It didn’t start with money. It started with attention. When you’re starved for connection, even a stranger can feel familiar. The conversations weren’t special—until they became the only thing I looked forward to. Every reply pulled me further from reality… closer to something I couldn’t name. But the pauses grew louder. The fractures appeared. The lies spread like fire. They don’t just take your money. They take your trust. And when the silence came, it wasn’t...