An Australian woman has really put your worst breakup story to shame with her incredible tale of bumping into her ex-boyfriend at his family restaurant two years after she mourned his tragic 'death'.
Speaking to ABC News, Rachel revealed that her ex, who she calls 'Alistair', pretended to be dead in order to avoid paying back the money he owed her.
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Rachel was reportedly just 18 when she met the then-21-year-old chef. She says their relationship was normal, but about three months in Alistair got a broken hand from a fight he said "wasn't his fault".
He allegedly had to borrow around NZ$1000 to make ends meet while he couldn't work.
When the pair broke up a few months later, it was apparently all amicable, with Alistair paying her back $300 of the grand he owed her.
But he soon stopped replying to her texts when she asked for the rest.
Mon and Sez talk break-ups in this episode of Newshub podcast The Snack.
Things got even stranger when his friends told Rachel his things began disappearing from their flat, including his bed and other furniture. They also told her he owed them large amounts of money too - about AU$2200 (NZ$2300).
"The moment we went 'OK, he owes everyone money', the anxiety and urgency of the situation ramped up," she said. "The story was falling apart really, really quickly."
It was then, she says, she received a phone call from a friend, giving her the terrible news that Alistair was dead.
"It sounds stupid in retrospect, but you don't have any reason to question it," she said.
"If I called you and told you my mum died, you wouldn't be like, 'give me a death certificate'."
Alistair's mum told his friends her son had been murdered because he owed money to a bikie gang - which would have seemed in character.
Rachel said that at the time she didn't want to know all the details, her approach was just to "grieve in her own way and move on".
And she did - until two years later when she saw him very much alive, at his family restaurant in their home town.
"I remembered that his brother also worked there," she said. "I went, 'I haven't seen him in ages, and I'd like to say hi'."
Rachel and her friend asked the waitress if he was working and she told them "no, but his brother is".
When Rachel asked the waitress to clarify, she said his name was Alistair.
"I just went into shock," says Rachel, and says she asked the waitress to check if he could come out and see her.
It was then the manager asked her to leave.
When Rachel went to the police, she was told there was nothing they could do.
"I was basically told by the police that it was my word against his that I'd ever even given him money," she says.
As a bizarre final nail in the coffin, Rachel received a text message from Alistair's mum, who years earlier had been the one to deliver the details of his death, complaining the "scene" they'd made had lost Alistair his job.
Rachel says she decided to give up on getting answers or money from her ex - probably a good idea.
Newshub.
