11:53.460 [SPEAKER_00]: She spiraled, lost custody of her newborn after a breakdown. 11:54.020 --> 11:55.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Her family took over. 11:55.541 --> 11:58.223 [SPEAKER_00]: My son lives with me now, and I've built a quiet calm home. 11:58.744 --> 12:00.905 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes she writes, I don't respond. 12:01.385 --> 12:06.009 [SPEAKER_00]: I just look at my boy sleeping and think, this right here is the only closure I needed. 12:06.549 --> 12:07.350 [SPEAKER_00]: Story eighteen. 12:07.950 --> 12:11.433 [SPEAKER_00]: She left me while we were still paying off a honeymoon we hadn't even gone on yet. 12:11.933 --> 12:15.055 [SPEAKER_00]: Said she felt trapped and had more life to live. 12:15.175 --> 12:18.558 [SPEAKER_00]: Days later, she posted a photo with a bartender from our favorite pub. 12:19.078 --> 12:20.880 [SPEAKER_00]: The caption, found the real thing. 12:21.500 --> 12:27.384 [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed offline, focused on work, paid off the honeymoon debt by myself, moved cities. 12:27.944 --> 12:30.465 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, I ran into her sister at a conference. 12:30.986 --> 12:32.667 [SPEAKER_00]: She looked embarrassed, nervous. 12:33.227 --> 12:34.808 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't bring anything up, but she did. 12:35.308 --> 12:37.590 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently the bartender had stolen money from her. 12:38.130 --> 12:38.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Thousands. 12:39.090 --> 12:40.291 [SPEAKER_00]: Her credit score was wrecked. 12:40.351 --> 12:43.191 [SPEAKER_00]: He ghosted her, changed his number, and skipped town. 12:43.692 --> 12:44.712 [SPEAKER_00]: No one knew where he went. 12:45.172 --> 12:47.293 [SPEAKER_00]: She filed a police report, but it didn't go far. 12:47.793 --> 12:49.253 [SPEAKER_00]: The sister said she cried for weeks. 12:49.733 --> 12:52.114 [SPEAKER_00]: Finally admitted she messed up something real. 12:52.314 --> 12:54.895 [SPEAKER_00]: I smiled, shook her hand, and walked away. 12:55.435 --> 12:57.736 [SPEAKER_00]: It's crazy how fast the real thing can dissolve. 12:58.316 --> 12:59.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-nineteen. 12:59.556 --> 13:00.256 [SPEAKER_00]: He was a model. 13:00.777 --> 13:01.177 [SPEAKER_00]: Literally. 13:01.697 --> 13:02.497 [SPEAKER_00]: Shot campaigns. 13:02.997 --> 13:03.838 [SPEAKER_00]: Had followers. 13:04.298 --> 13:05.018 [SPEAKER_00]: I was proud of him. 13:05.558 --> 13:08.600 [SPEAKER_00]: until I found Flirty DMs with a photographer who used to shoot us both. 13:09.141 --> 13:12.723 [SPEAKER_00]: I confronted him, and he had the audacity to say, you don't get it. 13:13.264 --> 13:14.064 [SPEAKER_00]: She understands art. 13:14.585 --> 13:15.966 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved to LA. 13:16.386 --> 13:18.728 [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed behind, heartbroken, but rebuilding. 13:19.208 --> 13:20.889 [SPEAKER_00]: Took a while, but I started doing well. 13:21.330 --> 13:23.771 [SPEAKER_00]: Landed a contract with a niche fashion brand. 13:24.272 --> 13:25.513 [SPEAKER_00]: Started getting recognition. 13:25.933 --> 13:26.874 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the scandal hit. 13:27.394 --> 13:30.416 [SPEAKER_00]: She caught him cheating, not just once, but with multiple clients. 13:30.957 --> 13:32.398 [SPEAKER_00]: She went full scorched earth. 13:32.938 --> 13:36.639 [SPEAKER_00]: Exposed his messages online, blacklisted him in several circles. 13:37.239 --> 13:38.219 [SPEAKER_00]: Agency's dropped him. 13:38.739 --> 13:46.181 [SPEAKER_00]: He messaged me months later, asking if I'd consider doing a couple's shoot for old times sake I replied with a link to an ad I had just starred in. 13:46.681 --> 13:47.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Solo. 13:47.521 --> 13:48.001 [SPEAKER_00]: No words? 13:48.521 --> 13:49.261 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a reminder. 13:49.441 --> 13:51.782 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of us grow in the silence others leave behind. 13:52.342 --> 13:53.022 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty. 13:53.542 --> 13:54.382 [SPEAKER_00]: We were engaged. 13:54.883 --> 13:56.303 [SPEAKER_00]: Rings, venue, invites. 13:57.083 --> 13:57.824 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything was booked. 13:58.324 --> 14:00.405 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I got a text, anonymously. 14:00.965 --> 14:02.146 [SPEAKER_00]: Check Room IIO III. 14:02.566 --> 14:03.307 [SPEAKER_00]: He's there with her. 14:03.967 --> 14:04.828 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was a joke. 14:05.348 --> 14:06.269 [SPEAKER_00]: I drove to the hotel. 14:06.789 --> 14:07.529 [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't a joke. 14:08.010 --> 14:09.951 [SPEAKER_00]: He was in bed with his friend from work. 14:10.151 --> 14:11.912 [SPEAKER_00]: A girl he said was like a sister. 14:12.112 --> 14:15.554 [SPEAKER_00]: I walked out, canceled the wedding, and left the country for two months. 14:16.115 --> 14:18.256 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, he tried to friend me on Facebook. 14:18.756 --> 14:19.296 [SPEAKER_00]: I ignored it. 14:19.837 --> 14:21.438 [SPEAKER_00]: Two days later, I got a message from her. 14:21.998 --> 14:23.499 [SPEAKER_00]: The same woman he cheated, she said. 14:23.519 --> 14:25.581 [SPEAKER_00]: I just wanted to say I'm sorry. 14:26.041 --> 14:27.983 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know how it started would be how it ended. 14:28.583 --> 14:31.005 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, he cheated on her with her best friend. 14:31.545 --> 14:34.348 [SPEAKER_00]: On her birthday, she found out while cutting her cake. 14:34.868 --> 14:37.850 [SPEAKER_00]: She told me she saw my old wedding Pinterest board and cried for hours. 14:38.371 --> 14:41.093 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her we both dodged bullets, just at different points. 14:41.633 --> 14:44.215 [SPEAKER_00]: I never responded again, but I kept the message. 14:44.755 --> 14:46.517 [SPEAKER_00]: A little digital trophy of survival. 14:46.997 --> 14:47.958 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-twenty-one. 14:48.458 --> 14:50.200 [SPEAKER_00]: He cheated on me with his tattoo artist. 14:50.760 --> 14:51.300 [SPEAKER_00]: No, really. 14:51.860 --> 14:55.361 [SPEAKER_00]: I was literally there when he got her number, said it was for touch-up appointments. 14:55.661 --> 14:59.162 [SPEAKER_00]: A month later, he told me we lacked spontaneity and moved in with her. 14:59.703 --> 15:03.684 [SPEAKER_00]: Two months after that, she posted a cryptic quote about betrayal and blocked him on everything. 15:04.144 --> 15:09.545 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know what happened until he drunkenly called me at one AM, asking if I still had his passport. 15:10.045 --> 15:11.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she cheated on him with her ex. 15:12.326 --> 15:15.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Not once, but repeatedly, in the same apartment they shared. 15:15.949 --> 15:19.151 [SPEAKER_00]: She even tattooed her ex's name on herself while still dating my ex. 15:19.672 --> 15:21.093 [SPEAKER_00]: Then said it was symbolic. 15:21.213 --> 15:24.916 [SPEAKER_00]: When he confronted her, she laughed and said, you knew what I was when you met me. 15:25.416 --> 15:26.937 [SPEAKER_00]: I did not give him his passport back. 15:27.437 --> 15:28.498 [SPEAKER_00]: I mailed it to his mom. 15:28.999 --> 15:29.899 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-twenty-two. 15:30.380 --> 15:34.463 [SPEAKER_00]: I was a nurse working night shifts when my ex started hanging out more with his climbing buddy. 15:34.983 --> 15:36.643 [SPEAKER_00]: I was too exhausted to be suspicious. 15:36.963 --> 15:41.164 [SPEAKER_00]: Until I saw their tagged photos from a cabin trip, he swore he skipped, due to flu. 15:41.704 --> 15:43.185 [SPEAKER_00]: He admitted it when confronted. 15:43.685 --> 15:46.745 [SPEAKER_00]: Said he didn't mean for it to happen, but she made him feel alive. 15:46.985 --> 15:50.546 [SPEAKER_00]: I told him I hope that feeling came with a seat belt because karma moves fast. 15:51.046 --> 15:53.687 [SPEAKER_00]: Six months later, I saw his name on a patient chart. 15:54.167 --> 15:54.967 [SPEAKER_00]: ER visit. 15:55.447 --> 15:56.827 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't recognize me at first. 15:57.287 --> 15:57.787 [SPEAKER_00]: Looked rough. 