12 People Share What Broke Their Lifelong Friendship Beyond Repair

Experts claim that up to 70% of close friendships dissolve after around seven years. In this article, 12 people recount the moments that turned years of trust and connection into heartbreak. From unexpected betrayals to unmet expectations, these stories shed light on the fragile nature of human bonds. Discover how a single event can unravel a lifetime of friendship.

• When I was a freshman in college, I shared a room with my best friend from high school. I kept a diary that I wrote in every day, and I would hide it in my locked closet.
  One day, I came back from class to find her reading out loud from my diary to a group of our friends. She had broken into the closet just to get the diary. I haven’t spoken to her in 30+ years. © RhodiumPlated / Reddit

• Went on a mini-vacation with my best friend. She brought her 8-year-old son, I brought my 4-year-old daughter. Her son was so disrespectful, swearing, nasty attitude, and was so mean to my daughter the entire trip.
  The last straw was on the morning of the 3rd day, when he ripped a box of cereal out of my daughter's hand, and she started crying. I tried disciplining him, and my friend blew up at me and proceeded to DEFEND her son, as she called my daughter a "whiny baby."
  We started arguing. I packed our bags and said that we're leaving. I drove 4 hours home without saying a single word to her or her son. Got to her house, threw her bags on her front lawn, and peeled out of her driveway. © Leesh_26 / Reddit

• I actually ended the friendship, then a year later she apologized, promised she had seen the error of her ways, etc. She asked me to come to a dinner party for her birthday with a group of her friends, and I agreed.
  For context, I'm crafty and like to decorate things. I bought her a cute bracelet for her birthday and decorated a little box to put it in.
  We sat down at the restaurant, and she introduced me to her other friends by making some joke at my expense that I have forgotten. It got an uncomfortable chuckle, but her friends were actually nice.
  A little bit later, I gave her the gift. She said, "Do you keep giving me boxes because you like them, or you think I do?" None of her other friends laughed. I said, "Open the box, Mary," and left. That was the last time we spoke. © AndrysThorngage / Reddit

• My 16-year-old sister got me tickets to the Harry Potter exhibit in New York City when I was 13. Spent her own money on two tickets. She and I.
  My best friend found out and threw a fit to her mother that “She should be going because she is a bigger fan,” and the mother messaged my sister to tell her to give her ticket to her daughter because “It’s the right thing to do.” © IEatBobbyFlaysA** / Reddit

• My two best friends from med school. My wife got sick with cancer, and I told them about it and sent them an email with my thoughts on clinical trials she might be able to get into. They never wrote me back.
  Months later, one of them reached out and wanted to set up a Zoom call with me and my wife to chat. My wife had just come home from a 10-hour surgery. We got on the phone, and he didn’t even ask her how she was doing. They talked for 15 minutes about the plants in front of their house.
  Eventually, my wife had to bring up her illness and surgery, even though they knew about it. It was the strangest conversation. When we got off, my wife said, “That was weird, wasn’t it?” I agreed, and then she said, “I’m kind of done with them,” and I agreed also. I’ve never talked with them since. © Try_Banning_THIS / Reddit

• My best friend moved out of state. I would text and call, but I eventually realized I was the one making the effort, so I stopped reaching out.
  I hit my breaking point when, about a year after she moved, we were taking a road trip and would pass through her city. She seemed excited to see us, but on the day of, she canceled. We said we’d catch her on the way back. She agreed and canceled that day, too.
  I haven’t spoken to her since. It was painful, but the old saying, “if someone wants to see you, they will MAKE time to see you,” is true. I guess the friendship meant more to me than to her. © Fun_Importance_4250 / Reddit

• My "best friend" asked me to be her maid of honor. I was planning her wedding, speaking to vendors, etc.
  On the day of her wedding, she never spoke to me at all or acknowledged my efforts, even though I was fixing her makeup and coordinating with her vendors and organizing things like bringing her family/friends to the right seats, etc. I could see from the corner of my eye that she was having fun with her other bridesmaids. I was ok with it and was actually happy that she was happy, and I had a part to play in that.
  Towards the end of the wedding night, she did not thank me for the day and actually told me that I could have done better with the music and other stuff. I was so tired and just left after everything was settled. She tried to reach out a few times after the wedding by saying she was sorry about what she said, and she was truly appreciative. I never replied. © freexfleur / Reddit

• His wife cheated on him. I was the bad guy for trying to let him know. © Wyrdbro / Reddit

