Latest / Martin Animations / My neighbor used me as a fake husband to escape her stalker_ now I can_t escape her

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My neighbor used me as a fake husband to escape her stalker_ now I can_t escape her · Martin Animations

0:00
Speaker 1: My neighbor used me as a fake husband to escape
0:02
Speaker 1: her stalker. Now I can't escape her. She was standing
0:04
Speaker 1: in my doorway at 2.47 a.m., mascara streaking down her face,
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Speaker 1: wearing a robe that looked like she'd grabbed it in
0:11
Speaker 1: a panic. I'd seen her maybe three times in the
0:13
Speaker 1: eight months I'd lived in apartment 4B, always just polite
0:16
Speaker 1: nods in the hallway. Now she was whispering pleas with
0:19
Speaker 1: a desperation that made my stomach clench. He's outside, she said,
0:23
Speaker 1: her voice cracking. I can hear him pacing by my door.
0:26
Speaker 1: If he thinks I'm alone, he's going to break it down.
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Speaker 1: I need you to answer my door. I need him
0:30
Speaker 1: to think I have a husband, just for tonight, just
0:32
Speaker 1: until he leaves. I should have said no, should have
0:35
Speaker 1: told her to call 911 to hide in my bathroom
0:37
Speaker 1: while I dealt with whatever psycho was terrorizing her. Instead,
0:40
Speaker 1: I pulled on a shirt and followed her barefoot across
0:43
Speaker 1: the hallway to apartment 4A. The second I stepped inside,
0:46
Speaker 1: I knew something was wrong. Her apartment wasn't messy, wasn't
0:49
Speaker 1: showing signs of someone fleeing in terror. Everything was arranged perfectly.
0:53
Speaker 1: Candles on the coffee table, wine glasses, two of them,
0:56
Speaker 1: one with lipstick marks, like she'd been expecting company. but
0:59
Speaker 1: before I could process that, someone pounded on her door
1:02
Speaker 1: so hard the frame shook. Her hand grabbed my wrist,
1:05
Speaker 1: nails digging in. Please, she whispered. Just answer it. Tell
1:08
Speaker 1: him to leave. Tell him your wife needs to sleep.
1:10
Speaker 1: The pounding came again, harder. A male voice, rough and angry,
1:14
Speaker 1: demanding she open the door. I walked to the door
1:16
Speaker 1: and opened it with the chain still on, the way
1:18
Speaker 1: you do when you're not sure what's on the other side.
1:21
Speaker 1: A man stood there, mid-thirties, built like he spent serious
1:24
Speaker 1: time in a gym, with a neck tattoo that disappeared
1:26
Speaker 1: under his collar. His eyes went from angry to confused
1:29
Speaker 1: when he saw me. Who the hell are you? Her husband,
1:32
Speaker 1: I said, keeping my voice level. And you need to leave. Now.
1:36
Speaker 1: His face did something complicated, cycling through disbelief, rage, and
1:40
Speaker 1: something else I couldn't identify. Husband? He looked past me,
1:43
Speaker 1: trying to see into the apartment. Olivia? You lying bitch.
1:47
Speaker 1: You don't have a husband. She came up behind me then,
1:49
Speaker 1: wrapping her arms around my waist from behind, her head
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Speaker 1: pressing against my back. Baby, please make him go away.
1:55
Speaker 1: The word baby came out trembling. Genuine fear in her voice.
1:58
Speaker 1: I told you we were done, she said to the man.
2:00
Speaker 1: I told you to stop coming here. You said you
2:02
Speaker 1: lived alone. His voice had an edge now, dangerous. You
2:05
Speaker 1: said there was no one else. Because there wasn't, I said,
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Speaker 1: making my voice harder. Until I moved in three months ago.
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Speaker 1: We got married last month. Now get away from my
2:13
Speaker 1: wife's door before I call the cops. The lie came
2:16
Speaker 1: so easily it surprised me. The man stared at me
2:19
Speaker 1: for a long moment, his jaw working like he was
2:21
Speaker 1: trying to decide whether to believe this. Finally, he stepped back.
2:25
Speaker 1: This isn't over, Olivia. I know you're lying. He looked
2:27
Speaker 1: at me. I know you're lying. Then he turned and
2:30
Speaker 1: walked down the hallway, but not toward the stairs. Toward
2:33
Speaker 1: the elevator. Where he could watch. Where he could wait.
2:36
Speaker 1: I closed the door and turned to find Olivia slumped
2:38
Speaker 1: against the wall, her hand pressed to her mouth. Thank you,
2:41
Speaker 1: she whispered. Thank you so much. He won't believe it.
2:44
Speaker 1: He's going to watch my door now. He's going to
2:46
Speaker 1: see you leave. The panic in her voice seemed real,
2:49
Speaker 1: but something about this whole situation felt staged. I need
2:51
Speaker 1: you to stay, she said quickly. Just tonight. Sleep on
2:54
Speaker 1: my couch. If he sees you leave in five minutes,
2:57
Speaker 1: he'll know we lied. If you stay until morning, leave
3:00
Speaker 1: for work, like this is your apartment too. Maybe he'll
3:02
Speaker 1: believe it. Maybe he'll finally leave me alone. I looked
3:05
Speaker 1: around her apartment again. The wine glasses. The candles. The
3:09
Speaker 1: perfectly arranged throw pillows. This didn't look like the home
3:11
Speaker 1: of someone living in fear. Olivia, I said carefully, what's
3:15
Speaker 1: really going on here? She looked up at me, and
3:17
Speaker 1: for just a second, I saw something in her eyes
3:19
Speaker 1: that wasn't fear. Something calculating. Then it was gone, replaced
3:23
Speaker 1: by tears. Please, she said. I know this is insane.
3:27
Speaker 1: I know you don't know me. But he's been stalking
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Speaker 1: me for three months. He won't accept that I broke
3:31
Speaker 1: up with him. He shows up at my work. He
3:33
Speaker 1: follows me to the gym. He sends me photos of
3:35
Speaker 1: myself that he takes without me knowing. The police say
3:38
Speaker 1: they can't do anything until he actually hurts me. I
3:40
Speaker 1: just need him to think I've moved on. That I'm married.
3:43
Speaker 1: That there's a man here who won't let him near me.
3:45
Speaker 1: Just until he gives up and finds someone else to
3:47
Speaker 1: obsess over. The thing is, everything she said sounded reasonable.
3:50
Speaker 1: Sounded like the kind of nightmare that happens to women
3:52
Speaker 1: all the time. but something in my gut was screaming
3:55
Speaker 1: that this was wrong, that I was being played, that
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Speaker 1: I should walk out right now. Instead, I said, okay,
4:01
Speaker 1: just tonight. She smiled, relief flooding her face. Thank you. God,
4:05
Speaker 1: thank you. You can have the bedroom. I'll take the couch. No,
4:08
Speaker 1: I'll take the couch. You shouldn't have to give up
4:10
Speaker 1: your bed because of my mess. She didn't argue, just
4:13
Speaker 1: disappeared into her bedroom and came back with blankets and
4:15
Speaker 1: a pillow. I settled onto the couch, which was surprisingly comfortable,
4:19
Speaker 1: and tried to make sense of what I'd just agreed to.
