Lies don't just break trust; they break pieces of you. When I look back on those twelve years, I can't just tally the deception in words. The cost of lies showed up in my bank account, my mental health, my spirit, and my sense of safety. Lies are expensive, and I paid for them with currency far more valuable than money.
The Emotional Debt
Every lie added weight to my heart. Imagine carrying invisible baggage you didn't pack, yet somehow it's strapped to your back every single day.
- Anxiety: Constantly questioning if I was overreacting.
- Confusion: Living in a fog of half-truths and contradictions.
- Shame: Feeling like I wasn't enough to make him honest.
This emotional debt compounded daily, and the interest was brutal.
The Financial Fallout
Money was another battlefield. Deception doesn't stay neatly contained in the heart; it spills into the wallet.
- Empty promises about stability.
- Hidden spending and "emergencies."
- Manipulating access to finances to create dependence.
The cost wasn't just the dollars lost; it was the financial insecurity I had to climb out of when the lies finally came to light.
The Spiritual Toll
The deepest lies weren't told to my face; they were whispered to my spirit. Lies made me question my worth, my intuition, my ability to discern truth from fiction.
There's something sacred about trust. When someone desecrates that space, it leaves wounds that don't show up on the body but live in the soul. I found myself wrestling with questions like:
- Can I ever trust again?
- Was God silent while I suffered?
- Did I somehow deserve this?
It took years to rebuild a spiritual foundation that wasn't cracked by betrayal.
The Hidden Tax of Deception
Here's the part nobody talks about: lies don't just cost you while you're in the relationship. They follow you. They show up in how cautious you become, in how much energy it takes to rebuild, and in the way you second-guess new relationships, even when they're healthy.
The hidden tax of deception is the time and healing it requires to unlearn the damage.
The Lesson
The cost of lies isn't just what was stolen from me; it's what I had to learn to reclaim. My peace. My financial independence. My sense of divine worth.
And while I'll never say the cost was worth it, I can say this: the receipt became my testimony. Every scar tells me I survived. Every healed piece tells me I'm free.
Lies will bankrupt you, emotionally, financially spiritually. But truth? Truth is the currency of freedom. Writing the Long Con was how I cashed in my story and refused to let deception keep collecting interest in my life.
If you've ever paid the price for someone else's lies, what was the biggest cost for you, and how did you begin to rebuild?
Purchase the Long Con: https://books.by/prose-nd-ink-publishing
✍🏾 Published by pRose &nd Ink | Written by Dr. Tonya Johnson
With love and fire,
Ms. Bina
The Renaissance Woman the Algorithm Warned You About
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