15:58.268 --> 16:00.108 [SPEAKER_00]: He had come in after an accident during a hike. 16:00.748 --> 16:03.649 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she left him midway through a trip after meeting another climber. 16:04.129 --> 16:04.869 [SPEAKER_00]: She took the car. 16:05.330 --> 16:08.671 [SPEAKER_00]: He walked five miles with a dislocated shoulder before someone picked him up. 16:09.191 --> 16:11.752 [SPEAKER_00]: I patched him up and told the doctor to keep the painkillers coming. 16:11.892 --> 16:12.932 [SPEAKER_00]: Life already did the rest. 16:13.452 --> 16:14.412 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-three. 16:14.933 --> 16:18.174 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex and I were in a long distance relationship while she studied abroad. 16:18.674 --> 16:19.714 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything seemed fine. 16:20.314 --> 16:22.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Until I stumbled across her secret Instagram account. 16:23.375 --> 16:27.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Full of pictures with another guy, romantic captions, matching outfits. 16:28.297 --> 16:30.459 [SPEAKER_00]: When I called her out, she didn't even deny it. 16:30.959 --> 16:32.801 [SPEAKER_00]: Said, I didn't think you'd find it. 16:33.001 --> 16:34.522 [SPEAKER_00]: Then blocked me on everything. 16:35.082 --> 16:38.485 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I got a random email from a burner account from her. 16:39.025 --> 16:41.647 [SPEAKER_00]: She said he cheated on her while they were backpacking in Asia. 16:42.148 --> 16:44.409 [SPEAKER_00]: Hooked up with someone in their hostel and filmed it. 16:44.910 --> 16:46.251 [SPEAKER_00]: She found the video on his phone. 16:46.751 --> 16:48.312 [SPEAKER_00]: She said I didn't deserve what happened. 16:48.813 --> 16:50.954 [SPEAKER_00]: That I was the one who always showed up. 16:51.115 --> 16:52.316 [SPEAKER_00]: I wrote back a single sentence. 16:53.056 --> 16:53.837 [SPEAKER_00]: Too bad you didn't. 16:54.398 --> 16:55.319 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-four. 16:55.819 --> 16:58.562 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a tech executive, driven and brilliant. 16:59.063 --> 17:02.666 [SPEAKER_00]: I was her fiance, a graphic designer, maybe not flashy but stable. 17:03.187 --> 17:05.449 [SPEAKER_00]: One day, she told me she'd been seeing someone else. 17:05.950 --> 17:07.612 [SPEAKER_00]: Said she met him at a leadership retreat. 17:08.112 --> 17:09.414 [SPEAKER_00]: He understood her ambition. 17:09.914 --> 17:12.337 [SPEAKER_00]: She broke off the engagement three weeks before the wedding. 17:12.837 --> 17:13.938 [SPEAKER_00]: Took her ring back to sell it. 17:14.418 --> 17:15.239 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years passed. 17:15.699 --> 17:17.741 [SPEAKER_00]: I was working a conference booth when I saw her. 17:18.221 --> 17:19.543 [SPEAKER_00]: She looked tired. 17:20.023 --> 17:21.044 [SPEAKER_00]: We chatted awkwardly. 17:21.604 --> 17:23.746 [SPEAKER_00]: Then she told me he had cheated on her with his mentee. 17:24.226 --> 17:25.527 [SPEAKER_00]: She caught them in a hotel room. 17:26.068 --> 17:27.629 [SPEAKER_00]: Same chain we'd booked for our honeymoon. 17:28.109 --> 17:29.751 [SPEAKER_00]: She looked like she wanted me to say something. 17:30.271 --> 17:30.652 [SPEAKER_00]: Anything. 17:31.112 --> 17:31.853 [SPEAKER_00]: So I smiled. 17:32.473 --> 17:35.736 [SPEAKER_00]: Handed her a branded pen from my booth and said, hope the retreat was worth it. 17:36.256 --> 17:40.800 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-five, he left me for his gaming buddy, someone he met playing Valorant. 17:41.301 --> 17:44.123 [SPEAKER_00]: They flirted in voice chat, then met IRL. 17:44.584 --> 17:48.507 [SPEAKER_00]: Within two weeks, he said he needed to explore what happiness looked like. 17:48.988 --> 17:50.589 [SPEAKER_00]: Fine, let them play house. 17:51.150 --> 17:56.515 [SPEAKER_00]: They stream together for a while, gained a tiny following, until one day she stopped showing up. 17:57.015 --> 18:01.299 [SPEAKER_00]: He posted a teary vlog saying she ghosted him and drained their joint Patreon account. 18:01.800 --> 18:07.905 [SPEAKER_00]: Viewers were sympathetic, until she posted receipts, showing he had sent Flirty DMS to a dozen fans. 18:08.446 --> 18:10.548 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she was just faster at exposing him. 18:11.068 --> 18:13.911 [SPEAKER_00]: Now he streams alone, barely breaking double-digit views. 18:14.431 --> 18:15.852 [SPEAKER_00]: Every now and then someone comments. 18:16.473 --> 18:17.174 [SPEAKER_00]: Where's your duo? 18:17.354 --> 18:19.715 [SPEAKER_00]: He deletes them fast, but I keep the screenshots. 18:20.256 --> 18:22.217 [SPEAKER_00]: They remind me what dodging a bullet looks like. 18:22.778 --> 18:23.779 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty six. 18:24.299 --> 18:26.821 [SPEAKER_00]: He cheated on me while we were renovating a house together. 18:27.341 --> 18:33.186 [SPEAKER_00]: Literally, while we were sanding floors and picking back splash tile, he was hooking up with our real estate agent. 18:33.746 --> 18:36.728 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out when I walked into the house one day and saw her car in the driveway. 18:37.169 --> 18:39.470 [SPEAKER_00]: But no sign of him until I checked the bedroom. 18:39.971 --> 18:42.252 [SPEAKER_00]: She was still buttoning up her blouse when I walked out. 18:42.733 --> 18:44.194 [SPEAKER_00]: He moved in with her a week later. 18:44.674 --> 18:47.096 [SPEAKER_00]: I signed over my half of the house to avoid the drama. 18:47.576 --> 18:48.357 [SPEAKER_00]: Cut my losses. 18:48.877 --> 18:51.279 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, I got a letter from his lawyer. 18:51.779 --> 18:53.501 [SPEAKER_00]: He was suing her for fraud. 18:54.001 --> 18:56.683 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she took out a second mortgage without telling him. 18:57.244 --> 18:59.986 [SPEAKER_00]: Emptyed their joint account and fled to Florida with someone new. 19:00.426 --> 19:02.708 [SPEAKER_00]: He lost the house, the money, and his job. 19:03.288 --> 19:05.589 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he'd used company funds to furnish the place. 19:06.109 --> 19:08.690 [SPEAKER_00]: I framed the lawsuit notice and put it in my home office. 19:09.230 --> 19:13.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Not out of spite, just as a reminder that Woodrod's fast went built on lies. 19:13.671 --> 19:14.652 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-seven. 19:15.172 --> 19:17.713 [SPEAKER_00]: She cheated on me with a coworker during a company retreat. 19:18.193 --> 19:20.854 [SPEAKER_00]: Told me it was just drinks and that I was being paranoid. 19:21.054 --> 19:23.394 [SPEAKER_00]: A month later, she moved in with him and took our cat. 19:23.855 --> 19:25.455 [SPEAKER_00]: Said I could visit if I behaved. 19:25.895 --> 19:26.495 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't fight. 19:26.956 --> 19:27.776 [SPEAKER_00]: Just let her go. 19:28.316 --> 19:30.877 [SPEAKER_00]: Eight months later, I got a call from a mutual friend. 19:31.437 --> 19:36.001 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she walked in on him sleeping with their neighbor, who also happened to be her boss's wife. 19:36.501 --> 19:37.382 [SPEAKER_00]: Things exploded. 19:37.902 --> 19:43.447 [SPEAKER_00]: She lost her job, he got kicked out of his apartment, and the boss made sure neither of them worked in the industry again. 19:43.987 --> 19:46.289 [SPEAKER_00]: She texted me, I miss when life was quiet. 19:46.549 --> 19:47.670 [SPEAKER_00]: I replied, I don't. 19:48.211 --> 19:49.172 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-eight. 19:49.672 --> 19:51.253 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my boyfriend of five years. 19:51.794 --> 19:54.936 [SPEAKER_00]: A quiet artsy guy who painted murals and read Dusty Fsky. 19:55.377 --> 19:56.538 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought we were soulmates. 19:57.038 --> 19:59.319 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I noticed he was getting close to a fellow artist. 19:59.819 --> 20:01.140 [SPEAKER_00]: Someone I'd introduced him to. 20:01.660 --> 20:02.960 [SPEAKER_00]: He swore it was platonic. 20:03.460 --> 20:05.081 [SPEAKER_00]: They opened an art exhibit together. 20:05.581 --> 20:09.163 [SPEAKER_00]: I attended only to find a painting titled, after she left me. 20:09.343 --> 20:10.003 [SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't left him. 20:10.483 --> 20:12.144 [SPEAKER_00]: That night, I packed my things. 