4:22
Speaker 1: The apartment was silent except for the hum of the
4:24
Speaker 1: refrigerator and the occasional sound of traffic from outside. I
4:26
Speaker 1: must have dozed off because I woke to sunlight streaming
4:29
Speaker 1: through the windows and the smell of coffee. Olivia was
4:32
Speaker 1: in the kitchen, wearing yoga pants and a tank top,
4:34
Speaker 1: her hair pulled back, looking nothing like the terrified woman
4:37
Speaker 1: from last night. Morning, she said brightly. I made coffee.
4:40
Speaker 1: Figured you'd need it before work. I sat up, disoriented.
4:43
Speaker 1: What time is it? 7.30. I wasn't sure when you
4:45
Speaker 1: needed to leave, so I wanted to make sure you
4:47
Speaker 1: were up. She handed me a mug, her fingers brushing mine.
4:50
Speaker 1: Thank you again for last night. I owe you everything.
4:53
Speaker 1: I need to check if he's still out there, I said.
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Speaker 1: If he left, you're clear. She walked to the window
4:57
Speaker 1: and peered through the blinds. Her body tensed. He's in
5:00
Speaker 1: his car, across the street. He's been watching all night.
5:03
Speaker 1: I joined her at the window. Sure enough, there was
5:05
Speaker 1: a black sedan parked with a clear view of the
5:07
Speaker 1: building entrance. I could see someone in the driver's seat,
5:10
Speaker 1: though I couldn't make out details from this distance. Okay,
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Speaker 1: I said. So I leave for work like normal. Go
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Speaker 1: to my apartment, shower, change, leave. That should be convincing enough.
5:18
Speaker 1: She bit her lip. The thing is, he knows everyone
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Speaker 1: in this building. He's seen you before. If you go
5:23
Speaker 1: back to 4B, he'll know we lied. He'll know you
5:26
Speaker 1: live across the hall, not with me. My stomach dropped.
5:28
Speaker 1: How do you know he's seen me before? Because he's obsessive.
5:31
Speaker 1: He takes photos of everyone who lives here. He has
5:33
Speaker 1: files on all the residents. He knows your name is Daniel.
5:36
Speaker 1: He knows you work in software development. He knows you're
5:39
Speaker 1: single and you moved in eight months ago from Seattle.
5:42
Speaker 1: The way she said it, so matter of fact, made
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Speaker 1: my blood run cold. How do you know what he knows?
5:47
Speaker 1: She looked away. Because he sends me the files. To
5:49
Speaker 1: prove he's watching. prove he knows everything. She pulled out
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Speaker 1: her phone and showed me a folder of photos. Pictures
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Speaker 1: of me getting my mail, walking to my car, coming
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Speaker 1: home with groceries, all taken from a distance, all without
6:01
Speaker 1: my knowledge. The timestamps went back months. This guy had
6:04
Speaker 1: been surveilling the entire building and I'd never noticed. We
6:07
Speaker 1: need to go to the police, I said. Right now.
6:10
Speaker 1: With these photos, they have to take this seriously. She
6:12
Speaker 1: shook her head. I've tried. Five times. They say it's
6:16
Speaker 1: not enough. He's not threatening me directly. He's not breaking
6:19
Speaker 1: any laws by taking photos in public. They told me
6:22
Speaker 1: to get a restraining order, but I need evidence of
6:24
Speaker 1: actual threats first. It's a nightmare loop. She sat down,
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Speaker 1: her hands shaking. That's why I needed you last night.
6:30
Speaker 1: If he thinks I'm married, if he thinks there's a
6:32
Speaker 1: man here who's protecting me, maybe his obsession will break.
6:35
Speaker 1: Maybe he'll realize I'm not available and move on. I
6:38
Speaker 1: need to get ready for work, I said. Can you
6:40
Speaker 1: loan me some clothes? Something that makes it look like
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Speaker 1: I live here? She brightened immediately. Of course. My ex
6:45
Speaker 1: left some things here. You're about the same size. She
6:48
Speaker 1: disappeared into the bedroom and came back with jeans and
6:50
Speaker 1: a button-down shirt. They fit almost perfectly, which should have
6:54
Speaker 1: been my second warning sign. The first was the wine
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Speaker 1: glasses that were too perfectly arranged. I changed in her bathroom,
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Speaker 1: and when I came out, she was waiting by the
7:01
Speaker 1: door with a travel mug of coffee and a brown bag. Lunch,
7:04
Speaker 1: she said, in case he's watching that closely. You need
7:07
Speaker 1: to look like you're leaving for a normal day of
7:09
Speaker 1: work from your own home. We synchronized our movements like
7:11
Speaker 1: actors in a play. She kissed my cheek at the door.
7:14
Speaker 1: Loud enough for anyone listening to hear, she said. Have
7:17
Speaker 1: a good day at work, honey. I'll see you tonight.
7:19
Speaker 1: I walked down the hallway to the elevator, acutely aware
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Speaker 1: that I was being watched. In the lobby, I glanced
7:24
Speaker 1: through the glass doors and saw the black sedan still
7:26
Speaker 1: parked across the street. The man from last night was
7:29
Speaker 1: definitely watching. I walked to my car, which was parked
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Speaker 1: in the resident lot, and drove away like everything was normal.
7:34
Speaker 1: But instead of going to work, I circled back and
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Speaker 1: parked three blocks away. I needed to see what would
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Speaker 1: happen next. Would the guy follow me? Would he leave?
7:42
Speaker 1: Would he confront Olivia? I walked back toward the building,
7:44
Speaker 1: staying out of sight, and found a coffee shop with
7:46
Speaker 1: a clear view of the entrance. The black sedan was
7:48
Speaker 1: still there. For three hours I sat in that coffee shop, watching.
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Speaker 1: The man didn't move, didn't leave, just sat there watching
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Speaker 1: the building. Around eleven, my phone buzzed with a text
7:58
Speaker 1: from an unknown number. It's Olivia. I got your number
8:00
Speaker 1: from the building directory. Thank you again for this morning.
8:03
Speaker 1: He finally left around ten. I think it worked. I
8:05
Speaker 1: stared at the text. The building directory didn't have phone numbers,
8:08
Speaker 1: just apartment numbers and last names. How did you actually
8:11
Speaker 1: get my number? I texted back. The response came immediately.
