She discarded me like a backup plan and now she was the one unraveled, broke, alone in a city that chewed her up. The attempt started small about a week after the scam blew up. First, a text from an unknown number. Hers, I guessed since I blocked her old one. Alex, it's Zoe.
I need to talk. Made a huge mistake. I stared at it, feeling nothing but mild annoyance. No response. Then calls, voicemails piling up.
I listened to one. Please pick up. Things went wrong with Jake. He He took everything. I'm stuck here.
Can we just talk? I miss us. Desperation ramped up. More texts. I know I hurt you, but I was confused.
Vegas was a wakeup call. You're the real deal. Then her best friend Sarah got involved. Toxic as ever. The one who'd encouraged the trip.
My phone rang one afternoon at work. I answered thinking it was a client. Alex, it's Sarah. Listen, Zoe's in a bad spot. That guy's a creep.
Stole her money, left her high and dry. She's crashing on a couch, scraping by with gig work. You need to help her. I kept my tone even. Sarah, that's not my responsibility anymore.
She huffed, unpleasant edge sharpening. Oh, come on. After 4 years, you're just going to abandon her. She said you were always the reliable one. Prove it.
Send some cash or at least talk to her. She's crying every night. Hypocrisy dripped from her words. Abandon her like Zoe hadn't abandoned me. She chose this path.
I'm out. I hung up. Blocked her too. Zoe escalated. Emails now since texts weren't working.
Alex, please. I see now how good we had it. Your stability. I took it for granted. Jake was fake.
Abusive in ways I didn't see coming. Yelled at me. Controlled everything before bolting. I'm isolated here. No friends, no family nearby.
Help me get home. No sympathy from me. Then her family jumped in. Her mom texted from a number I didn't recognize. This is Zoe's mother.
How dare you ignore her. She's your girlfriend, X or not. You owe her after all she put up with. Your boring routine drove her away and now she's suffering. Wire money for a ticket.
Be a man. Unpleasant didn't cover it. Blaming me for Zoe's choices. I replied once. She ended us.