• We were supposed to move in together. The first move away from our parents. Fortunately, we were renting from my parents because...
  The night before our move-in date, he called me to say he had gotten his own apartment earlier that day, without me. He then listed everything about me that annoyed him and every mistake and flaw I had that he knew about. Since he was my best friend, it was a lot.
  There was no sign this was coming. We had only ever argued a couple of times. I never knew that so much about me was so distasteful to him. I was devastated.
  A couple of weeks later, he called and came over until I spoke to him. He was very apologetic—for reasons I would have completely understood had he told me he had a breakdown and realized he needed to live on his own. Knowing it was going to mess things up for me, he made it my fault. He said he didn't mean any of it and was horrified about how he treated me.
  Yet it was so detailed and specific, going back years to incidents that I had no idea were an issue. There was just no fixing it. I could never feel comfortable and trust him again.
  On one hand, I miss people I used to know. I don't miss him or think of him often or with nostalgic fondness. My daughter doesn't know who he is when she comes across old pictures of us, but she knows about other old friends, since I mention them. On the other hand... It's been 20 years.
  It's hard for me to have close friends still, because I feel like they may be building lists of things I do wrong and ways I just am wrong and awful. And maybe they'll call one day when I least expect it and list it all. It wasn't good. © 2beagles / Reddit

• My best friend and I have known each other for over 17 years, and our daughters are about the same age, so they’ve always been close. She asked me to look after her 15-year-old while she went on a trip with her new man for a week. No problem at all.
  But then, her daughter got really sick. I had to rush her to the hospital—she was seriously unwell, and it turned out she needed immediate surgery. I stayed by her kid's side for three days, made sure she got the care she needed, and helped organize everything with the doctors.
  I kept my friend updated and called her right away, but instead of coming home early, she told me it would be too expensive to change her flight. She even said, "You don’t have to go to the hospital every day. The nurses can handle it."
  When she finally came back, instead of thanking me, she yelled at me for "interfering with her parenting" and "making decisions for her daughter." I’ll never speak to that "friend" again.

• Kept borrowing money for food and clothes for their kids. One day, I got a message saying one kid had been in the hospital but was now back home and needed meds. They begged for money, saying they didn’t have enough after paying for rides to the hospital.
  Later that day, I walked into a local store and saw them, all together, picking out new clothes, smiling, and acting like everything was fine. The "sick" kid was running around, laughing, as if nothing had happened. Destroyed the friendship for me.
  Those kids felt like my own, and discovering the betrayal was the hardest part. Realizing I wasn’t loved the way I had loved them hit me the hardest.

• I had a job, he sort of did (like part-time lab work). He was always needing to be covered for rent, food, etc. I did what I could to keep the lights on and the rent paid. He periodically paid some money back, or got a pizza, or whatever.
  Honestly, I didn't really care; he had been my best friend since I was 5 years old. What was a couple of hundred or even a thousand dollars?
  It all came tumbling down near the end of the spring term. We were at the house, and his girlfriend wanted to go out bowling. Personally, I like bowling, but I literally did not have two pennies to rub together at that moment. I had just dropped all my cash covering utilities and rent for the whole house, and I didn't get paid for a few more days.
  So, I said, "Nah, I will pass. I am literally out of cash." Two seconds later, his girlfriend chimes in, "You are always broke. Always needing money. Don't you have a job?"
  After that, I was seeing red, but I didn't explode. Just looked at my friend, who looked panicked. One of our other friends stayed behind after they left and informed me that she had heard I was constantly borrowing money from him (my friend). That I was always short on rent and utilities, and his girlfriend was pissed because it affected things they wanted to do (like taking trips).
  My friend had flipped the script. Using all his money on dining with his girlfriend, then telling everyone we knew I was borrowing money when he was tapped out (as an excuse). Needless to say, I was pissed. Told him to grow up.
  I went home for the summer to visit my mom. Came back to town with us being evicted from the house. Turns out, he had decided to stop paying anything towards rent, didn't tell me, hid all the owner complaints, and then was bailing out.
  Also, just as an extra kick to the teeth, I lost the deposit on the place (which I had paid). Apparently, he had been storing an old car battery in his closet. It had leaked, melted through the carpet and floor, and literally fallen under the house.
  After that, and a bit more lying and drama, I finally just had a talk with him. Told him that I couldn't be friends with him until he grew up and took responsibility. Told him he could come talk to me again when he was ready to apologize and stop lying. It was the last conversation I ever had with him, it's been almost 20 years now. © Tayuven / Reddit

Friendships can be fragile, with one wrong move or betrayal unraveling years of trust and connection. But not all relationship breakdowns are straightforward—some take bizarre, sitcom-worthy turns. Ever heard of a divorce caused by a spaghetti sauce mishap or a man demanding to be his stepson’s biological father? These jaw-dropping stories will have you questioning how any of these people stayed married.