8:14
Speaker 1: I asked the landlord. Told him we were neighbors and
8:17
Speaker 1: I needed to reach you about a package. That made sense,
8:19
Speaker 1: but something about it still felt off. I need my
8:22
Speaker 1: clothes back, I texted. I'll bring them by tonight. Can
8:24
Speaker 1: you leave them outside my door? There was a long
8:26
Speaker 1: pause before her response. I'd really like to thank you properly.
8:30
Speaker 1: Maybe I could make you dinner. As a thank you
8:32
Speaker 1: for saving my life. I hesitated. Every instinct was screaming
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Speaker 1: at me to keep distance from this woman, but the
8:37
Speaker 1: rational part of my brain said she'd just been through
8:39
Speaker 1: something traumatic and was trying to be kind. Dinner's not necessary.
8:42
Speaker 1: Just leave the clothes outside 4B. Another pause. Then, please,
8:46
Speaker 1: I really need to explain everything. There's more to this
8:49
Speaker 1: story than you know, and I need to ask you
8:51
Speaker 1: one more favor. I close my eyes. One more favor.
8:54
Speaker 1: That's how it always starts. What favor? Can you pretend
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Speaker 1: to be my husband one more time? Just for a
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Speaker 1: few days, until I'm sure he's really gone. Against every
9:02
Speaker 1: ounce of common sense I possessed, I texted back, we
9:05
Speaker 1: need to talk about this in person. Tonight. Six o'clock.
9:08
Speaker 1: Your place. I spent the rest of the day at
9:10
Speaker 1: work unable to focus, my mind replaying everything that had happened.
9:13
Speaker 1: By the time six o'clock arrived, I'd convinced myself that
9:16
Speaker 1: I was overreacting, that Olivia was just a frightened woman
9:18
Speaker 1: who'd been driven to desperate measures by a stalker. I
9:21
Speaker 1: knocked on her door at six, exactly. She answered wearing
9:23
Speaker 1: a dress, makeup done, hair styled. Music was playing inside.
9:27
Speaker 1: The table was set for two with actual cloth napkins
9:30
Speaker 1: and flowers in a vase. This wasn't a quick thank
9:32
Speaker 1: you dinner. This was a date. Daniel, she said, smiling.
9:35
Speaker 1: Come in. I stayed in the doorway. Olivia, this feels
9:38
Speaker 1: like a lot. I just came to get my clothes
9:40
Speaker 1: and hear you out. Her smile faltered. I'm sorry. I
9:43
Speaker 1: just wanted to make something nice. to show my appreciation.
9:46
Speaker 1: After everything you've done, I stepped inside, keeping my distance.
9:50
Speaker 1: You said there was more to the story. She nodded,
9:52
Speaker 1: her expression turning serious. Let's sit down. I made pasta.
9:56
Speaker 1: We can talk while we eat. The pasta was actually excellent,
9:59
Speaker 1: which somehow made everything worse. We ate in uncomfortable silence
10:02
Speaker 1: for a few minutes before she finally spoke. His name
10:04
Speaker 1: is Adrian Wolfe. We dated for six months last year.
10:07
Speaker 1: When I tried to break up with him, he wouldn't
10:09
Speaker 1: accept it. He started showing up everywhere. My work, my gym,
10:12
Speaker 1: the grocery store I go to. At first, I thought
10:15
Speaker 1: it was coincidence, but then he admitted he was tracking
10:17
Speaker 1: my phone. He'd installed some app without my knowledge that
10:20
Speaker 1: let him see everywhere I went. I had to get
10:22
Speaker 1: a new phone, change all my passwords, move apartments. This
10:26
Speaker 1: place was supposed to be my fresh start, but he
10:28
Speaker 1: found me three months ago. She took a shaky breath.
10:31
Speaker 1: The police won't help until he does something actionable. A
10:33
Speaker 1: restraining order requires proof of threats or violence. I have neither.
10:37
Speaker 1: Just photos and coincidental run-ins that he claims are innocent.
10:40
Speaker 1: My lawyer says I'm in a legal gray area where
10:41
Speaker 1: I'm being terrorized but have no recourse. That's why I
10:44
Speaker 1: needed you last night. If he thinks I have a husband,
10:46
Speaker 1: a man who lives with me and would notice if
10:48
Speaker 1: something happened to me, maybe he'll finally back off. She
10:51
Speaker 1: looked at me with those large, sincere eyes. I know
10:53
Speaker 1: it's insane to ask you to keep pretending, but could
10:56
Speaker 1: you do it for just a week? Let him see
10:58
Speaker 1: you coming and going from my apartment a few times.
11:00
Speaker 1: Maybe stage a few public outings together so he sees
11:02
Speaker 1: we're actually a couple. After a week, if he hasn't
11:05
Speaker 1: backed off, we try something else. But I think this
11:08
Speaker 1: might actually work. Everything she said made perfect logical sense.
11:11
Speaker 1: I should have said yes. Should have helped this woman
11:14
Speaker 1: who was clearly in danger. But something was still wrong.
11:17
Speaker 1: Something I couldn't articulate. When I got home, I did
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Speaker 1: what I should have done from the beginning. I googled
11:22
Speaker 1: Adrian Wolfe. Three hours of searching later, I found him.
11:25
Speaker 1: He had a LinkedIn profile showing he worked in medical
11:27
Speaker 1: device sales. A Facebook page that was mostly private but
11:30
Speaker 1: showed some public posts about hiking and his dog. An
11:33
Speaker 1: Instagram with photos of scenic views and craft beer. Nothing
11:36
Speaker 1: about him screamed dangerous stalker. More importantly, I found an
11:39
Speaker 1: Adrian Wolfe who'd left a review for a restaurant in
11:42
Speaker 1: Denver six months ago. if he'd been stalking Olivia in
11:45
Speaker 1: our city for three months. Why was he leaving restaurant
11:47
Speaker 1: reviews in Denver six months ago? I dug deeper, and
11:51
Speaker 1: found an Adrian Wolfe who'd gotten married three years ago,
11:53
Speaker 1: found wedding photos, found his wife's Facebook page, which had
11:57
Speaker 1: recent photos of them together at a barbecue two weeks ago.
11:59
Speaker 1: Either this was a different Adrian Wolfe, or Olivia's stalker
12:02
Speaker 1: was a married man living in Denver who somehow was
12:05
Speaker 1: also stalking her in our city. Neither made sense. The
12:08
Speaker 1: next morning, I found a note slipped under my door. Daniel,
12:11
Speaker 1: I know you're having doubts. I would too. Can we
12:13
Speaker 1: meet for coffee? I need to show you something that
12:15
Speaker 1: will explain everything. Please. Oh. I met her at the
12:18
Speaker 1: Starbucks down the street at noon. She brought a laptop
12:21
Speaker 1: and a thick folder of documents. This is everything, she said,
12:24
Speaker 1: opening the folder. Police reports from my old city. Screenshots
12:28
Speaker 1: of messages from Adrian. Photos he sent me. Restraining order
12:31
Speaker 1: applications that were denied. As I flipped through the documents,
12:34
Speaker 1: my unease grew. The police reports listed a different name.
