My Fiancé Said He Was Paying Rent—Then I Got an $8,400 Bill in My Name

They say love is blind — mine left me broke, betrayed, and stuck with an $8,437.63 debt.
All because I trusted a man who smiled sweet, talked about forever, and vanished the moment his lies caught up with him. I met Brandon in a bookstore café. He was charming, supportive, and made big promises — a future, a home, maybe even marriage. A year later, we moved in together. He said he’d cover rent and bills while I handled groceries and teaching. “I’m saving for us,” he’d say. I believed him. For three years. Then one day,

I got a notice: unpaid rent — in my name. Turns out the lease was never in his. He’d forged my signature, stopped paying months ago, and pocketed the money while I kept cooking, cleaning, and believing in us. Worse? He was planning to leave me. I found messages to another woman, Kelsey. He called me his “crazy ex-roommate” and bragged about stealing rent money. He even,