20:12.744 --> 20:15.286 [SPEAKER_00]: Six months later, I got tagged in a Facebook post. 20:15.786 --> 20:18.768 [SPEAKER_00]: A photo of him crying at a gallery, a caption written by her. 20:18.948 --> 20:21.009 [SPEAKER_00]: He broke my heart like he said she broke his. 20:21.530 --> 20:22.630 [SPEAKER_00]: Artists lie beautifully. 20:23.171 --> 20:26.293 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he cheated on her with his ex ex, the one before me. 20:26.793 --> 20:27.454 [SPEAKER_00]: He had a pattern. 20:28.054 --> 20:29.895 [SPEAKER_00]: One brush stroke of betrayal at a time. 20:30.436 --> 20:31.256 [SPEAKER_00]: Story twenty-nine. 20:31.736 --> 20:33.638 [SPEAKER_00]: She cheated on me with her personal trainer. 20:34.158 --> 20:35.019 [SPEAKER_00]: cliche, I know. 20:35.539 --> 20:37.840 [SPEAKER_00]: I paid for the sessions as part of her birthday gift. 20:38.321 --> 20:38.981 [SPEAKER_00]: ironic, right? 20:39.501 --> 20:41.623 [SPEAKER_00]: She said I was too controlling when I confronted her. 20:42.183 --> 20:43.584 [SPEAKER_00]: and left me for him the same week. 20:44.084 --> 20:45.125 [SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward a year. 20:45.605 --> 20:48.507 [SPEAKER_00]: I was at a charity five K and saw her volunteering at a booth. 20:49.088 --> 20:52.530 [SPEAKER_00]: Alone, we made eye contact, and she awkwardly waved. 20:53.011 --> 20:57.073 [SPEAKER_00]: Later, a friend told me the trainer dumped her after she got injured and couldn't work out for months. 20:57.634 --> 20:59.155 [SPEAKER_00]: Told her she was killing his brand. 20:59.755 --> 21:01.697 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to sue him for emotional distress. 21:02.257 --> 21:07.801 [SPEAKER_00]: He posted her texts online, and she ended up getting fired for violating her company's conduct policy. 21:08.341 --> 21:14.205 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say a word to her at the five K. I just ran my race, fast-free, and fifteen pounds lighter. 21:14.706 --> 21:15.326 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty. 21:15.787 --> 21:18.289 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with her theater director. 21:18.749 --> 21:22.492 [SPEAKER_00]: We were in college and she got cast as the lead in a Shakespeare production. 21:22.992 --> 21:25.454 [SPEAKER_00]: He was charismatic, older, and had a wife. 21:25.954 --> 21:28.937 [SPEAKER_00]: When I found out she said, you don't understand passion? 21:29.457 --> 21:30.278 [SPEAKER_00]: This is about art. 21:30.438 --> 21:33.080 [SPEAKER_00]: I dropped out of the play I was helping with and never looked back. 21:33.620 --> 21:36.362 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, she reached out through LinkedIn of all places. 21:36.842 --> 21:38.563 [SPEAKER_00]: Said she was rebuilding her life. 21:39.103 --> 21:45.726 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, the director's wife found out, exposed everything to the university, and both of them were banned from the campus. 21:46.287 --> 21:46.987 [SPEAKER_00]: He divorced her. 21:47.447 --> 21:49.648 [SPEAKER_00]: She got blacklisted from several theater companies. 21:50.229 --> 21:52.130 [SPEAKER_00]: She wanted to reconnect creatively. 21:52.650 --> 21:55.892 [SPEAKER_00]: I hit delete because some roles aren't worth rehearsing again. 21:56.432 --> 21:57.373 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty one. 21:57.853 --> 21:59.754 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my childhood friend, turned boyfriend. 22:00.234 --> 22:01.535 [SPEAKER_00]: We grew up on the same street. 22:02.075 --> 22:07.601 [SPEAKER_00]: Went to the same schools and by college, we were inseparable until he met her during a summer internship abroad. 22:08.101 --> 22:10.203 [SPEAKER_00]: She was edgy, foreign, mysterious. 22:10.704 --> 22:12.205 [SPEAKER_00]: I could feel the shift when he got back. 22:12.706 --> 22:15.809 [SPEAKER_00]: Distant texts, just tired, fewer calls. 22:16.349 --> 22:20.634 [SPEAKER_00]: One night, he told me he'd fallen in love with her that he never felt this free. 22:20.854 --> 22:21.554 [SPEAKER_00]: I was stunned. 22:22.095 --> 22:23.496 [SPEAKER_00]: Not angry, just broken. 22:24.097 --> 22:29.162 [SPEAKER_00]: He left, moved to her city, posted a dozen photos of her captioned, finally alive. 22:29.642 --> 22:30.923 [SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward two years. 22:31.464 --> 22:33.305 [SPEAKER_00]: I got a long message from a mutual friend. 22:33.826 --> 22:37.329 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she cheated on him with one of his best friends from the internship. 22:37.829 --> 22:41.613 [SPEAKER_00]: Not just emotionally, she was pregnant, and there was a paternity question. 22:42.193 --> 22:43.855 [SPEAKER_00]: His best friend admitted it was his. 22:44.315 --> 22:45.116 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex lost it. 22:45.576 --> 22:49.700 [SPEAKER_00]: Got into a fight, broke a hand, dropped out of the grad program he'd moved for. 22:50.201 --> 22:54.064 [SPEAKER_00]: And to top it off, the girl refused to speak to him unless it was through a lawyer. 22:54.545 --> 22:55.866 [SPEAKER_00]: He messaged me months later. 22:56.126 --> 22:57.388 [SPEAKER_00]: I miss who I was with you. 22:57.988 --> 22:58.768 [SPEAKER_00]: I never replied. 22:59.229 --> 23:02.130 [SPEAKER_00]: I buried the boy I once loved the moment he let her erase me. 23:02.670 --> 23:03.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty two. 23:04.091 --> 23:05.572 [SPEAKER_00]: We were married for three years. 23:06.092 --> 23:08.633 [SPEAKER_00]: I was stable, predictable, a dentist. 23:09.134 --> 23:10.434 [SPEAKER_00]: He was charming and reckless. 23:10.894 --> 23:12.895 [SPEAKER_00]: A musician trying to find himself. 23:13.035 --> 23:15.096 [SPEAKER_00]: I supported his dream while he toured. 23:15.597 --> 23:17.278 [SPEAKER_00]: Mostly open mics and tiny venues. 23:17.778 --> 23:19.579 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he found more than just himself. 23:20.179 --> 23:21.500 [SPEAKER_00]: He found his bandmate's sister. 23:21.980 --> 23:23.861 [SPEAKER_00]: I caught them when I surprised him on his birthday. 23:24.381 --> 23:25.802 [SPEAKER_00]: The hotel room had one bed. 23:26.302 --> 23:27.423 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't even try to lie. 23:27.943 --> 23:29.785 [SPEAKER_00]: He filed for divorce first, which was fine. 23:30.305 --> 23:31.226 [SPEAKER_00]: I walked away clean. 23:31.746 --> 23:35.469 [SPEAKER_00]: No kids, no debt, a year later his sister called me, his sister. 23:35.929 --> 23:37.010 [SPEAKER_00]: She said he was a wreck. 23:37.510 --> 23:43.054 [SPEAKER_00]: The girl cheated on him with their manager, emptied the tour fund, and left him stranded mid-tour in another country. 23:43.534 --> 23:45.776 [SPEAKER_00]: He had no visa, no cash, and no way home. 23:46.296 --> 23:47.717 [SPEAKER_00]: His passport had expired. 23:48.217 --> 23:51.799 [SPEAKER_00]: He ended up sleeping on couches, begging for help from people he'd burned. 23:52.300 --> 23:53.941 [SPEAKER_00]: I watched his latest YouTube cover. 23:54.421 --> 23:55.222 [SPEAKER_00]: The first lyric? 23:55.782 --> 23:57.303 [SPEAKER_00]: Should have stayed with the one who knew me. 23:57.383 --> 23:58.444 [SPEAKER_00]: Damn right, you should have. 23:58.924 --> 23:59.765 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-three. 24:00.345 --> 24:06.370 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex-boyfriend was a cop, respected, clean-cut, charming in that my mom loves him kind of way. 24:06.850 --> 24:18.939 [SPEAKER_00]: We'd been together for five years when I noticed something off, late night shifts that didn't match his patrol schedule, guys only trips that suddenly included someone named T. It was another officer, a rookie, a woman he was mentoring. 24:19.420 --> 24:27.806 [SPEAKER_00]: He swore nothing happened until I got an anonymous letter, printed screenshots, photos, he was cheating and using his patrol card to sneak around. 24:28.326 --> 24:28.647 [SPEAKER_00]: I left. 24:29.187 --> 24:30.968 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, he was suspended. 24:31.448 --> 24:32.368 [SPEAKER_00]: Internal affairs. 24:32.908 --> 24:35.629 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she cheated on him with their precinct captain. 24:36.149 --> 24:41.511 [SPEAKER_00]: They got caught in uniform, on dashcam footage from another cop's car during an off-duty party. 24:41.971 --> 24:43.031 [SPEAKER_00]: His reputation tanked. 24:43.531 --> 24:44.871 [SPEAKER_00]: She transferred departments. 24:45.372 --> 24:47.132 [SPEAKER_00]: He now runs security at a strip mall. 24:47.632 --> 24:49.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Still wears his badge on his belt like it means something. 