12:37
Speaker 1: Not Adrian Wolfe. Someone named Marcus Dalton. I pointed to
12:41
Speaker 1: the name. You said his name was Adrian Wolfe. She blinked,
12:44
Speaker 1: confusion crossing her face. I lied about his name. For
12:47
Speaker 1: his privacy. I didn't want you to be able to
12:49
Speaker 1: find him and confront him. I'm calling him Adrian, but
12:52
Speaker 1: his real name is Marcus. Why would you protect the
12:54
Speaker 1: privacy of your stalker? I asked. She opened her mouth.
12:57
Speaker 1: Closed it. Opened it again. I don't know. That was stupid.
13:00
Speaker 1: I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry. She pushed the laptop
13:03
Speaker 1: toward me. But look at these messages. These are from him.
13:07
Speaker 1: The messages were disturbing. Obsessive declarations of love mixed with
13:11
Speaker 1: angry accusations of betrayal. Threats that if he couldn't have her,
13:14
Speaker 1: no one could. Photos of her taken from a distance.
13:16
Speaker 1: But something about them felt performative. Like someone trying to
13:19
Speaker 1: create evidence of stalking rather than actual stalking messages. How
13:23
Speaker 1: did you meet Marcus? I asked. At work. He was
13:25
Speaker 1: a client. We went on a few dates and I
13:27
Speaker 1: realized he was too intense. Too clingy. When I tried
13:30
Speaker 1: to end things, he spiraled. She closed the laptop. I
13:33
Speaker 1: know this all sounds insane. I know you don't have
13:35
Speaker 1: any reason to trust me. But I'm terrified, Daniel. Last
13:38
Speaker 1: night when you pretended to be my husband, I felt
13:40
Speaker 1: safe for the first time in months. I'm not asking
13:42
Speaker 1: you to marry me for real. I'm just asking you
13:44
Speaker 1: to help me feel safe for a little while longer.
13:47
Speaker 1: I looked at her. Really looked at her. She was
13:49
Speaker 1: beautiful in a way that seemed almost calculated. Perfect makeup.
13:52
Speaker 1: Perfect hair. Perfect vulnerability in her expression. Everything about her
13:56
Speaker 1: was designed to make a man want to protect her.
13:58
Speaker 1: I'll think about it, I said. But I need you
14:00
Speaker 1: to be completely honest with me. No more lies about names.
14:03
Speaker 1: No more surprises. If I'm going to help you, I
14:06
Speaker 1: need the whole truth. She nodded eagerly. Of course. Anything
14:10
Speaker 1: you want to know. Ask me anything. Who was at
14:12
Speaker 1: your apartment the night before last? The night before you
14:14
Speaker 1: came to my door. The wine glasses and candles suggest
14:17
Speaker 1: you had company. Her face froze for just a fraction
14:19
Speaker 1: of a second before composing itself. A friend came over.
14:22
Speaker 1: We had wine and talked. She left around midnight. What friend?
14:25
Speaker 1: Just a co-worker. Monica. She knows about the stalking situation
14:29
Speaker 1: and checks in on me regularly. Can I talk to Monica?
14:31
Speaker 1: To verify your story? Olivia's expression shifted, something cold flickering
14:35
Speaker 1: behind her eyes before the warmth returned. Why would you
14:38
Speaker 1: need to verify my story? Because nothing about this situation
14:41
Speaker 1: adds up, I said carefully. Because I need to know
14:44
Speaker 1: I'm not being manipulated into something I don't understand. She
14:47
Speaker 1: stood up abruptly. You know what? Forget it. I shouldn't
14:50
Speaker 1: have asked you for help. This was a mistake. She
14:52
Speaker 1: grabbed her laptop and folder. I'm sorry I bothered you.
14:55
Speaker 1: I watched her walk out of the Starbucks, and relief
14:57
Speaker 1: washed over me. Whatever game she was playing, I was out.
15:00
Speaker 1: I went back to my apartment, changed the locks, and
15:02
Speaker 1: decided to pretend the whole thing never happened. That lasted
15:05
Speaker 1: exactly one day. The next evening, I came home to
15:08
Speaker 1: find Adrian Wolfe, or Marcus Dalton, or whoever he actually
15:11
Speaker 1: was sitting in the hallway outside my apartment. He stood
15:14
Speaker 1: when he saw me, hands raised in a peaceful gesture. Daniel, right?
15:18
Speaker 1: We need to talk about Olivia. I kept my distance,
15:21
Speaker 1: keys gripped in my fist like a weapon. I'm not
15:23
Speaker 1: interested in whatever drama you two have going on. Please.
15:26
Speaker 1: Just five minutes. Then I'll leave and never bother you again.
15:29
Speaker 1: Against my better judgment, I led him into my apartment.
15:32
Speaker 1: He sat on the edge of my couch, looking exhausted
15:34
Speaker 1: and desperate. My name is Adrian Wolfe, he started. I'm
15:37
Speaker 1: not stalking Olivia. I'm a private investigator hired by her
15:40
Speaker 1: ex-husband to document her behavior for a custody case. He
15:43
Speaker 1: pulled out a license proving he was indeed a licensed PI.
15:46
Speaker 1: Olivia was married for three years. Had a daughter. Lost
15:49
Speaker 1: custody last year after her ex-husband provided evidence that she
15:53
Speaker 1: was unstable. Creating false stalking scenarios. Manipulating men into protecting her.
15:58
Speaker 1: Using these fabricated situations to avoid her custody responsibilities. I
16:03
Speaker 1: felt my blood run cold. You're saying none of this
16:05
Speaker 1: is real? Not the way she's telling it. Her ex-husband's
16:08
Speaker 1: name is David Chen. He hired me six months ago
16:10
Speaker 1: because Olivia keeps filing false police reports claiming he's harassing her,
16:14
Speaker 1: which violates his custody agreement. Every time he tries to
16:16
Speaker 1: see his daughter, Olivia claims she feels unsafe, claims there's
16:20
Speaker 1: a stalker, claims she needs protection. She's used three different
16:23
Speaker 1: men in the past year as fake husbands to support
16:25
Speaker 1: her claims. You're number four. He pulled out his phone
16:27
Speaker 1: and showed me photos. Different men entering and leaving Olivia's
16:30
Speaker 1: apartment over the past months. Police reports where she'd claimed
16:34
Speaker 1: each one was her husband. custody hearing documents where judges
16:37
Speaker 1: had dismissed her claims when the men admitted they barely
16:39
Speaker 1: knew her. This can't be real, I said, but even
16:42
Speaker 1: as I said it, pieces were clicking into place. The
16:44
Speaker 1: perfectly staged apartment, the convenient stalker showing up at exactly
16:48
Speaker 1: the right time, her knowledge of my name and details
16:51
Speaker 1: about me before we'd ever spoken. She researched you, Adrian said.
