My Best Friend Of 15 Years Asked To “Share” My Husband Because She Saw Him First. Then I Found Out She’s Been Stalking Him For 5 Years. What Should I Do Now?
The Final Confrontation
We were still sitting there trying to process everything Beatrice had told us when the front door slammed open. Elena stood in the doorway. Her face cycled through shock, then confusion, then pure rage.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice shook.
“Elena,” Beatrice started.
“No!” Elena pointed at us. “You went to my mother. You’re trying to turn her against me!” She stormed into the living room. Her whole body was vibrating with anger. “Veronica, how could you do this to me? I’m your best friend!”
“Elena, we’re trying to help you,” I said. I stood up slowly, keeping my voice calm. “You need help. What you’re feeling isn’t…”
“Don’t tell me what I’m feeling!” She was screaming now. “I know exactly what I’m feeling. I love Leo. I’ve loved him for 5 years and I’ve been patient. I’ve been so patient while you got to have him every single day.”
She turned to Leo. “Tell her. Tell her you feel it too. I know you do. I know you think about me.”
Leo stood up. His voice was firm. “Elena, I don’t have feelings for you. I never have. I never will. What you’re feeling isn’t love. It’s obsession. And you need professional help.”
Elena’s face twisted. “You’re lying. You’re both lying. You’re trying to make me look crazy.”
“Honey,” Beatrice said gently. “You need to listen to them. You need to go back to the hospital. Get help.”
Like before, Elena backed away from all of us. “I’m not going back there. I’m not crazy. I’m the only one who sees things clearly. I love him. Why is that so hard for everyone to understand?”
“How did you even know we were here?” I asked.
Elena smiled. It was the wrong smile. Too wide, too sharp. She pulled out her phone and showed us a map with a blinking dot. “AirTag in your car. I put it there months ago. I always know where you are, Veronica. I always know where he is. I know when you go to work. I know when you go to the gym. I know when you’re home alone.”
She looked at Leo. “I know when you’re home alone too.”
My blood ran cold. She’d been tracking us for months. Every move we made, she knew about it. “I know everything about you, Leo,” Elena continued. Her voice had shifted now, almost dreamy. “I know you get coffee every morning at the same place. I know you go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I know you call your mom every Sunday at 2:00. I know you hate olives but you eat them anyway because Veronica puts them in her salads. I know you talk in your sleep sometimes. I’ve watched you through your window.”
Leo took a step back. His face was gray. “You’ve been watching me through my window?”
“Our window,” Elena corrected. “It’s going to be our window soon.”
Beatrice stepped forward. “Elena, this has to stop. You’re going back to the hospital tonight.”
“I’m not going anywhere without him.” Elena’s voice went flat. Deadly calm. “If I can’t have Leo, then no one can.”
I don’t even know who my best friend is anymore. Elena just pulled up outside. She has no clue what her mother told us. The shrine, the prayers, the pills. She’s about to walk into a room where everyone already knows the truth. I’m done being the woman she fooled. I’ll update when this is over. She wanted Leo so badly; she’s about to find out what that actually costs her.
No One Can Have Him
Elena’s eyes darted between all of us. Her mother, me, Leo. Three people standing against her. Her breathing was getting shallow and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
“You’re all against me,” she said. Her voice cracked. “My own mother. My best friend. The love of my life. Everyone I care about is standing in this room looking at me like I’m some kind of monster.”
“You’re not a monster, Elena,” Beatrice said softly. “You’re sick. And we want to help you get better.”
“I’m not sick!” Elena screamed. The sound made all of us flinch. “I’m in love. That’s not a sickness. That’s the most natural thing in the world.”
She turned to Leo and her whole demeanor shifted. Softer now, pleading. “Leo, please. You have to understand. I’ve given up everything for you. I’ve waited for years. I prayed for you. I starved myself for you. I almost died for you. And this is what I get?”
Leo’s face was pale but his voice was steady. “Elena, I never asked you to do any of that. I didn’t know you were doing any of that. And even if I had known, it wouldn’t change anything. I don’t have feelings for you. I love Veronica. I chose Veronica. That’s never going to change.”
Elena flinched like he’d hit her. Her face crumbled for just a second, then her face hardened again and she turned to me. “This is your fault,” she said. Her voice was low and cold. “You stole him from me. You knew I loved him and you took him anyway.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “I didn’t know anything about how you felt. You never told me.”
“I didn’t have to tell you. You should have seen it. You should have stepped aside. That’s what a real friend would do.”
“You don’t understand,” Elena said. She stopped and looked at Leo with an intensity that made my skin crawl. “We’re meant to be together. I’ve seen the signs. Remember when you held the door for me at that coffee shop 3 years ago? You looked right at me and smiled. That was a sign.”
“Elena, that’s just being polite,” Leo said.
“No it wasn’t! You held it for an extra second. You wanted me to notice. And remember at Veronica’s birthday party when you asked if I wanted the last slice of cake? You gave it to me because you wanted to take care of me.”
“That’s love, Leo,” she said.
“That was just I was being nice to my wife’s friend.”
“You were being nice because you love me!” Elena’s voice was getting higher. “And that time at the beach when you put sunscreen on my back because Veronica’s hands were full. You touched me. You wanted to touch me. I felt it.”
I felt sick. She’d been collecting these moments for years. Ordinary interactions that meant nothing and she’d twisted them into proof of something that didn’t exist.
“What about our wedding?” I asked. My voice was harder than I meant it to be. “What sign did you see there?”
Elena’s face flickered. “That was a test. God was testing my faith. Testing how much I was willing to sacrifice for love.”
“You tried to kill yourself the night before,” I said.
“Your mom told us everything.”
“She shouldn’t have told you that.” Elena’s voice went cold. “That was private.”
“You sent a letter to Leo calling me a cheater. You tried to cancel our wedding venue. You’ve been sabotaging us from the beginning.”
“I was fighting for my love!” Elena shouted. “I was fighting for what’s mine. And I almost won. If that stupid venue coordinator hadn’t called Mom back, you never would have made it to that altar.”
Beatrice stepped toward her daughter. “Elena, honey, you need to calm down. We’re going to call Dr. Dixon. We’re going to get you some help.”
“Don’t touch me!” Elena shoved her mother back. Beatrice stumbled but caught herself on the arm of a chair. “You’ve never believed in my love. None of you do.”
She turned back to me. Her eyes were wild now. “If I can’t have him, you don’t get to keep him either.”
She lunged at me. Leo moved faster. He stepped between us and caught Elena before she could reach me. She thrashed against him, screaming, clawing at his arms. “Let me go! She ruined everything! He was supposed to be mine!”
Leo held her tight, his arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. She kicked and twisted, but he didn’t let go. Beatrice was already on the phone, giving the 911 operator her address.
“Do you feel it?” Elena asked suddenly. She’d stopped struggling. Her voice was eerily calm. “Right now. You’re holding me. Don’t you feel how right this is?”
“I feel nothing, Elena,” Leo said. His voice was tired. “I feel nothing but sorry for you.”
“You’re lying. I can feel your heartbeat against my back. It’s racing. That’s because of me.”
“That’s because I’m scared of you.”