24:50.453 --> 24:52.255 [SPEAKER_00]: I drive by sometimes on my lunch break. 24:52.735 --> 24:54.717 [SPEAKER_00]: He never looks up, but that's okay. 24:55.217 --> 24:55.978 [SPEAKER_00]: Karma did enough. 24:56.558 --> 24:57.459 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-four. 24:57.980 --> 24:59.000 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a wedding planner. 24:59.501 --> 25:02.203 [SPEAKER_00]: Beautiful, organized, and adored love stories. 25:02.704 --> 25:04.745 [SPEAKER_00]: We met when I hired her for my sister's wedding. 25:05.226 --> 25:06.667 [SPEAKER_00]: Months later, we were dating. 25:07.147 --> 25:07.928 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was fate. 25:08.448 --> 25:09.129 [SPEAKER_00]: What I didn't know? 25:09.629 --> 25:11.091 [SPEAKER_00]: She was sleeping with one of her grooms. 25:11.611 --> 25:13.633 [SPEAKER_00]: a guy who's wedding she had planned while we were together. 25:14.093 --> 25:16.615 [SPEAKER_00]: When I found out, she said, it was never about you. 25:17.095 --> 25:17.996 [SPEAKER_00]: It was about timing. 25:18.496 --> 25:23.920 [SPEAKER_00]: They got together publicly, moved fast, got engaged six months after his divorce finalized. 25:24.380 --> 25:27.042 [SPEAKER_00]: The internet called them a love story born in chaos. 25:27.582 --> 25:30.564 [SPEAKER_00]: And then, she found out he was still seeing his ex-wife. 25:31.125 --> 25:32.186 [SPEAKER_00]: The same one he'd left. 25:32.786 --> 25:34.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, the ex never stopped loving him. 25:35.247 --> 25:38.749 [SPEAKER_00]: And when he realized that, he went crawling back two weeks before their wedding. 25:39.209 --> 25:40.150 [SPEAKER_00]: She was humiliated. 25:40.650 --> 25:42.491 [SPEAKER_00]: Lost clients deleted her socials. 25:43.011 --> 25:44.212 [SPEAKER_00]: She messaged me months later. 25:44.232 --> 25:45.513 [SPEAKER_00]: I know I hurt you. 25:45.973 --> 25:47.834 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I finally understand how much. 25:48.374 --> 25:49.155 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't write back. 25:49.655 --> 25:51.076 [SPEAKER_00]: Because love isn't a timeline. 25:51.536 --> 25:52.096 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a mirror. 25:52.536 --> 25:54.017 [SPEAKER_00]: And she never liked what she saw. 25:54.557 --> 25:55.598 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-five. 25:56.058 --> 25:57.339 [SPEAKER_00]: She was my college girlfriend. 25:57.859 --> 26:01.460 [SPEAKER_00]: We were the golden couple, voted most likely to get married. 26:01.600 --> 26:03.961 [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about moving to New York, building a life. 26:04.481 --> 26:06.482 [SPEAKER_00]: Then she took a semester abroad in Italy. 26:07.022 --> 26:08.142 [SPEAKER_00]: The calls slowed down. 26:08.662 --> 26:09.523 [SPEAKER_00]: I made excuses. 26:10.063 --> 26:11.823 [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, she told me she met someone. 26:12.424 --> 26:13.384 [SPEAKER_00]: A local chef's son. 26:13.984 --> 26:15.445 [SPEAKER_00]: It's more than a fling, she said. 26:16.105 --> 26:17.585 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the kind of passion you read about. 26:17.785 --> 26:19.586 [SPEAKER_00]: I was devastated, but I didn't beg. 26:20.166 --> 26:22.587 [SPEAKER_00]: Years later, I visited Rome with my fiance. 26:23.127 --> 26:25.368 [SPEAKER_00]: not to relive the past and just coincidence. 26:25.889 --> 26:28.910 [SPEAKER_00]: We walked into a small restaurant, and there she was. 26:29.451 --> 26:31.512 [SPEAKER_00]: Hosting, she froze when she saw me. 26:31.972 --> 26:38.216 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, he had cheated on her with a tourist, a college girl, while she worked double shifts to help him open the place. 26:38.696 --> 26:40.477 [SPEAKER_00]: She stayed, then he did it again. 26:40.977 --> 26:42.598 [SPEAKER_00]: This time, with their waitress. 26:43.118 --> 26:44.599 [SPEAKER_00]: Now she manages the place alone. 26:45.020 --> 26:46.841 [SPEAKER_00]: He moved to Florence with the second girl. 26:47.341 --> 26:50.603 [SPEAKER_00]: She smiled at us like everything was fine, but her eyes were exhausted. 26:51.103 --> 26:54.384 [SPEAKER_00]: When we left, my fiance said, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. 26:54.924 --> 26:56.845 [SPEAKER_00]: I just said, she chose her passion. 26:57.345 --> 26:58.405 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-six. 26:58.985 --> 27:00.505 [SPEAKER_00]: She was my manager at a tech startup. 27:00.906 --> 27:03.766 [SPEAKER_00]: Confident, ten years older, and wildly charismatic. 27:04.266 --> 27:06.167 [SPEAKER_00]: It was an office romance gone serious. 27:06.667 --> 27:08.287 [SPEAKER_00]: People raised eyebrows, but we were good. 27:08.768 --> 27:12.969 [SPEAKER_00]: Until she hired a new project manager, a guy with a British accent and big ideas. 27:13.249 --> 27:14.329 [SPEAKER_00]: I saw how she looked at him. 27:14.809 --> 27:15.909 [SPEAKER_00]: I knew something was off. 27:16.390 --> 27:17.570 [SPEAKER_00]: She eventually admitted it. 27:18.170 --> 27:19.911 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't mean for it to happen," she said. 27:20.111 --> 27:20.611 [SPEAKER_00]: It just did. 27:20.811 --> 27:21.452 [SPEAKER_00]: She promoted him. 27:21.572 --> 27:22.933 [SPEAKER_00]: They started dating publicly. 27:23.413 --> 27:24.653 [SPEAKER_00]: I left the company quietly. 27:25.094 --> 27:27.675 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, one of our old co-workers sent me a video. 27:28.135 --> 27:33.938 [SPEAKER_00]: The guy had been secretly recording meetings, audio and screen captures, and leaking them to a competitor. 27:34.419 --> 27:35.359 [SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't even British. 27:35.819 --> 27:36.760 [SPEAKER_00]: The accent was fake. 27:37.260 --> 27:38.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Just branding. 27:38.501 --> 27:41.002 [SPEAKER_00]: He took her data, her clients, and disappeared. 27:41.502 --> 27:42.563 [SPEAKER_00]: She had to step down. 27:43.003 --> 27:44.024 [SPEAKER_00]: Investors pulled out. 27:44.544 --> 27:45.424 [SPEAKER_00]: The company folded. 27:45.464 --> 27:46.085 [SPEAKER_00]: I never glowed it. 27:46.565 --> 27:52.188 [SPEAKER_00]: But I did pour a glass of wine that night, and watch the video again, like a movie with a satisfying twist. 27:52.668 --> 27:53.569 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-seven. 27:54.069 --> 27:55.830 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex left me for her spin instructor. 27:56.290 --> 27:57.491 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, the cliche happened. 27:57.991 --> 28:02.193 [SPEAKER_00]: He had abs, charisma, and the stamina of a caffeinated gazelle. 28:02.693 --> 28:05.455 [SPEAKER_00]: She said I was too calm, and he made her feel alive. 28:05.635 --> 28:07.616 [SPEAKER_00]: I packed up my stuff and walked out without a fight. 28:08.116 --> 28:13.038 [SPEAKER_00]: Three months later, she invited me to their soft opening, a new boutique gym they co-opened. 28:13.539 --> 28:14.039 [SPEAKER_00]: I declined. 28:14.519 --> 28:17.341 [SPEAKER_00]: But I followed the Instagram page out of morbid curiosity. 28:17.881 --> 28:22.544 [SPEAKER_00]: Cut to five months later, she posted a black square, taking time to heal. 28:23.025 --> 28:24.226 [SPEAKER_00]: Please respect my privacy. 28:24.386 --> 28:25.106 [SPEAKER_00]: The gym was gone. 28:25.627 --> 28:26.847 [SPEAKER_00]: A Reddit threat explained it. 28:26.987 --> 28:29.749 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been hooking up with three clients, all sisters. 28:30.310 --> 28:33.212 [SPEAKER_00]: One of them caught him, exposed him publicly during a class. 28:33.752 --> 28:34.733 [SPEAKER_00]: A dumbbell was thrown. 28:35.233 --> 28:36.274 [SPEAKER_00]: She lost everything. 28:36.834 --> 28:39.496 [SPEAKER_00]: Lease, reputation, even her dog. 28:39.917 --> 28:41.057 [SPEAKER_00]: She had co-adopted it with him. 28:41.578 --> 28:43.199 [SPEAKER_00]: I heard she moved back in with her parents. 28:43.700 --> 28:44.720 [SPEAKER_00]: She never messaged me. 28:45.221 --> 28:47.342 [SPEAKER_00]: But I know she saw me biking past her old gym. 28:47.743 --> 28:49.204 [SPEAKER_00]: Ear buds in, not looking back. 28:49.724 --> 28:50.625 [SPEAKER_00]: Story thirty-eight. 28:51.125 --> 28:52.106 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my fiance. 28:52.587 --> 28:53.587 [SPEAKER_00]: High school sweet hearts. 28:54.108 --> 28:55.189 [SPEAKER_00]: I followed him to college. 28:55.749 --> 28:56.850 [SPEAKER_00]: Helped him through med school. 