Betrayal, Regret, and Moving Forward

Have you ever had someone inspire a character in your work, only to realize later that they didn’t deserve the kindness you gave them in your writing?

As a writer, I’m often inspired by places. Settings hold a certain magic, and they frequently find their way into my stories. People, however, rarely influence my characters. But in my time travel romance, In Another Time, one character was inspired by a real person—a friend I once trusted.

At the time, I believed this person represented generosity and mutual support. My family and I had a verbal agreement with her: we could stay temporarily on her property in exchange for helping her. For the first eight months, we even paid her €150 per month while continuing to support her with renovations and cleaning. It felt unfair, but we stayed quiet, hoping she’d eventually see the imbalance.

And she did—when my husband finished renovating her kitchen, she offered to let us stay for free. For a while, it seemed like everything was in harmony. But when I told her I was exhausted and needed to focus on my own health and my son’s emergency medical care, everything fell apart.

While waiting in the hospital for my son’s diagnosis, I received hateful messages from her. She accused me of abandoning her and prioritizing myself over her needs. The stress caused me to collapse in the hospital, and when my husband explained what had happened, her response was simply “¡Claro!”—a dismissive confirmation, as if causing me to suffer was her intent all along.

From there, her behavior grew worse. She accused us of exploiting her and publicly called my husband a horrible man. She ignored the immense value of the work we’d done for her over the past year: renovating her kitchen and bedroom, painting staircases, repairing furniture, and installing valuable artwork. Despite the overwhelming imbalance in her favor, she twisted the narrative to paint herself as the victim.

When confronted with the truth—that our contributions far outweighed the “favor” of letting us stay in her crumbling, uninhabitable property—she refused to take accountability. Instead, she declared, “We’re all evil.” It became clear that her greed and jealousy had taken over. She couldn’t accept that our grocery bags—bulk purchases for a family of three—didn’t mean we were wealthier than her.

We now have a new agreement to stay here until the new year. If you’re wondering why we didn’t leave right away, well, we would have if we could. But right now, we’re rock bottom. We’re living paycheck to paycheck—or rather, our salary isn’t cutting it at the moment—so we’re working hard to find a new, affordable home.

Looking back, I regret how I portrayed her in my book. The character she inspired is a passive figure, quietly existing in the background. But given her slow betrayal in real life, she would have made a much better villain—a character whose greed and manipulation unravel the trust of those around her.

It’s hard to process this kind of betrayal. I’ve been left emotionally drained and physically unwell from the stress. I was even close to crying my heart out on the internet, begging for help. But I didn’t—because I wasn’t sure anyone would take me seriously afterward. Besides, despite everything, I’m looking forward to moving out and starting fresh.

Writing remains my outlet, and I know I’ll channel this experience into a story someday—one where the villain gets exactly what they deserve.

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