I had been seeing a girl for a few weeks, but I had already decided that I wanted to end the relationship. Before I could break things off, she suddenly told me she was pregnant. I was only 19 and completely panicked, so I blurted out, “That’s impossible—I’m infertile!” She broke down, and I ended up taking her home.

Later that night, after she had fallen asleep, I woke up and overheard her quietly talking on the phone. She said, “He can be easily manipulated, so it won’t be hard to convince him that it’s his child. There is no way I’m going to become a single mom!”

I immediately realized that she had been planning to manipulate me into believing the baby was mine. I quietly left her apartment that night without waking her.

After that, I made the decision never to see her again. What started as a short relationship ended with me realizing that trusting my instincts—and what I had overheard—was the safest choice.