June 12, 2024:

It not about liar and victim.

She disclosed, fully and openly. Proudly, even. She told you who she was. Freely. Effusively, like bragging.

The failure was yours. Your own true belief made her disclosure inaudible. You weren't deceived, you declined to hear.

Until the exact moment of revelation. "He's so evil." Spoken with true admiration, where all the machinery of resentment and revenge spilled out like pus from a pimple. Nevermind that all "evil" meant was small, in a petty sort of way.

June 11, 2024:

The symmetry is the trap.

Two true believers, each in their own way. She in lying, you in — what? Love? Her? Your eminently, demonstrably false read of the situation?

She told you who she was. Your faith made you deaf.

She was honest about lying. You lied to yourself.

June 10, 2024:

To say she was a liar is to understate the issue. She was a chronic, unapologetic liar, a liar from conviction, a true believer in the power of lies and of the benefits they convey. To her, of course, not necessarily others.

She had a consistent, thoughtfully-articulated theory of why lies are important. She was happy to share it, should you care to listen.

Did you?

Not in time. Only in hindsight. After all, you were a true believer yourself. Of a different sort.