28:57.310 --> 28:59.052 [SPEAKER_00]: We even had a Pinterest board for the wedding. 28:59.592 --> 29:00.173 [SPEAKER_00]: Then he cheated. 29:00.693 --> 29:02.174 [SPEAKER_00]: with a nurse during his residency. 29:02.694 --> 29:05.416 [SPEAKER_00]: Said he needed someone who understood the pressure. 29:05.616 --> 29:07.757 [SPEAKER_00]: She moved into our apartment the week I moved out. 29:08.257 --> 29:10.679 [SPEAKER_00]: Eighteen months later, I got a wedding invite from him. 29:11.179 --> 29:13.380 [SPEAKER_00]: Not for his wedding for a mutual friends. 29:13.941 --> 29:14.441 [SPEAKER_00]: I declined. 29:14.901 --> 29:17.283 [SPEAKER_00]: The next week I heard the update from that friend. 29:17.783 --> 29:20.625 [SPEAKER_00]: The nurse had left him for his supervising doctor. 29:21.065 --> 29:22.186 [SPEAKER_00]: She'd been cheating for months. 29:22.786 --> 29:26.150 [SPEAKER_00]: And when she was offered a transfer to a better hospital, she ghosted him. 29:26.610 --> 29:29.694 [SPEAKER_00]: He spiraled, called off his boards, moved home. 29:30.175 --> 29:31.236 [SPEAKER_00]: His mom reached out to him. 29:31.296 --> 29:32.798 [SPEAKER_00]: He still loves you, she said. 29:33.438 --> 29:36.081 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her, that man died in a supply closet. 29:36.642 --> 29:37.523 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-thirty-nine. 29:38.024 --> 29:40.507 [SPEAKER_00]: I dated a guy who was obsessed with cryptocurrency. 29:41.027 --> 29:48.932 [SPEAKER_00]: All day, white papers, charts, tokens, I supported him through the ups and downs, even when he drained our savings into a coin that tanked. 29:49.433 --> 29:52.695 [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, he started talking about a woman from his discord group. 29:53.255 --> 29:59.179 [SPEAKER_00]: She gets blockchain like no one else, when I confronted him, he admitted they'd met in person and slept together. 29:59.700 --> 30:01.561 [SPEAKER_00]: He moved to her city for a fresh start. 30:01.681 --> 30:03.662 [SPEAKER_00]: They launched an NFT project together. 30:04.203 --> 30:05.504 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm muted everything and moved on. 30:06.104 --> 30:07.105 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the scandal broke. 30:07.605 --> 30:09.087 [SPEAKER_00]: She rug pulled the whole project. 30:09.527 --> 30:12.069 [SPEAKER_00]: Took over the wallets, sold everything, vanished. 30:12.570 --> 30:16.333 [SPEAKER_00]: He was left broke, banned from major forums and being mocked on YouTube. 30:16.793 --> 30:17.634 [SPEAKER_00]: He sent me a message. 30:18.114 --> 30:18.655 [SPEAKER_00]: You were right. 30:19.195 --> 30:20.036 [SPEAKER_00]: She never loved me. 30:20.577 --> 30:21.758 [SPEAKER_00]: She just loved the wallet. 30:22.278 --> 30:22.939 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't reply. 30:23.419 --> 30:24.540 [SPEAKER_00]: But I framed the message. 30:25.080 --> 30:25.421 [SPEAKER_00]: Title. 30:25.921 --> 30:26.582 [SPEAKER_00]: Proof of work. 30:27.082 --> 30:27.763 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty. 30:28.243 --> 30:30.025 [SPEAKER_00]: She was my neighbor-turned girlfriend. 30:30.585 --> 30:33.367 [SPEAKER_00]: Sweet, soft spoken, loved plants and baking. 30:33.848 --> 30:38.852 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought she was different until I noticed her phone lighting up every night with new client messages. 30:39.412 --> 30:41.974 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a freelance designer, or so I thought. 30:42.454 --> 30:44.036 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she was meeting a married man. 30:44.556 --> 30:45.276 [SPEAKER_00]: A client, yes. 30:46.017 --> 30:47.639 [SPEAKER_00]: But the kind who pays in hotel keys. 30:48.159 --> 30:50.101 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out when I saw her enter his car. 30:50.582 --> 30:53.244 [SPEAKER_00]: She later admitted it and cried about financial stress. 30:53.785 --> 30:55.206 [SPEAKER_00]: She moved in with him when I ended it. 30:55.707 --> 30:58.810 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, I got an anonymous email from his wife. 30:59.311 --> 31:01.293 [SPEAKER_00]: She found my info through old apartment mail. 31:01.833 --> 31:07.960 [SPEAKER_00]: She told me he cheated on my ex with his original wife, never divorced her, and used my ex's money to pay child support. 31:08.500 --> 31:13.922 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex, evicted, broke, working retail, living with a cousin, I responded once. 31:14.482 --> 31:17.082 [SPEAKER_00]: We were both fooled, at least I escaped sooner. 31:17.623 --> 31:18.663 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty-one. 31:19.163 --> 31:20.743 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my husband of seven years. 31:21.244 --> 31:25.945 [SPEAKER_00]: We were trying to conceive, weekly appointments, meds, stress. 31:26.465 --> 31:29.446 [SPEAKER_00]: One day, he tells me he's overwhelmed and needs space. 31:29.686 --> 31:34.047 [SPEAKER_00]: The next week I find out through our shared Amazon account that he booked a trip for two. 31:34.547 --> 31:37.188 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he was having an affair with our fertility specialist. 31:37.728 --> 31:41.734 [SPEAKER_00]: I had literally sat in the same room with her while she talked about hormones and timelines. 31:42.415 --> 31:43.997 [SPEAKER_00]: All while planning weekends away with him. 31:44.498 --> 31:46.360 [SPEAKER_00]: I filed for divorce and changed clinics. 31:46.921 --> 31:49.365 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, she was sued for malpractice. 31:49.966 --> 31:53.310 [SPEAKER_00]: Not for me, but for another patient who caught her falsifying test results. 31:53.851 --> 31:54.771 [SPEAKER_00]: and her relationship? 31:55.311 --> 31:58.492 [SPEAKER_00]: It ended when she found out my ex was secretly seeing her assistant. 31:59.012 --> 32:00.212 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been juggling them both. 32:00.692 --> 32:01.573 [SPEAKER_00]: She left the state. 32:02.093 --> 32:03.653 [SPEAKER_00]: He tried emailing me recently. 32:04.213 --> 32:06.294 [SPEAKER_00]: You were the only one who never asked me to pretend. 32:06.434 --> 32:06.934 [SPEAKER_00]: He was right. 32:07.434 --> 32:08.934 [SPEAKER_00]: I only ever asked him to be honest. 32:09.414 --> 32:11.195 [SPEAKER_00]: And that was the one thing he couldn't do. 32:11.695 --> 32:12.635 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty two. 32:13.135 --> 32:15.196 [SPEAKER_00]: She cheated on me with her tattoo apprentice. 32:15.736 --> 32:21.377 [SPEAKER_00]: She was the main artist in a trendy shop, and he was this brooding younger guy covered in batting and misplaced confidence. 32:21.937 --> 32:24.718 [SPEAKER_00]: I walked in one day with lunch and caught them kissing in the back room. 32:25.218 --> 32:28.199 [SPEAKER_00]: She said I was too stable, and that chaos made her feel real. 32:28.419 --> 32:29.139 [SPEAKER_00]: I left quietly. 32:29.640 --> 32:31.700 [SPEAKER_00]: Took my dog my clothes and never looked back. 32:32.200 --> 32:36.402 [SPEAKER_00]: About eight months later, I heard from a mutual friend that the apprentice had ghosted her. 32:37.142 --> 32:42.885 [SPEAKER_00]: move to a different state, took some of her clients with him, and started his own shop using stencils she designed. 32:43.365 --> 32:44.265 [SPEAKER_00]: Claimed them as his. 32:44.846 --> 32:49.048 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to sue, but he had made her sign paperwork during their relationship. 32:49.208 --> 32:51.709 [SPEAKER_00]: She was humiliated publicly, lost followers. 32:52.289 --> 32:55.931 [SPEAKER_00]: and even had her yelp page flooded with fake reviews calling her unoriginal. 32:56.411 --> 32:58.352 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to contact me through a new number. 32:58.872 --> 33:00.053 [SPEAKER_00]: I blocked her mid-text. 33:00.533 --> 33:03.815 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't need apologies from someone who inks betrayal so permanently. 33:04.315 --> 33:05.255 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty-three. 33:05.736 --> 33:07.857 [SPEAKER_00]: He cheated on me with a girl from his church group. 33:08.377 --> 33:10.638 [SPEAKER_00]: Said she helped him reconnect with God. 33:10.778 --> 33:12.118 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even know he was religious. 33:12.618 --> 33:15.119 [SPEAKER_00]: He left me two weeks after we moved into a new apartment. 33:15.539 --> 33:16.140 [SPEAKER_00]: Broke the lease. 33:16.560 --> 33:17.420 [SPEAKER_00]: Left me with everything. 