16:54
Speaker 1: She picks men who live alone, who work from home,
16:57
Speaker 1: who don't have obvious girlfriends or social lives, men who
17:00
Speaker 1: might be lonely enough to play hero for a beautiful
17:02
Speaker 1: woman in distress. She grooms you slowly, Learns your schedule.
17:06
Speaker 1: Then she creates a crisis and pulls you in. I
17:08
Speaker 1: need you to go to the police, he continued. Tell
17:11
Speaker 1: them the truth about what happened. That she asked you
17:13
Speaker 1: to lie. That there was no actual threat. Without your testimony,
17:17
Speaker 1: her ex-husband can't prove she's fabricating these situations, and she
17:20
Speaker 1: gets to keep playing victim while keeping him from his daughter.
17:22
Speaker 1: Where's the daughter now? I asked. With her father. She
17:25
Speaker 1: has supervised visitation every other weekend, but she keeps claiming
17:28
Speaker 1: she can't make it because of stalkers or threats or
17:30
Speaker 1: safety concerns. She's missed the last six visits. The daughter
17:33
Speaker 1: is five years old and starting to forget her mother exists.
17:36
Speaker 1: I felt sick. If this was true, I'd been played perfectly.
17:39
Speaker 1: But I still needed proof. Do you have the ex-husband's
17:42
Speaker 1: contact information? I want to hear his side. Adrian handed
17:45
Speaker 1: me a business card. David Chen. Corporate attorney. His office
17:48
Speaker 1: number was listed. Call him, Adrian said. Ask him about
17:51
Speaker 1: the pattern. About the other men. About why he's fighting
17:54
Speaker 1: so hard for custody. After he left, I sat in
17:57
Speaker 1: my apartment trying to process everything. Two completely contradictory stories.
18:01
Speaker 1: Either Olivia was a victim of a sophisticated stalker, or
18:03
Speaker 1: she was a manipulator using fake stalking scenarios to avoid
18:07
Speaker 1: custody responsibilities. I called David Chen. He answered on the
18:10
Speaker 1: second ring, his voice professional and wary. This is about Olivia,
18:13
Speaker 1: isn't it? Adrian said you might call. Tell me about
18:16
Speaker 1: the other men, I said. Mr. Morrison, he began, then paused.
18:20
Speaker 1: May I call you Daniel? Over the past year, my
18:22
Speaker 1: ex-wife has recruited four men, including you, to pose as
18:26
Speaker 1: her husband in various scenarios. The first was a man
18:28
Speaker 1: named Thomas Rivera. She convinced him she was being stalked
18:31
Speaker 1: by me, her ex-husband. Thomas filed a police report on
18:34
Speaker 1: her behalf, showed up to a custody hearing as her
18:36
Speaker 1: emotional support, then discovered weeks later that everything she'd told
18:40
Speaker 1: him was fabricated. The second was James Whitmore. Similar pattern.
18:44
Speaker 1: She claimed an ex-boyfriend was stalking her. James posed as
18:47
Speaker 1: her new boyfriend to scare him off. Turned out the
18:49
Speaker 1: ex-boyfriend was actually her daughter's pediatrician, who she'd been harassing
18:53
Speaker 1: for rejecting her romantic advances. The third was Ryan Kowalski.
18:56
Speaker 1: He lasted the longest because Olivia had refined her approach.
18:59
Speaker 1: Convinced him they were in a real relationship. He found
19:02
Speaker 1: out the truth only after she asked him to lie
19:04
Speaker 1: to a judge about witnessing me threaten her, which I
19:06
Speaker 1: have never done. There's a protection order preventing me from
19:09
Speaker 1: coming within 500 feet of her, which makes seeing my
19:11
Speaker 1: daughter nearly impossible. And now there's you, he continued. Adrian
19:15
Speaker 1: sent me photos of you entering and leaving her apartment,
19:18
Speaker 1: playing the concerned husband. She's good at this, Daniel. She's
19:21
Speaker 1: incredibly good at making men feel like heroes, like they're
19:23
Speaker 1: saving her from something terrible. But the only person she's
19:26
Speaker 1: running from is accountability. Why does she want to avoid custody?
19:29
Speaker 1: I asked. Because she never wanted to be a mother,
19:32
Speaker 1: David said quietly. We had our daughter because I wanted children.
19:35
Speaker 1: Olivia went along with it to make me happy. But
19:37
Speaker 1: after Lily was born, Olivia couldn't bond with her. Postpartum
19:41
Speaker 1: depression turned into something else. Something darker. She started disappearing
19:44
Speaker 1: for days at a time, coming home only when I
19:46
Speaker 1: threatened to file for divorce. The final straw was when
19:49
Speaker 1: I came home early from work and found three-year-old Lily
19:52
Speaker 1: alone in the apartment. Olivia had left hours earlier for
19:55
Speaker 1: a spa day and forgotten our daughter existed. I filed
19:58
Speaker 1: for divorce immediately, got full custody with supervised visitation. But
20:02
Speaker 1: Olivia can't accept that narrative because it makes her look
20:04
Speaker 1: like a bad mother. So, she creates these elaborate scenarios
20:08
Speaker 1: where she's the victim. where external forces are preventing her
20:11
Speaker 1: from being the mother she claims to want to be.
20:13
Speaker 1: His voice cracked. My daughter asks about her mother every day,
20:16
Speaker 1: and I have to tell her that mommy can't see
20:18
Speaker 1: her right now because mommy is scared. Even though the
20:21
Speaker 1: truth is mommy is too busy playing victim to remember
20:23
Speaker 1: she has a child. I need to verify this, I said.
20:26
Speaker 1: I need to see court documents, custody records, something concrete.
20:30
Speaker 1: I'll email everything to you tonight, David said. But I'm
20:32
Speaker 1: begging you, don't play along with whatever story she's telling you.
20:36
Speaker 1: Don't be another man she uses to hurt my daughter.
20:39
Speaker 1: The email arrived an hour later. Hundreds of pages of
20:42
Speaker 1: court documents, psychological evaluations, police reports, all painting the exact
20:47
Speaker 1: picture David had described. Olivia Chen, formerly Olivia Morrison, had
20:51
Speaker 1: been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder,
20:56
Speaker 1: had a documented history of fabricating crises to gain attention
20:59
Speaker 1: and sympathy, had lost custody of her five-year-old daughter due
21:02
Speaker 1: to neglect and emotional abuse. The man she'd called her stalker,
21:06
Speaker 1: Marcus Dalton, was actually a different private investigator from two
21:09
Speaker 1: cities ago who'd been documenting her behavior for a different case.
