We spent １０年間s subsidising our 'poor' friend... then she bought a second home and a £75k 範囲 Rover!
On the day we left 第２位 school, my five closest friends and I made a 協定／条約. Our friendship, (1)偽造する／(2)徐々に進むd as ぎこちない 11-year-olds, would （期間が）わたる a lifetime, 関わりなく where careers or families took us.
And sure enough, for 24 years, the six of us met 定期的に, husbands and children in 牽引する, even going on group holidays together. Then last spring, a touchy 支配する tore our little group apart: money, 主要な to a sense of betrayal and, I'll 収容する／認める, latent jealousy.
For years, Rachel, 41, a 事業／計画（する） 経営者／支配人, and her husband 略奪する, 44, a surveyor, who live in a modest three-bedroom townhouse, had pleaded 親族 poverty and we had no 推論する／理由 not to believe them.
For 24 years we remained の近くに to our friends from school... until the touchy 支配する of money started to 刈る up in our conversations
The 残り／休憩（する） of us are not 豊富な 正確に／まさに, but comfortably off with good careers (I'm a 管理／経営 顧問). Although we never discussed salaries ― my husband and I earn a total of £100,000 a year, but in the South East this doesn't stretch far ― I assumed we were in 類似の boats.
To 融通する Rachel and 略奪する's 明らかに more meagre 予算, we had downgraded group ski trips, city breaks, staycations and ordered takeaways instead of eating out. Once we subsidised Rachel on a girls' holiday to Malta when she said she couldn't afford the accommodation. When we had takeaways at my house, I didn't chase her to 支払う／賃金 me 支援する.
At a 集会 last April, however, they pulled up in a showroom-fresh 範囲 Rover that wouldn't have left them much change out of £75,000. やめる a step up from their old Volvo.
'It's as 広大な／多数の／重要な as I thought it would be,' said 略奪する.
For years, Rachel, 41, a 事業／計画（する） 経営者／支配人, and her husband 略奪する, 44, a su rveyor, who live in a modest three-bedroom townhouse, had pleaded 親族 poverty and we had no 推論する／理由 not to believe them?
ちらりと見ることs were 交流d around the room; weren't they supposed to be strapped for cash? Perhaps they'd had a secret windfall ― an 相続物件, or a 特別手当 at work.
But a couple of months later, when we were having a girls-only 週末, Rachel let slip that '略奪する and I have just bought a second home as an 投資 to rent out'. When one of the group repeated her words 支援する to her in astonishment, she replied: 'Yeah, we've been saving for years.'
明らかに, it's a three-bedroom terraced cottage の近くに to where we grew up in Cambridgeshire, not grand, but buying a second home is in stark contrast to our 強調する／ストレスing over 増加するd mortgage 率s on our only 所有物／資産／財産.
Incredulity rippled around the group as we realised they'd hoodwinked us. All those years pretending they couldn't afford this or that while they were 内密に amassing a 貯金 マリファナ 含む／封じ込めるing hundreds of thousands!
At a 集会 last April, however, they pulled up in a showroom-fresh 範囲 Rover that wouldn't have left them much change out of £75,000. やめる a step up from their old Volvo.?Picture 提起する／ポーズをとるd by model
After the 週末 away, a WhatsApp group minus Rachel was 始める，決める up so the 残り／休憩（する） of us could vent our fury, remembering countless times we'd altered our 計画（する）s so they could join in.
I was furious 解任するing the fuss Rachel had made about my 40th birthday 18 months before.
In hindsight, this was perhaps the most hurtful 妥協. I had planned a 週末 away in a beautiful cottage in Norfolk. When I 現在のd my suggestion and prices ― £200 per couple for three nights ― Rachel すぐに replied: 'We're not doing that, we can't afford it.'
She followed it up with: 'Surely you can find a cheaper cottage, さもなければ do we have to do a 週末 away?' I was disappointed, but 同情的な, believing they were squeezed financially. We went out for afternoon tea instead.
One friend was furious that we'd paid for Rachel's Malta hotel room. And another reminded us that when Rachel and 略奪する hosted a barbecue a couple of summers earlier, they'd asked everyone to 与える／捧げる to the cost of food and drink. Then there was the planned ski trip they said was extravagant (it wasn't) so we switched it from Italy to Bulgaria to save about £300 per couple.
Now we know they were saving hundreds of thousands of 続けざまに猛撃するs.
Who knows where their splurge will end ― they're planning a large kitchen 拡張 next. You may think it's a 事例／患者 of the green-注目する，もくろむd monster on my part. I 収容する／認める I was envious of the second 所有物／資産／財産.
And it did make me and my husband 反映する on our own 財政上の 決定／判定勝ち（する）s. We've both lost loved ones and our 態度 is that life is short, so we spend a bit and we save a bit.
During a girls-only 週末, Rachel let slip that '略奪する and I have just bought a second home as an 投資 to rent out'. Picture 提起する／ポーズをとるd by models
But the real 推論する／理由 for my 怒り／怒る is a sense of betrayal. If they'd opened up about the 推論する／理由s for 存在 so hard up, we would have understood but probably not been so 融通するing on 減ずるing our group 計画（する）s.
The deception 削減（する）s 深い and the other girls feel the same. Our husbands' 見解（をとる）s are more divided ― some say we should leave them be. A year on, however, my husband thinks it's time to 含む Rachel and 略奪する again.
We should ha ve explained how betrayed we felt. Instead, we talk behind their 支援するs and it's become easier not to 含む them.
We all felt a curious sense of 救済 and 犯罪 the first time we met for dinner without them. But it's not the same now there's a 核心 member of our group 行方不明の. Sadness is my 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing emotion because I love Rachel. She is the most loyal of friends, but money can change people and I don't 疑問 that 略奪する was the main driver in keeping their 貯金 計画／陰謀 to themselves.
We're planning a short break to Mallorca ― feeling 有罪の, we decided to let Rachel and 略奪する know. As always, their first question was 'How much will it cost?'
This time we said we're sticking with the flights and accommodation we've （ーのために）とっておくd, so they're not coming ― no 疑問 putting money aside for their new kitchen instead. I think they're oblivious to the 傷つける they've 原因（となる）d.
So it turns out our friendship 協定／条約 won't go the distance. I hope their new spoils were 価値（がある） it.
指名するs have been changed.
As told to SADIE NICHOLAS
