In 2022, I met a girl online. We used to play online games together. I slowly developed feelings for her, and whenever I talked with her, I got butterflies-it was my first time feeling this way. We used to share couple reels with each other.
After one year, I finally told her that I liked her. She told me she already knew that I liked her. She said, “I only see you as a best friend.” I asked her to reconsider. Two weeks later, she called me and told me she also liked me. After that, we started dating.
It was a long-distance relationship-she’s from Navi Mumbai, and I’m from Bangalore. She always told me, “You don’t come to meet me,” but I was preparing for my exams, so I couldn’t travel. After a few months, I told her, “Let’s go on a date and meet. Whenever you’re free, tell me and I’ll come to your city.” She instantly denied it and said she didn’t want to meet right now, and started making excuses.
She refused my invitation 3-4 times, and after that, I stopped asking. I thought I’d meet her after clearing my exams. In November, I started planning her birthday gift (her birthday is in December). I did a small charity in her name by feeding needy people-bought the food myself, distributed it, and recorded the whole thing in a small video. I finished editing it by 19th November and couldn’t control myself, so I sent it to her on the 23rd.
She got extremely furious. She said, “Why are you doing these things for me? I don’t want all this stuff.” (I think she felt guilty.) I told her it was a birthday gift and thought she would be happy. After that, she ghosted me for a day. After that incident, she started creating unnecessary fights with me for no reason. On 26th November, the day of my exam, she called me during the exam hours.
I obviously didn’t have my phone, and she knew I had an exam that day. When I called her later, she again started creating drama. Somehow, I managed to calm things down. Then she started trying to make me jealous. She began posting wholesome stories with her male friends. Finally, she posted a one-hour call screenshot with one of her guy friends. This time I asked her, “What are you trying to show me?”
She said, “You’re just being insecure,” and told me many harsh things. Then she blocked me. I thought she was just mad and would come back. But I later found out she had blocked me everywhere and deactivated her Instagram. I tried everything to reach her, but nothing worked-she just disappeared. On 8th December, her birthday, I thought maybe if I sent her gifts, she would start talking to me again.
But everything backfired. She messaged me, “How pathetic. You’re sending gifts to a girl’s house without her permission,” and said many other hurtful things. After sending that message, she instantly blocked me again. My heart shattered into pieces. A few hours later, she messaged me again saying if I ever tried to send her anything or contact her again, she would file a complaint against me.
That’s when I knew-it’s over. A few days later, I got a message from one of her online friends, Tanvi, who also lives in Navi Mumbai. She told me that my girlfriend was impersonating someone else-that she wasn’t real. Tanvi had known her for three years but didn’t know this until recently. She came forward to tell me as she knew we were dating.
At first, I didn’t believe her. I was blinded by love, thinking, “She can’t do something like this.” But slowly, everything started making sense. She never came on video calls-always avoided them. Tanvi showed me proof that she was pretending to be someone else.
After confirmation, I took a new number and messaged her about everything. I think she panicked-she deleted all her socials and turned off her main number. She disappeared like she never existed. I used to wonder who she really was. Would I ever meet the girl she was pretending to be? Till date, I’ve never dated anyone else. She was my first love.
In 2024, I took the CAT exam again. This time, I scored well and got interview calls from several places. I got a chance to travel to Mumbai in February 2025. It was my first time there. After the interviews, I started exploring the city. I never expected it, but at Belapur Station, I randomly bumped into her-the real one. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I went numb and was full of tears. I tried to control myself.
I didn’t say a word. Maybe she didn’t even see me. The next day, I came again to see her. I had seen her company ID card, so I got to know where she worked. I tried searching for her socials again-and this time, I got lucky. I found her. Turns out, my ex (the one pretending) and the real girl went to the same school. I’ve never told anyone about all this.
I used to think people would just make fun of me-call me a fool for falling for this. But I’m confused now. Should I try to reach out to the real one? Or should I just move on? She was my first love.