33:17.940 --> 33:18.981 [SPEAKER_00]: Said it was God's will. 33:19.501 --> 33:21.842 [SPEAKER_00]: They got married in a rush ceremony four months later. 33:22.342 --> 33:24.222 [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone praised their purity journey. 33:24.382 --> 33:28.904 [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, I took on a second job to pay rent and unfollowed every connection we shared. 33:31.985 --> 33:36.908 [SPEAKER_00]: A church livestream caught her in the background during a sermon, holding hands with someone not my ex. 33:37.428 --> 33:41.690 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out she had been guiding multiple men, and this one happened to be the pastor's son. 33:42.230 --> 33:43.291 [SPEAKER_00]: They divorced quietly. 33:43.791 --> 33:45.192 [SPEAKER_00]: The church released a statement. 33:45.712 --> 33:47.173 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex deleted his socials. 33:47.733 --> 33:51.258 [SPEAKER_00]: I never set a word, but I did frame a screenshot of the video. 33:51.798 --> 33:55.163 [SPEAKER_00]: Right next to my least termination letter, story forty four. 33:55.663 --> 33:58.407 [SPEAKER_00]: We were both chefs, worked together in the same kitchen. 33:58.927 --> 34:06.176 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a high pressure fourteen-hour shift kind of life, but we made it work until he started mentoring one of the new pastry chefs. 34:06.677 --> 34:08.598 [SPEAKER_00]: Young, fresh out of culinary school. 34:09.098 --> 34:13.460 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out through a text meant for her that he accidentally sent me can't wait to taste your dessert tonight. 34:13.560 --> 34:14.080 [SPEAKER_00]: Real subtle. 34:14.580 --> 34:16.221 [SPEAKER_00]: I left the job, the apartment, and him. 34:16.701 --> 34:17.682 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved in together. 34:18.182 --> 34:21.763 [SPEAKER_00]: Trying to launch a YouTube cooking channel called Hearts and He It Flopped. 34:22.303 --> 34:24.444 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I got a message from the girl. 34:24.924 --> 34:29.106 [SPEAKER_00]: She said he'd been stealing her recipes, submitting them under his name at competitions. 34:29.626 --> 34:30.627 [SPEAKER_00]: When she confronted him, 34:31.247 --> 34:33.269 [SPEAKER_00]: He accused her of being overly emotional. 34:33.830 --> 34:36.152 [SPEAKER_00]: She dumped him, posted everything online. 34:36.652 --> 34:40.336 [SPEAKER_00]: He got banned from two food festivals and lost a spot on a local cooking show. 34:40.877 --> 34:43.039 [SPEAKER_00]: Now he does TikTok reviews of frozen meals. 34:43.559 --> 34:46.002 [SPEAKER_00]: I own a food truck that's booked out six months in advance. 34:46.542 --> 34:47.403 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty-five. 34:47.843 --> 34:49.404 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my college roommate's cousin. 34:49.885 --> 34:54.628 [SPEAKER_00]: We started dating after graduation, seemed sweet, low-key, worked in finance. 34:55.209 --> 34:57.010 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out he was cheating on me through Venmo. 34:57.130 --> 35:00.473 [SPEAKER_00]: His payments to her had emojis that got progressively less subtle. 35:00.913 --> 35:03.576 [SPEAKER_00]: When I confronted him, he said, she makes me feel dangerous. 35:03.816 --> 35:04.076 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. 35:04.556 --> 35:05.077 [SPEAKER_00]: I cut him off. 35:05.597 --> 35:08.720 [SPEAKER_00]: He moved in with her, a bartender slash influencer. 35:09.180 --> 35:11.282 [SPEAKER_00]: She loved flashy clothes and high end posts. 35:11.803 --> 35:17.388 [SPEAKER_00]: At some point, she convinced him to invest in their future through a crypto pyramid scheme she was a part of. 35:17.929 --> 35:19.250 [SPEAKER_00]: He dumped thousands into it. 35:19.730 --> 35:20.451 [SPEAKER_00]: Then she dumped him. 35:20.931 --> 35:26.617 [SPEAKER_00]: Took the money, deleted all their photos, and rebranded herself with a new username and boyfriend within a week. 35:27.117 --> 35:28.679 [SPEAKER_00]: He had to move back in with his parents. 35:29.179 --> 35:30.399 [SPEAKER_00]: His Instagram went dark. 35:30.940 --> 35:33.400 [SPEAKER_00]: I still have the screenshot of those Venmo transactions. 35:33.881 --> 35:37.682 [SPEAKER_00]: Just in case I ever need a reminder of what dangerous looks like in clown shoes. 35:38.142 --> 35:39.042 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty six. 35:39.583 --> 35:40.503 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a novelist. 35:40.983 --> 35:43.324 [SPEAKER_00]: We met at a writer's retreat and clicked instantly. 35:43.864 --> 35:48.245 [SPEAKER_00]: I supported her through writer's block, the stress of deadlines and rejection letters. 35:48.786 --> 35:51.166 [SPEAKER_00]: One day she tells me she needs space to create. 35:51.346 --> 35:52.827 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it meant she needed a loan time. 35:53.307 --> 35:55.488 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out it meant she needed time with her new editor. 35:56.088 --> 35:59.850 [SPEAKER_00]: The one who called her brilliant and misunderstood, they got close. 36:00.330 --> 36:00.891 [SPEAKER_00]: Really close. 36:01.411 --> 36:04.033 [SPEAKER_00]: She left me with a half-written manuscript in a broken lease. 36:04.593 --> 36:07.334 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, I saw her in a bookstore, alone. 36:07.835 --> 36:09.836 [SPEAKER_00]: Her book had flopped, the editor. 36:10.296 --> 36:13.078 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd sold her manuscript to another publisher without crediting her. 36:13.658 --> 36:14.498 [SPEAKER_00]: They sued each other. 36:14.938 --> 36:15.619 [SPEAKER_00]: It went nowhere. 36:16.119 --> 36:19.500 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to strike up small talk, said she missed my quiet belief. 36:19.620 --> 36:22.461 [SPEAKER_00]: I told her I wasn't a character in her plot line and walked out. 36:22.961 --> 36:23.941 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty seven. 36:24.401 --> 36:25.342 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my fiance. 36:25.822 --> 36:28.783 [SPEAKER_00]: A paramedic always on call always exhausted. 36:29.303 --> 36:32.564 [SPEAKER_00]: I excused every late night, every unexplained shift change. 36:33.104 --> 36:35.905 [SPEAKER_00]: Until I saw a notification pop up while he was in the shower. 36:36.065 --> 36:37.105 [SPEAKER_00]: I missed last night already. 36:37.205 --> 36:39.086 [SPEAKER_00]: Her name, a nurse from his station. 36:39.546 --> 36:42.147 [SPEAKER_00]: When I confronted him, he didn't even look sorry. 36:42.667 --> 36:42.827 [SPEAKER_00]: Said, 36:43.547 --> 36:46.628 [SPEAKER_00]: You knew I had trauma as if that was a hall pass for betrayal. 36:47.128 --> 36:49.729 [SPEAKER_00]: He left me and got engaged to her six months later. 36:50.269 --> 36:54.610 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, I was working in hospital admin when her file crossed my desk. 36:55.211 --> 36:56.631 [SPEAKER_00]: She'd filed a harassment report. 36:57.111 --> 36:57.591 [SPEAKER_00]: Guess what? 36:58.052 --> 37:01.353 [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been texting multiple other nurses and someone finally spoke up. 37:01.893 --> 37:04.033 [SPEAKER_00]: He was suspended, pending investigation. 37:04.554 --> 37:05.434 [SPEAKER_00]: I smiled to myself. 37:06.014 --> 37:09.318 [SPEAKER_00]: Funny how trauma always gets louder when accountability walks in the room. 37:09.818 --> 37:10.739 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty-eight. 37:11.260 --> 37:15.324 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a social media manager, polished, funny, full of filters. 37:15.805 --> 37:17.066 [SPEAKER_00]: We were together for two years. 37:17.767 --> 37:21.531 [SPEAKER_00]: She handled my photography page and I paid for everything while she built her brand. 37:21.631 --> 37:23.834 [SPEAKER_00]: Then one day she tells me we're in different places. 37:24.094 --> 37:27.117 [SPEAKER_00]: I found out days later she'd been dating one of her influencer clients. 37:27.678 --> 37:31.662 [SPEAKER_00]: A fitness guy with a million followers and zero shirts, they made a big splash online. 37:32.222 --> 37:32.943 [SPEAKER_00]: Matching posts. 37:33.463 --> 37:34.004 [SPEAKER_00]: Hashtags. 37:34.624 --> 37:35.685 [SPEAKER_00]: Number sign power couple. 37:36.186 --> 37:38.928 [SPEAKER_00]: But six months later, their couple account went silent. 37:39.429 --> 37:41.010 [SPEAKER_00]: I eventually found her new page. 37:41.651 --> 37:44.373 [SPEAKER_00]: Solo again, posts full of cryptic breakup quotes. 