21:12
Speaker 1: She'd simply recycled his name when creating the Adrian Wolfe character.
21:16
Speaker 1: The wine glasses in her apartment the night I met her.
21:18
Speaker 1: A date with another potential recruit she was grooming. I
21:21
Speaker 1: just happened to be more convenient at that moment. Everything
21:23
Speaker 1: was a lie. Everything. I should have gone straight to
21:26
Speaker 1: the police. Should have given them everything David had sent me. Instead,
21:30
Speaker 1: I knocked on Olivia's door. She answered with a surprised
21:32
Speaker 1: smile that quickly faded when she saw my expression. You know?
21:36
Speaker 1: She said. It wasn't a question. I know. I confirmed.
21:39
Speaker 1: Can I come in? She stepped aside, and I entered
21:42
Speaker 1: the apartment that I now saw clearly for what it was.
21:45
Speaker 1: A stage set. A carefully constructed environment designed to make
21:48
Speaker 1: men feel protective and needed. The vulnerable feminine touches. The
21:52
Speaker 1: photos carefully placed to suggest a life that didn't exist.
21:54
Speaker 1: We should sit down, she said calmly. Let me explain.
21:57
Speaker 1: There's nothing to explain, Olivia. Or should I call you
22:00
Speaker 1: by your married name? Chen? Her expression didn't change. She
22:04
Speaker 1: sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. Sit. Please.
22:08
Speaker 1: I remained standing. Where's your daughter? That got a reaction.
22:11
Speaker 1: Her composure cracked for just a moment before reassembling itself.
22:14
Speaker 1: My daughter is fine. She's with her father, where she belongs.
22:17
Speaker 1: You don't want custody, I said. You never did. This
22:20
Speaker 1: whole thing was just a performance to maintain your victim narrative.
22:23
Speaker 1: You don't understand, she said, and now there was something
22:26
Speaker 1: desperate in her voice. You don't know what it's like
22:28
Speaker 1: to be fundamentally broken, to know that you should feel
22:31
Speaker 1: something for your child, and feel nothing. To watch other
22:33
Speaker 1: mothers cry over scraped knees and wonder what's wrong with
22:36
Speaker 1: you that you can't even muster concern. I tried to
22:39
Speaker 1: be a good mother, I really did. But I would
22:41
Speaker 1: look at Lily and feel nothing except resentment that she
22:44
Speaker 1: needed so much from me. David deserved the truth. He
22:46
Speaker 1: deserved to know I couldn't be what he needed. But
22:49
Speaker 1: the truth makes me a monster. The truth makes me
22:51
Speaker 1: the villain in everyone's story. So, I created a different truth.
22:55
Speaker 1: One where I'm a victim of circumstances beyond my control.
22:58
Speaker 1: Where external forces are keeping me from my daughter. Not
23:00
Speaker 1: my own fundamental inability to love her. She looked up
23:03
Speaker 1: at me and for the first time, I saw something
23:05
Speaker 1: genuine in her expression. Something empty and sad. You were
23:09
Speaker 1: supposed to be easy. Lonely software developer. Working from home.
23:13
Speaker 1: No serious relationships visible on social media. You were supposed
23:16
Speaker 1: to feel special that a woman like me needed you,
23:18
Speaker 1: but you asked too many questions. You wanted proof. You
23:20
Speaker 1: didn't just accept the story and play your part. Most
23:23
Speaker 1: men do. Most men are so desperate to be heroes
23:26
Speaker 1: that they don't look closely enough to see they're being used.
23:28
Speaker 1: I pulled out my phone. I'm calling the police. You're
23:31
Speaker 1: going to admit what you've done. You're going to stop
23:33
Speaker 1: interfering with David's custody. Her expression hardened. If you do that,
23:37
Speaker 1: I'll tell them you're the one who's been stalking me.
23:39
Speaker 1: That you forced your way into my apartment last night.
23:42
Speaker 1: That I only went along with the fake husband story
23:44
Speaker 1: because you threatened me. I have bruises I can show them.
23:46
Speaker 1: I know how to play this. Which do you think
23:48
Speaker 1: they'll believe? The beautiful, frightened woman? Or the strange man
23:51
Speaker 1: who lives alone and admits to lying to a stalker
23:54
Speaker 1: about being her husband? My hand, holding the phone, began
23:57
Speaker 1: to shake. You'd destroy me to avoid taking responsibility? She smiled,
24:01
Speaker 1: and it was the coldest thing I'd ever seen. I'd
24:03
Speaker 1: destroy anyone. That's what you don't understand, Daniel. I'm not
24:06
Speaker 1: a victim. I'm not someone who needs saving. I'm someone
24:08
Speaker 1: who has learned to survive in a world that expects
24:11
Speaker 1: me to be something I fundamentally cannot be. And I'm
24:13
Speaker 1: very good at survival. She stood and walked to her door,
24:17
Speaker 1: opening it. You should leave now. Think carefully about what
24:19
Speaker 1: you're going to do with that information. Because if you
24:22
Speaker 1: go to the police, I promise you'll regret it. I
24:24
Speaker 1: left her apartment and went straight to the police station.
24:26
Speaker 1: Told them everything. Showed them the emails from David, the
24:29
Speaker 1: court documents, the history of fake stalking claims. The detective
24:33
Speaker 1: who took my statement listened carefully, taking notes. When I finished,
24:36
Speaker 1: she said something that made my blood run cold. Mr. Morrison,
24:39
Speaker 1: we appreciate you coming forward, but I need to tell
24:41
Speaker 1: you that Olivia Chen filed a report three hours ago
24:44
Speaker 1: claiming that you've been stalking her, that you forced your
24:47
Speaker 1: way into her apartment last night and have been harassing
24:49
Speaker 1: her ever since. She has photos of you entering and
24:51
Speaker 1: leaving her building at odd hours. She has testimony from
24:55
Speaker 1: neighbors who saw you in the hallway outside her apartment
24:57
Speaker 1: at 2 a.m. She has a medical report documenting bruises
25:00
Speaker 1: on her arms that she claims you caused, Everything you've
25:02
Speaker 1: told me could be seen as you trying to discredit
25:04
Speaker 1: her claims before we investigate you. I felt the room spin.
25:07
Speaker 1: She'd planned this. She'd known I would go to the
25:09
Speaker 1: police and had laid the groundwork to destroy me before
25:12
Speaker 1: I even knocked on her door. Do you understand what
25:14
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, Mr. Morrison? The detective continued. I need
25:17
Speaker 1: you to stay away from Olivia Chen. No contact whatsoever.
25:20
Speaker 1: If you approach her or her apartment again, I'll have
25:22
Speaker 1: to arrest you. I stumbled out of the police station
25:25
Speaker 1: in a daze. Olivia had won. She'd trapped me perfectly.
