For months I paid for dinners, gifts, and even his emergencies, until I accidentally overheard the cruelest taunt: “You’re just free food”; the worst part wasn’t the humiliation, but discovering that all his gestures had been an act.

I entered the apartment quietly and noticed a pair of unfamiliar sneakers by the door which immediately caught my attention. Mitch had told me he would be out that afternoon with his gym friend, a woman named Tessa who was always a bit too present in his life.

Tessa was the kind of person whose name appeared in every conversation and Instagram story, often involving private jokes that never felt quite right to me. I placed the cake carefully on the kitchen counter and then I heard her genuine, unfiltered laughter coming from my bedroom.

I was planning to call out to him until I heard the words that were coming out of his mouth while the door was slightly ajar. “I just changed her name on my phone to Free Food,” Mitch said while laughing as if he had just told the funniest joke in the world.

Tessa’s voice came through his phone speaker as she told him he was absolutely terrible for saying such a thing. “It is the truth because the free dinners and the free rides basically finance my entire lifestyle,” he replied while they both laughed together.