37:44.914 --> 37:45.775 [SPEAKER_00]: A friend glued me in. 37:45.855 --> 37:48.597 [SPEAKER_00]: He cheated on her with a model in Bali during a brand retreat. 37:49.058 --> 37:52.281 [SPEAKER_00]: She'd caught him live streaming with the girl while logged into their joint account. 37:52.801 --> 37:54.201 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried messaging me after. 37:54.741 --> 37:56.562 [SPEAKER_00]: I replied with just the camera emoji. 37:57.102 --> 37:57.722 [SPEAKER_00]: No caption. 37:58.182 --> 37:59.082 [SPEAKER_00]: Story forty-nine. 37:59.562 --> 38:00.503 [SPEAKER_00]: He was a firefighter. 38:01.023 --> 38:03.503 [SPEAKER_00]: Dependable, brave, and community loved. 38:04.023 --> 38:07.284 [SPEAKER_00]: But behind the scenes he was distant, emotionally shut off. 38:07.824 --> 38:11.725 [SPEAKER_00]: I chalked it up to the stress of the job until I found his second phone in his locker. 38:12.225 --> 38:14.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he was seeing someone he'd met on a wellness retreat. 38:15.186 --> 38:18.846 [SPEAKER_00]: She was into crystals, tantra, and called herself an energy healer. 38:19.087 --> 38:19.847 [SPEAKER_00]: I confronted him. 38:20.167 --> 38:20.887 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't deny it. 38:21.487 --> 38:22.908 [SPEAKER_00]: Just said, she gets my soul. 38:23.348 --> 38:23.628 [SPEAKER_00]: Fine. 38:24.068 --> 38:27.010 [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later, my cousin texted me a link to a Reddit post. 38:27.490 --> 38:33.333 [SPEAKER_00]: She'd gone viral, the healer, for running an emotional boot camp that was actually a front for exploiting clients. 38:33.853 --> 38:34.773 [SPEAKER_00]: Multiple lawsuits. 38:35.314 --> 38:39.456 [SPEAKER_00]: He was mentioned by name, not as a victim, but as her co-creator. 38:39.936 --> 38:41.277 [SPEAKER_00]: They both got investigated. 38:41.757 --> 38:42.697 [SPEAKER_00]: He lost his job. 38:43.178 --> 38:44.618 [SPEAKER_00]: She vanished from social media. 38:45.119 --> 38:47.680 [SPEAKER_00]: I printed the Reddit thread and mailed it to him anonymously. 38:48.220 --> 38:49.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Folded in a fire safety brochure. 38:50.381 --> 38:51.081 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty. 38:51.601 --> 38:53.281 [SPEAKER_00]: She cheated on me with my twin brother. 38:53.862 --> 38:54.642 [SPEAKER_00]: Not just a fling. 38:55.162 --> 38:58.463 [SPEAKER_00]: They had a full-blown secret relationship behind my back for over six months. 38:59.023 --> 39:01.364 [SPEAKER_00]: When I found out, I confronted him, not her. 39:01.844 --> 39:03.984 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, we didn't mean to fall in love. 39:04.504 --> 39:05.485 [SPEAKER_00]: I cut them both off. 39:05.945 --> 39:07.645 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved in together shortly after. 39:08.105 --> 39:09.146 [SPEAKER_00]: The family was split. 39:09.606 --> 39:10.826 [SPEAKER_00]: Holidays became awkward. 39:11.306 --> 39:15.407 [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed away, moved across the country, started therapy, met new people. 39:15.908 --> 39:17.088 [SPEAKER_00]: Then a year later, 39:17.688 --> 39:18.709 [SPEAKER_00]: I got a call from my mom. 39:19.189 --> 39:20.230 [SPEAKER_00]: My brother had been dumped. 39:20.911 --> 39:25.314 [SPEAKER_00]: Not by her, but by his own ex, who he'd reconnected with behind my ex's back. 39:25.795 --> 39:26.355 [SPEAKER_00]: Same pattern. 39:26.895 --> 39:27.616 [SPEAKER_00]: Same betrayal. 39:28.056 --> 39:29.437 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex showed up at Christmas. 39:29.998 --> 39:30.338 [SPEAKER_00]: Alone. 39:30.818 --> 39:32.019 [SPEAKER_00]: She tried to sit next to me. 39:32.520 --> 39:34.221 [SPEAKER_00]: I got up and walked outside without a word. 39:34.722 --> 39:36.643 [SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes revenge isn't about fire. 39:37.163 --> 39:39.285 [SPEAKER_00]: It's about making sure you're not there to burn. 39:39.806 --> 39:40.746 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty-one. 39:41.227 --> 39:43.809 [SPEAKER_00]: She and I were both in law school, the same cohort. 39:44.329 --> 39:50.272 [SPEAKER_00]: We were the power couple everyone knew, debated together, interned together, and even had mock trial chemistry. 39:50.772 --> 39:56.415 [SPEAKER_00]: But halfway through our final year, she started pulling away, late study nights, unanswered texts. 39:56.975 --> 39:58.876 [SPEAKER_00]: Her explanations never quite made sense. 39:59.376 --> 40:00.777 [SPEAKER_00]: Then one day, I saw them. 40:01.257 --> 40:05.559 [SPEAKER_00]: Her and our civil procedure professor, laughing too closely in a downtown cafe. 40:06.059 --> 40:08.701 [SPEAKER_00]: She never confessed, but two days later, she broke up with me. 40:09.341 --> 40:10.982 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not about anyone else, she said. 40:11.002 --> 40:12.122 [SPEAKER_00]: I knew better. 40:12.642 --> 40:14.463 [SPEAKER_00]: They got together right after graduation. 40:14.923 --> 40:16.263 [SPEAKER_00]: She posted a cringey caption. 40:16.723 --> 40:18.724 [SPEAKER_00]: He taught me more than case law, vomit. 40:19.224 --> 40:24.686 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, the professor was fired after it came out he'd been involved with three students all overlapping. 40:25.166 --> 40:26.807 [SPEAKER_00]: One of them filed a formal complaint. 40:27.347 --> 40:34.872 [SPEAKER_00]: My ex was publicly humiliated when texts were leaked in the investigation, revealing he'd called her just a mid-tier brain with a top-tier body. 40:35.373 --> 40:38.675 [SPEAKER_00]: She messaged me a long apology, filled with shame and regrets. 40:39.216 --> 40:39.976 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't respond. 40:40.457 --> 40:43.439 [SPEAKER_00]: But I did send a donation to the Title IX fund in her name. 40:43.999 --> 40:44.860 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty-two. 40:45.420 --> 40:48.982 [SPEAKER_00]: He was a park ranger and we met during a forest conservation project. 40:49.482 --> 40:50.343 [SPEAKER_00]: I was a biologist. 40:50.763 --> 40:51.564 [SPEAKER_00]: He guided hikers. 40:52.104 --> 40:55.486 [SPEAKER_00]: We lived off grid for months, cooking over fires and watching stars. 40:55.986 --> 40:58.868 [SPEAKER_00]: It felt like love stripped of all noise, but then he met her. 40:59.528 --> 41:03.091 [SPEAKER_00]: A travel blogger who came through to document nature with authenticity. 41:03.231 --> 41:04.992 [SPEAKER_00]: She flirted hard and he lapped it up. 41:05.552 --> 41:08.814 [SPEAKER_00]: I should have known something changed when he started wearing Cologne to the base camp. 41:09.334 --> 41:10.174 [SPEAKER_00]: He left me for her. 41:10.635 --> 41:11.595 [SPEAKER_00]: Said I was too serious. 41:12.095 --> 41:15.137 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved into a van together and started a nature YouTube channel. 41:15.617 --> 41:18.719 [SPEAKER_00]: Six months later, they got stranded during a storm in Arizona. 41:19.179 --> 41:23.882 [SPEAKER_00]: She blamed him in a series of Instagram stories saying he ignored basic survival safety. 41:23.962 --> 41:24.822 [SPEAKER_00]: Their channel tanked. 41:25.302 --> 41:29.164 [SPEAKER_00]: She broke up with him on livestream, throwing his hiking boots out of the van mid-Rant. 41:29.664 --> 41:33.126 [SPEAKER_00]: He called me afterwards said, you were the only one who understood the land in me. 41:33.667 --> 41:33.947 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, 41:34.607 --> 41:36.649 [SPEAKER_00]: Too bad you treated both like they'd always be there. 41:37.149 --> 41:38.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty-three. 41:38.610 --> 41:41.832 [SPEAKER_00]: She was an EMT, cool under pressure and full of dark humor. 41:42.333 --> 41:46.116 [SPEAKER_00]: We dated for two years, lived together, shared a dog, had a rhythm. 41:46.576 --> 41:47.777 [SPEAKER_00]: But then came the new hire. 41:48.397 --> 41:50.959 [SPEAKER_00]: A rookie paramedic who wrote shotgun on all her calls. 41:51.420 --> 41:55.283 [SPEAKER_00]: She started coming home later, showering before hugging me, locking her phone. 41:55.803 --> 41:58.225 [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually I found the texts, explicit. 41:58.785 --> 42:05.686 [SPEAKER_00]: Cruel, mocking me, she said she didn't mean to hurt me, but what we had ran its course, they got a place together two weeks later. 42:06.186 --> 42:07.106 [SPEAKER_00]: I let her keep the dog. 42:07.627 --> 42:09.007 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to argue over anything. 42:09.547 --> 42:11.227 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, she showed up at my door. 42:11.727 --> 42:17.