25:29
Speaker 1: If I did nothing- She would continue using men like
25:31
Speaker 1: me to avoid her custody responsibilities. If I fought back,
25:34
Speaker 1: she would destroy me with false accusations. Either way, she
25:38
Speaker 1: maintained control of the narrative. I went home and found
25:40
Speaker 1: another note slipped under my door. I told you to
25:42
Speaker 1: think carefully. Now you understand the situation. I don't want
25:45
Speaker 1: to hurt you, Daniel. I actually liked you more than
25:47
Speaker 1: the others. You were smarter, more perceptive, but I can't
25:50
Speaker 1: let you interfere with my life. Here's what's going to happen.
25:53
Speaker 1: You're going to move out of this building within the
25:55
Speaker 1: next month. You're going to tell anyone who asks that
25:57
Speaker 1: you needed a change. You're going to forget you ever
26:00
Speaker 1: met me. In exchange, I'll drop the stalking complaint. I'll
26:03
Speaker 1: tell the police I overreacted. We'll both move on with
26:06
Speaker 1: our lives. If you don't agree to this, I'll make
26:08
Speaker 1: sure the stalking charges stick. I have three neighbors who
26:11
Speaker 1: will testify they saw you acting strangely around my apartment.
26:14
Speaker 1: I have the building security footage showing you entering my
26:17
Speaker 1: apartment multiple times. I have a very good lawyer and
26:19
Speaker 1: a very compelling victim story. You have court documents about
26:22
Speaker 1: someone else's custody case and a story about being tricked
26:24
Speaker 1: that makes you look unstable. Choose wisely. That was three
26:27
Speaker 1: months ago. I'm still living in the same building in
26:30
Speaker 1: apartment 4B, directly across from Olivia's door. I didn't leave,
26:33
Speaker 1: didn't follow her instructions. Instead, I installed cameras in my
26:37
Speaker 1: apartment facing the hallway. I document everything. Every man who
26:40
Speaker 1: enters her apartment, every time she leaves, every package delivered,
26:44
Speaker 1: every visitor. I've connected with Thomas Rivera, James Whitmore, and
26:47
Speaker 1: Ryan Kowalski, the three men before me. We've formed a
26:50
Speaker 1: support group of sorts, comparing notes on her tactics, documenting
26:53
Speaker 1: the patterns building a case that no single judge can
26:56
Speaker 1: dismiss as a bitter ex-husband's delusions. We've hired our own attorney,
27:00
Speaker 1: filed our own complaints. We're trying to build something solid
27:02
Speaker 1: enough to cut through her carefully constructed victim narrative. But
27:05
Speaker 1: it's slow. So slow. Because she's right about one thing.
27:08
Speaker 1: The system believes beautiful women who cry and claim victimhood.
27:11
Speaker 1: The system is designed to protect people like her and
27:14
Speaker 1: assumes men like us must have done something to provoke
27:16
Speaker 1: this kind of elaborate deception. Ryan Kowalski lost his job
27:20
Speaker 1: because she called his employer claiming he'd harassed her. Thomas
27:23
Speaker 1: Rivera is in therapy for PTSD from the psychological manipulation.
27:27
Speaker 1: James Whitmore moved to a different state entirely just to
27:30
Speaker 1: get away from the constant fear that she'll resurface in
27:32
Speaker 1: his life. And I'm still here, living across the hall
27:35
Speaker 1: from a woman who's holding my entire life hostage with
27:37
Speaker 1: the threat of false accusations. I can't move because that
27:40
Speaker 1: would look like guilt. Can't stay without constant documentation of
27:43
Speaker 1: my own innocence. Can't date because how do I explain
27:46
Speaker 1: to someone that I have to film my own hallway
27:48
Speaker 1: 24-7 because my neighbor might claim I'm stalking her. Yesterday,
27:52
Speaker 1: I saw Olivia with a new man. Young, earnest looking,
27:55
Speaker 1: carrying flowers. He had that same hopeful expression I probably
27:58
Speaker 1: had three months ago. That same desire to be someone's hero.
28:02
Speaker 1: I watched him enter her apartment at 6pm, for what
28:05
Speaker 1: she'd probably told him was a thank you dinner. Watched
28:07
Speaker 1: him still be there at 11, at midnight, at 2am.
28:11
Speaker 1: He's sleeping on her couch right now, or maybe in
28:13
Speaker 1: her bed. She's already told him some version of the story,
28:16
Speaker 1: already made him feel special and needed, already planting the
28:19
Speaker 1: seeds of the lie that will eventually consume him The
28:22
Speaker 1: way it consumed me. I should warn him. Should slip
28:25
Speaker 1: a note under his car windshield or catch him in
28:27
Speaker 1: the parking lot. But I can't risk any contact with
28:29
Speaker 1: Olivia or her orbit. Can't give her ammunition to claim
28:31
Speaker 1: I'm violating the informal agreement we have where I don't
28:34
Speaker 1: leave and she doesn't press charges. So, I watch. I document.
28:38
Speaker 1: I wait. I've become exactly what she accused me of being.
28:41
Speaker 1: Someone who can't let go, who watches her door, who
28:44
Speaker 1: tracks her movements. The irony isn't lost on me. She
28:47
Speaker 1: turned me into her stalker by claiming I was her stalker.
28:49
Speaker 1: Created the very thing she accused me of being. My
28:51
Speaker 1: therapist says I'm experiencing a trauma bond. That Olivia's manipulation
28:55
Speaker 1: has created a psychological trap where I can't move forward
28:57
Speaker 1: because I'm waiting for some kind of resolution that will
28:59
Speaker 1: never come. That I need to let go for my
29:01
Speaker 1: own mental health. But I can't. Because somewhere in a
29:04
Speaker 1: house across town, there's a five-year-old girl named Lily who
29:07
Speaker 1: sees her mother every other weekend for supervised visits that
29:10
Speaker 1: last exactly two hours. A little girl who's learning that
29:13
Speaker 1: mommy can't be around more often because mommy has problems
29:15
Speaker 1: with scary people. A little girl who will grow up
29:18
Speaker 1: thinking the world is more dangerous than it is because
29:20
Speaker 1: her mother needs to maintain a narrative of victimhood. For Lily,
29:24
Speaker 1: I stay. For the next man, Olivia will trap. For
29:27
Speaker 1: Thomas and James and Ryan and all the other men
29:29
Speaker 1: who've been destroyed by her games. I document. I wait.
29:32
Speaker 1: I watch. And I plan. Last week, David Chen called me.
29:36
Speaker 1: He's filed a new motion for full custody with no visitation.
29:39
Speaker 1: The documentations we've gathered. The testimony from four separate men
29:42
Speaker 1: about Olivia's pattern of behavior. The psychological evaluations. It's finally enough. Maybe.
29:47
Speaker 1: The hearing is in six weeks. If we win, Olivia
29:50
Speaker 1: loses her ability to claim she's being kept from her daughter.
