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Nancy, France, August 26, 2021-A web of deceit unraveled in northeastern France, revealing a two-year fabrication of illness by a woman who captivated the sympathy-and significantly altered the lives-of her friends. The story highlights how easily trust can be exploited,and the lasting damage inflicted when that trust is broken.
A Two-Year Lie: When Friendship Turns False
Table of Contents
Two women recount how a friend fabricated a series of serious illnesses, manipulating their lives for years.
- The deception began shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2021 with a claim of kidney cancer.
- The woman repeatedly leveraged illness to control interactions and prevent friends from connecting with each other.
- The elaborate lie was exposed when friends investigated her alleged treatment at a cancer institute in Nancy.
Marion, 28, and Mathilde, 29, where both close to Clara*, a woman they met years prior. marion had known Clara for a decade, as high school, and Clara was godmother to one of her children.Mathilde hired Clara as a nanny for her son, and a close friendship blossomed. In August 2021, Clara told Marion she had kidney cancer and would be receiving treatment in Nancy. Mathilde soon received the same news. “She told us that she had to have an operation and that she was waiting for news because it was a complicated operation. I didn’t ask more questions than that because I don’t know anything about it,” Mathilde explained.
“She Was At my House Almost Every Day”
Marion quickly became deeply involved in Clara’s supposed care.”Little by little, her condition deteriorates, the cancer settles in her lungs, she says that she is undergoing intense chemo and that it is arduous to move, that she is going to stay with a couple of friends.I come by almost every day to help her with daily life, prepare her food, wash her because she is in a wheelchair and bedridden the rest of the time,” Marion recounted.
Clara’s illness also significantly impacted Mathilde, who was then pregnant with her third child. “We are going for the weekend, to the Jura, to Haute-Savoie, she is coming with us. I told her she would be godmother to my unborn daughter. I put my pregnancy aside, my relationship aside, I spent my evenings chatting with her. She was at my house almost every day.”
“We Didn’t Imagine That This Could Be False”
Friends repeatedly celebrated Clara’s supposed recoveries, only for her to announce subsequent relapses. She eventually claimed to have pancreatic cancer. Her friends didn’t question her story, especially given the physical signs she presented. “She no longer had her hair, wore a turban. She was white, having seizures, feeling unwell, we already found her on the floor in the bathroom,” Mathilde said. Clara also shared videos about her cancer on social media.
Marion even explained to Clara’s children that their mother was dying. “She told me she wanted me to prepare them. I told them that their mother was very sick and that she might not be there for them anymore. It was awful,” Marion said, her voice breaking. “She manipulated us into believing her lies, and it was exhausting.”
The unraveling of a Lie
The deception began to unravel when Marion,concerned about Clara’s alleged treatment,contacted the cancer institute in Nancy. “I called them, pretending to be Clara, to ask about her appointments. They told me they had no record of her ever being treated there,” marion explained. Mathilde, independently, began to question Clara’s story after noticing inconsistencies.Together, they confronted Clara, who initially denied the accusations before eventually admitting to the fabrication.
“She said she did it because she felt lonely and wanted attention. She said she liked the feeling of being cared for,” Marion recounted. “It was a slap in the face. All the sacrifices we made, all the energy we spent, it was all for nothing.”
A Bitterness That Lasts
Even now, the women struggle to move past the betrayal. “I have made progress but it remains complicated. My relationships with others are complicated, I am incapable of trusting, I no longer really want to have friends,” Marion sighed, adding that she often thinks of Clara and her children. Mathilde encounters
