The Group Chat

A friend tells you something in confidence — something embarrassing, the kind of thing that would spread fast if it got out. Later that night, half asleep, you mention it in a group chat, thinking it's just the three people you trust most. You're wrong about who's in the chat. By morning, the whole year knows. Your friend is devastated and wants to know who told. You didn't mean to. You didn't post it anywhere public. You told a small circle, the way people do. But the secret is out, your friend is hurt, and the question hanging over everything is simple and brutal: whose fault is this? You could own it immediately — tell your friend it was you, apologise, and take whatever comes. You could stay quiet and hope it blows over, since no one knows it started with you. You could tell a half-truth: admit you "might