29:53
Speaker 1: Loses her primary victim narrative. Maybe then she'll move on
29:55
Speaker 1: to a new city, a new story, new victims. Maybe
29:58
Speaker 1: then I can finally stop watching her door, but I
30:00
Speaker 1: don't believe that anymore. Because two nights ago, Olivia knocked
30:03
Speaker 1: on my door at midnight. I opened it with the
30:05
Speaker 1: chain on, camera recording everything. She was wearing the same
30:09
Speaker 1: robe she'd worn three months ago, mascara streaking down her
30:12
Speaker 1: face in the same pattern. But this time, her expression
30:15
Speaker 1: was different. Not frightened. Amused. You think you're going to win?
30:19
Speaker 1: She said. You think the court is going to believe
30:21
Speaker 1: four bitter men over a mother fighting to see her child?
30:24
Speaker 1: Her smile was vicious. You have no idea how good
30:27
Speaker 1: I am at this. That hearing in six weeks? I'll
30:29
Speaker 1: walk in with medical records showing trauma from your stalking.
30:32
Speaker 1: I'll have a new therapist's report about my PTSD from
30:34
Speaker 1: being harassed by my ex-husband's hired thugs. I'll cry on
30:37
Speaker 1: the stand about how hard I've tried to be a
30:39
Speaker 1: mother while men like you destroy my life. And the
30:41
Speaker 1: judge will look at me, beautiful, broken, sincere me, and
30:45
Speaker 1: then look at you, a man who's been filming his
30:47
Speaker 1: neighbor for three months, who has a support group of
30:50
Speaker 1: other men obsessed with destroying me, who admits to lying
30:53
Speaker 1: to a stalker about being my husband, who seems just
30:55
Speaker 1: a little too invested in a stranger's custody case, Who
30:58
Speaker 1: do you think they'll believe? She leaned closer to the
31:00
Speaker 1: gap in the door. You should have left when I
31:02
Speaker 1: told you to, Daniel. Now you're in too deep. Now
31:05
Speaker 1: you're exactly what I said you were. A stalker who
31:07
Speaker 1: can't let go. A man who's become obsessed with a
31:10
Speaker 1: woman who rejected him. Every day you stay in this
31:12
Speaker 1: building you prove my story true. She stepped back. See
31:15
Speaker 1: you in court. I closed the door and stood there shaking.
31:18
Speaker 1: Because she's right. I've become the very thing she accused
31:21
Speaker 1: me of being. My entire life now revolves around documenting hers.
31:25
Speaker 1: I can't date, can't focus on work, Can't think about
31:27
Speaker 1: anything except the next piece of evidence. Can't move forward
31:31
Speaker 1: because I'm trapped in this loop of trying to prove
31:33
Speaker 1: something that no one wants to believe. She's won. She
31:36
Speaker 1: won the moment I agreed to open her door three
31:38
Speaker 1: months ago. Won the moment I said I'd pretend to
31:40
Speaker 1: be her husband. Won the moment I thought I could
31:42
Speaker 1: outwit her by gathering evidence and going to the police.
31:45
Speaker 1: Because the real trap wasn't the fake stalker or the
31:47
Speaker 1: false accusations. The real trap was making me care. Making
31:51
Speaker 1: me invested in her daughter's well-being. Making me need to
31:54
Speaker 1: stop her from hurting other people. making me into someone
31:56
Speaker 1: who can't walk away even though walking away is the
31:58
Speaker 1: only thing that might save me. My neighbor used me
32:01
Speaker 1: as a fake husband to escape her stalker, but there
32:03
Speaker 1: never was a stalker. And now I can't escape her.
32:06
Speaker 1: I can't escape the woman across the hall who smiles
32:08
Speaker 1: at me in the hallway, who sometimes knocks on my
32:10
Speaker 1: door with cookies or to borrow sugar, always making sure
32:13
Speaker 1: the neighbors see her being friendly, building her narrative that
32:16
Speaker 1: I'm the one who's dangerous, who won't leave her alone,
32:18
Speaker 1: who's obsessed. I can't escape the security cameras I've installed
32:21
Speaker 1: that I check compulsively every hour. Can't escape the photo
32:24
Speaker 1: log I maintain of everyone who visits her, Can't escape
32:26
Speaker 1: the support group texts, from Thomas and James and Ryan,
32:29
Speaker 1: other men who are just as trapped, just as unable
32:31
Speaker 1: to let go. Can't escape the countdown to a custody
32:34
Speaker 1: hearing where I'll have to testify about things I barely understand,
32:37
Speaker 1: where Olivia will perform the role of her life as
32:39
Speaker 1: the traumatized mother kept from her child by cruel men.
32:42
Speaker 1: Can't escape the knowledge that, even if we win, even
32:45
Speaker 1: if the judge sees through her manipulation, she'll just move
32:48
Speaker 1: to a new city and start again with a new
32:49
Speaker 1: name and new victims. Tonight, I saw the new man
32:52
Speaker 1: leave her apartment, Watched him walk to his car looking
32:55
Speaker 1: dazed and happy, like he'd just saved someone's life. Watched
32:58
Speaker 1: him drive away probably thinking about what a good person
33:00
Speaker 1: he is, how special he must be, that a woman
33:03
Speaker 1: like Olivia trusted him with her safety. I should have
33:05
Speaker 1: left him a note, should have warned him, but I've
33:07
Speaker 1: learned that warning people about Olivia just makes me look crazier,
33:10
Speaker 1: makes her story about the obsessed stalker more believable. So,
33:13
Speaker 1: I watch him leave, document the time, add him to
33:16
Speaker 1: the list, wait for the inevitable moment when he'll realize
33:20
Speaker 1: what she's done to him. Wait for him to become
33:22
Speaker 1: another ghost in her orbit. Another man who can't quite
33:25
Speaker 1: escape the woman who used him. My neighbor used me
33:28
Speaker 1: as a fake husband to escape her stalker. Three months later,
33:31
Speaker 1: I'm still here. Still watching her door. Still trapped in
33:34
Speaker 1: the lies she created. Still unable to escape. They say
33:37
Speaker 1: the best prison is one you build yourself. Olivia didn't
33:41
Speaker 1: need to lock me in. She just had to make
33:43
Speaker 1: me believe I could help. Make me believe that staying
33:45
Speaker 1: was noble. That documenting her was necessary. That I could
33:48
Speaker 1: somehow save the next victim. She made me my own warden.
33:52
Speaker 1: And I'm still here. Still watching. Still trapped. Still unable
33:55
Speaker 1: to escape the woman across the hall who destroyed my
33:57
Speaker 1: life by asking me to save hers. If you enjoyed this,
34:00
Speaker 1: you'll definitely want to see the next ones too. So
34:02
Speaker 1: subscribe now and let me know your take in the comments.