My girlfriend called me a “blue-collar nobody” she was embarrassed to be seen with at her party. So I stopped hiding who I am — and started pulling on the threads of every story she’d told me.

Part 4 – HOW MANY OTHERS

Final update.

It has been 3 weeks since everything exploded, and I am finally ready to write the ending to this insane chapter of my life. Fair warning, it gets worse before it gets better.

After I confronted Madison about Brad, she broke down completely. Not the manipulative crying from before, but actual ugly sobbing. “I never meant for it to go this far,” she kept saying. “I just wanted to be someone important.” That hit me harder than I expected.

Brad, it turned out, started as a coworker, then a mentor, then — finally, she admitted — they had been seeing each other.

“How many others are there?” I asked.

I told her to leave and figure out what she wanted: me, or this fantasy life. She promised she would end things with Brad and anyone else. “I choose you, Garrett. I am going to make this right.”

For about 6 hours, I believed her. Then Tyler called back. Madison had drained their joint savings before she left. $8,000. That explained everything — the nice apartment, expensive clothes, constant cash payments.

Detective Rodriguez told me Madison wasn’t unusual. They see this pattern a lot — people creating false identities to gain money or status from romantic partners. “Has she ever asked you for money?” Rodriguez asked. I thought about all those times Madison needed cash for groceries or gas, always with stories about frozen accounts. Probably $2,000 over the past year.

Then I called the temp agency. The supervisor sounded frustrated when I mentioned Madison’s name. “Are you another one of her boyfriends? I have told three other men this week that Madison was terminated for creating fake employment letters using our computers.”

Three other men. Just that week. Derek from the tech company called too — someone had been using his company’s name on credit applications, all with Madison’s name but fake employment info.

When I finally confronted Madison with everything, she tried to deny it all. But when I mentioned the police, the line went dead. Madison disappeared that night.

Tyler called a week later. She had been arrested trying to cross into Canada with fake IDs. Apparently, she had done this in other cities before.

As for me, I am doing okay. Derek hired me for three projects, and word is getting around about my work. I am seeing a therapist now, trying to work through the trust issues this whole thing left me with. Tyler and I stay in touch. He got his divorce finalized and moved to a different apartment. Said he is dating someone from his hometown now, but taking things slow.

Madison took a plea deal. Three years probation, restitution to the temp agency and the guys she defrauded, plus mandatory counseling. She is back in Ohio, staying with her parents.

I still drive by that party venue sometimes when I am working in that part of town. Hard to believe that is where this all started. One night, one comment, and my entire life got turned upside down.

I’m working on Derek’s building project next month. Good money, and he is already talking about referring me to other companies. Funny how being honest about fixing electrical problems turned out better than whatever Madison was pretending to be. Still cannot believe I fell for it for 2 years, though. My truck radio crapped out last week and I actually Googled the repair shop’s reviews before taking it in. Guess I am more suspicious of everything now.

Anyway, that is the end of it. Thanks for following this mess. Time to get back to honest work.