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Alone, crying, said he had cheated on her during a call, made out with a nurse while a patient was being transported. 42:18.388 --> 42:19.149 [SPEAKER_00]: It got reported. 42:19.649 --> 42:22.989 [SPEAKER_00]: She got suspended for unprofessional conduct by association. 42:23.489 --> 42:25.370 [SPEAKER_00]: She said, he ruined everything. 42:25.890 --> 42:26.950 [SPEAKER_00]: I said, no, you did. 42:27.530 --> 42:28.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I shut the door. 42:28.830 --> 42:29.791 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty-four. 42:30.291 --> 42:31.811 [SPEAKER_00]: We were small town royalty. 42:32.291 --> 42:36.933 [SPEAKER_00]: High school sweetheart's prom king and queen voted most likely to marry and we did. 42:37.413 --> 42:38.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Right out of college. 42:38.693 --> 42:40.214 [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed to teach third grade. 42:40.694 --> 42:41.834 [SPEAKER_00]: He got into real estate. 42:42.375 --> 42:46.296 [SPEAKER_00]: We were the golden couple until he started showing too many listings to his assistant. 42:46.776 --> 42:49.617 [SPEAKER_00]: She was ten years younger with fake lashes and fake concern. 42:50.137 --> 42:53.398 [SPEAKER_00]: When I confronted him, he told me she made him feel like a man again. 42:54.038 --> 42:54.938 [SPEAKER_00]: I filed for divorce. 42:55.539 --> 42:57.179 [SPEAKER_00]: Small town, big whispers. 42:57.699 --> 42:58.940 [SPEAKER_00]: They got engaged fast. 42:59.380 --> 43:00.940 [SPEAKER_00]: She moved into the house I designed. 43:01.401 --> 43:05.762 [SPEAKER_00]: For a year I stayed quiet, smiling through PTA meetings and sideways looks. 43:06.262 --> 43:12.765 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I heard through the grapevine she cheated, with his business partner, in his own office, caught on a ring camera. 43:13.225 --> 43:14.285 [SPEAKER_00]: He tried to win me back. 43:14.845 --> 43:16.446 [SPEAKER_00]: Said, let's talk like adults. 43:16.766 --> 43:19.207 [SPEAKER_00]: I smiled and handed him a note my students made that said, 43:19.867 --> 43:21.629 [SPEAKER_00]: We're proud of Miss Daniels for kicking butt. 43:22.129 --> 43:23.170 [SPEAKER_00]: He left without a word. 43:23.670 --> 43:24.691 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-fifty-five. 43:25.172 --> 43:26.873 [SPEAKER_00]: He was my business partner and boyfriend. 43:27.333 --> 43:29.255 [SPEAKER_00]: We co-owned a boutique clothing brand. 43:29.295 --> 43:30.416 [SPEAKER_00]: He handled logistics. 43:30.876 --> 43:31.677 [SPEAKER_00]: I did the designs. 43:32.218 --> 43:32.958 [SPEAKER_00]: We grew fast. 43:33.479 --> 43:34.680 [SPEAKER_00]: Local media features. 43:35.140 --> 43:36.001 [SPEAKER_00]: Instagram deals. 43:36.541 --> 43:37.362 [SPEAKER_00]: Life felt big. 43:37.862 --> 43:38.943 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I saw the invoices. 43:39.364 --> 43:41.385 [SPEAKER_00]: Thousands going to a supplier I'd never heard of. 43:41.926 --> 43:42.606 [SPEAKER_00]: I dug deeper. 43:43.107 --> 43:44.048 [SPEAKER_00]: The supplier was her. 43:44.548 --> 43:46.290 [SPEAKER_00]: A model we had hired for a single shoot. 43:46.850 --> 43:50.832 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, he was paying her to ghost design backup collections without telling me. 43:51.293 --> 43:53.174 [SPEAKER_00]: He told me I was too emotional to scale. 43:53.614 --> 43:55.055 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a better collaborator. 43:55.535 --> 43:56.515 [SPEAKER_00]: I sold my shares. 43:56.976 --> 43:57.476 [SPEAKER_00]: Quietly. 43:57.976 --> 43:58.977 [SPEAKER_00]: Let him have the brand. 43:59.497 --> 44:01.678 [SPEAKER_00]: He renamed it after her and relaunched. 44:02.179 --> 44:06.761 [SPEAKER_00]: Six months later, she sued him for breach of contract, claiming she designed all the IP. 44:07.181 --> 44:08.682 [SPEAKER_00]: Their court fight made headlines. 44:09.223 --> 44:11.764 [SPEAKER_00]: Investors pulled out the site when offline. 44:12.264 --> 44:13.285 [SPEAKER_00]: He lost everything. 44:13.785 --> 44:16.546 [SPEAKER_00]: I started a new brand, just my name on the label. 44:17.087 --> 44:17.387 [SPEAKER_00]: Clean. 44:17.887 --> 44:19.248 [SPEAKER_00]: Simple, untouchable. 44:19.768 --> 44:21.048 [SPEAKER_00]: He DM'd me a year later. 44:21.068 --> 44:23.009 [SPEAKER_00]: I miss building things with you. 44:23.549 --> 44:25.450 [SPEAKER_00]: I replied with a link to my Forbes feature. 44:25.951 --> 44:26.831 [SPEAKER_00]: Story-fifty-six. 44:27.311 --> 44:28.092 [SPEAKER_00]: He was a pilot. 44:28.572 --> 44:30.693 [SPEAKER_00]: Smooth talker, always jetting off somewhere. 44:31.333 --> 44:32.895 [SPEAKER_00]: both literally and metaphorically. 44:33.356 --> 44:35.459 [SPEAKER_00]: We were together for almost four years. 44:35.980 --> 44:41.589 [SPEAKER_00]: I trusted him blindly, even when he went on long haul flights and sometimes went dark for twelve hours at a time. 44:42.109 --> 44:44.032 [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, I found his second Instagram. 44:44.513 --> 44:45.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Private, different name. 44:46.456 --> 44:48.097 [SPEAKER_00]: different city tagged in all the posts. 44:48.597 --> 44:50.739 [SPEAKER_00]: And in every single one, the same woman. 44:51.219 --> 44:54.221 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out he had a whole second relationship with a flight attendant. 44:54.741 --> 44:57.462 [SPEAKER_00]: He said she made him feel untethered, whatever that means. 44:58.023 --> 44:59.484 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved in together in Miami. 44:59.944 --> 45:03.786 [SPEAKER_00]: She posted photos of their beach dates and captioned them, found my copilot. 45:04.306 --> 45:06.628 [SPEAKER_00]: But six months later, she posted a cryptic story. 45:06.788 --> 45:08.969 [SPEAKER_00]: If he lies to one woman, he'll lie to you too. 45:09.169 --> 45:10.030 [SPEAKER_00]: Then she tagged me. 45:10.510 --> 45:12.071 [SPEAKER_00]: People started connecting the dots. 45:12.571 --> 45:14.512 [SPEAKER_00]: He had been cheating on her with someone in Brazil. 45:15.032 --> 45:15.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Another flight attendant. 45:16.413 --> 45:17.394 [SPEAKER_00]: She found love notes. 45:17.894 --> 45:18.895 [SPEAKER_00]: He blamed Jetlag. 45:19.335 --> 45:20.896 [SPEAKER_00]: He now flies budget airlines. 45:21.456 --> 45:21.756 [SPEAKER_00]: Alone. 45:22.257 --> 45:26.719 [SPEAKER_00]: And I, I grounded myself in therapy and found someone who doesn't need a passport to be honest. 45:27.240 --> 45:28.180 [SPEAKER_00]: Story fifty-seven. 45:28.700 --> 45:31.822 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a therapist, a literal mental health professional. 45:32.303 --> 45:36.305 [SPEAKER_00]: We met through mutual friends, and I admired how thoughtful and centered she seemed. 45:36.785 --> 45:43.896 [SPEAKER_00]: But over time, I noticed she was always decompressing after client calls, with one specific coworker, a crisis counselor. 45:44.376 --> 45:47.401 [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out, there after hours chats weren't exactly clinical. 45:47.882 --> 45:51.407 [SPEAKER_00]: I confronted her when she forgot to switch accounts before sending a message meant for him. 45:51.627 --> 45:53.548 [SPEAKER_00]: I miss our sessions more than the clients do. 45:53.648 --> 45:55.169 [SPEAKER_00]: That hurt more than anything else. 45:55.369 --> 45:58.210 [SPEAKER_00]: The emotional intimacy she shared with me was being rerouted. 45:58.710 --> 45:59.650 [SPEAKER_00]: They moved in together. 46:00.131 --> 46:02.812 [SPEAKER_00]: She started a podcast about healing through honesty. 46:02.832 --> 46:04.072 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm muted at all. 46:04.552 --> 46:09.054 [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, someone posted a viral threat about unethical behavior in the therapy world. 46:09.555 --> 46:10.235 [SPEAKER_00]: It was about her. 46:10.796 --> 46:14.866 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, she'd broken confidentiality to manipulate a client into stopping therapy. 46:15.367 --> 46:19.597 [SPEAKER_00]: Because the client was dating her new boyfriend's ex, the licensing board got involved. 46:20.118 --> 46:21.522 [SPEAKER_00]: The podcast was taken down. 46:22.043 --> 46:23.868 [SPEAKER_00]: He left her for someone less complicated. 46:24.369 --> 46:25.632 [SPEAKER_00]: She emailed me in apology. 46:26.133 --> 46:29.301 [SPEAKER_00]: I replied with a single line, you were trained to do better.