Kirat: What happened to me is just one crazy story. You can’t make it up. We’re talking about ten years of my life. I was 32. Very focused on my career. All my friends are getting married. And I just felt, “When’s it gonna be my turn?”

One day …

[alert chimes] … I get a friend request from Bobby. That changes my life.

[dramatic string music plays] Bobby comes from a well-respected family. We had mutual connections. Over the next few months … seven or eight months … eighteen months … four years … we’ve sent thousands of messages.

Eventually, he tells me …

[message chimes] … he loves me. We try to make it as normal as you can online. Bobby’s friends and family told me he wants to be with me. But there’s always an excuse why he can’t see me face-to-face. His mental health. Bobby’s been shot several times. What is going on? He started to lean on me. 

Woman 2 Texting her constantly. 

What I wouldn’t give to hold you.

Woman 2 She was not taking care of herself.

Woman 3 It was a total takeover of her life.

[dramatic music continues]

Kirat: If I wasn’t on the other end of the phone line, it upset him. We’d just fall asleep with the line open.

[exhale] Finally, I was questioning everything. 

Bobby: I’ve never spoken to her in my life. 

Kirat: I want answers. 

Woman 2: What I find so elaborate, so huge. 

Woman 3: It’s just unbelievable. 

Kirat: Profiles disappear. I’m terrified. You don’t know what they’re capable of. 

Woman 2: This is sickening.

Kirat: What was a lie? What was the truth? Who was the real Bobby?

[music grows to crescendo] All this time, who have I been sleeping on the phone with?

[exhale]

[mysterious music plays]