Bernie Pt. 1 | Betrayal Weekly

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You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your first thought is, why do I feel so awful?

It's like being betrayed by your own body.

But here's the plot twist: it's not your fault.

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When I found Early Bird's morning cocktail, I felt the shift immediately.

It's this blood-orange mimosa drink that you mix the night before and you keep on your nightstand.

When the alarm goes off, you drink, and it's like flipping flipping a switch.

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Visit earlybird.com and use code betrayal for 20% off.

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So we sat down and he was like, he doesn't believe in NDAs, so he's not going to ask for one of them.

And I was just like, what the hell is going on here?

Like, what is happening?

And he was like, oh, do you know what?

I think I need to tell you a little bit about my family history.

I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

Today, I want to introduce you to Bernie Brown.

My entire life's been paycheck to paycheck.

I'm just very clever with it.

I've cut my own hair for the past 20 years and colored it because I'm like, well, if somebody else can do that, why can't I do that?

While growing up in London, Bernie experienced a a difficult upbringing.

My childhood was very rough.

My mum was extremely strong, but she was going through massive domestic violence with my dad at one point.

Very, very seriously.

We're talking like hospitalization.

Bernie witnessed his dad's violence at a young age.

I do remember one time walking into the kitchen and he had her up by a knife.

I actually still remember to this day the layout layout of the room.

I remember it very, very vividly.

She would be the punching bag to make sure that we were never harmed.

His mom was a pillar of strength.

My mother, everything I do and the person that I am now is because of who she was and what she showed me.

What Bernie remembers most about his mom was how she always made everyone feel at home.

She was always very house-proud, always cleaning.

When I hit school, my friends would come over to see her.

She was very much an open door.

The door was never locked, which was probably unsafe.

But anyone knocked on the door, anyone who needed help, regardless of whether she had it or not,

it would always be a yes.

And she was very, very well known for that.

When Bernie came out as gay.

My family were lovely with it.

I was very, very, very lucky.

That enabled me to actually be proud and celebrate it.

He began to explore the queer scene in London.

When you first come out as being gay, you've got the big clubs, you know, the GAY Astoria, which has closed down now.

I spent many a happy evening there, shall we say.

Bernie was living his best life.

It was a fun and exciting time.

But deep down, he was looking for a real partnership.

I really wanted to find somebody to settle down with.

I just wanted that one-on-one connection.

I don't remember actually witnessing a stable relationship.

And I think that's why I so desperately needed one.

At age 18, Bernie found what he was looking for.

I met my first real

boyfriend at the time in London.

We moved to Newcastle.

We bought a house.

We had two dogs and two cars and we had that life.

I must have been 22, 23 and it wasn't legal in the UK to get married at that point.

So what we did, we threw a party and we legally changed our names.

So we kind of had our little version of a wedding and it was just going amazingly.

He had everything he wanted and it was great for about eight years.

But then it just didn't work.

When that failed, we were actually very close friends for about 10 years after.

I was the best man at his wedding.

After their relationship ended, Bernie's mother's health started to decline.

At the age of 46, she died of heart failure.

We had that time to say goodbye, which rarely do people get.

I could actually process it there and then and we both said what we felt and you know what she wanted from us in life now bernie felt truly out on his own he was newly single and starting over in the city i was in london of course i had

flings and you know all of them that come with it but every single time i would

never

see somebody or sleep with somebody and instantly just disregard.

There would always be an element of,

hmm, could this go further?

He was a romantic, but Bernie knew he had to prioritize himself and his career.

After years of working in retail, Bernie wanted to start a brand of his own.

So he started saving everything he could to start his own clothing brand.

I've never, never had money at all.

But I've always worked very, very hard for the money that I do have.

I've always wanted to work for myself.

Not answered to anyone.

So I started a clothing t-shirt business, like my own prints and selling them online.

And I was like, it's my time.

Let me build something that's my own.

Even though Bernie was working a lot, he still wanted to have a good time.

I don't need the relationship at the minute, but you know, you need the physical side of it.

So he went on Grinder, the dating app for gay men.

So I was using it happily.

I'd actually met some quite good friends now.

I actually do still remember the message come through because I had had a glass of wine and I was sat with a glass of wine and I got the famous droop.

But I remember that there was something intriguing.

It was very well written and

not the usual first opening message that you get on that kind of app.

And I thought,

Do you know what's a nice breath of fresh air?

There's nothing going to hurt.

I'll just entertain it.

His name was Leo, and Bernie had never seen him on the app before.

I was like, I've not seen you around here before.

And he was like, no, I live in central London by Hyde Park, just around the corner from Harrod to set in the other.

Instantly, I was like, well, hold on.

They're like 20 million pounds.

Bernie didn't know anyone with a house in Hyde Park.

That was a completely different world.

Bearing in mind, it's Grinder.

You instantly just think,

okay, all right, this fictional whatever.

So you entertain.

And I was like, oh, lovely, fine.

Leo was quick to ask him on a date.

He was like, I'm not big talking on these apps.

I'm around the corner.

Why don't you come over?

Nothing untoward.

He was like, just, you know, let me cook you some dinner and we'll just have a glass of wine.

And I then was like, oh, this is very sweet.

He's very well spoken.

In addition to his apartment in London, Leo also had a luxury trailer, an airstream, that he kept at a high-end campground.

They've got their own unique gardens and plots and all of these.

It's beautiful.

So I was like, okay, this is nice.

And there's this big, beautiful white Range Rover that was sat next to it.

He was very articulate and he did speak Queen's English.

It's very smooth, but pronounces every word as intended by Her Majesty the Queen.

I was like, oh my God, that I need to like, you know, I need to up it a notch.

Leo made a delicious dinner.

Instantly, I was taken in.

Just his charm.

I've never met anybody with that smooth charm that isn't patronizing.

It just was focused on me and we had an amazing meal.

Bernie was really enjoying himself.

he liked talking to leo and they bonded over cars he went through his picture gallery and he had all of these cars we had the bentleys we had aston martins we had quite a few range rovers some old classics and he was just flicking through and it was like this is my pride and joy i love cars and this that and the other the pictures also showed that Leo had serious money.

A lot of it.

You can kind of tell if somebody's got old money or new money.

New money is very much the designer head to toe and all of this.

Old money is, you can't really tell if they've got money.

They're the Chinos, the nice shirt, the necktie, that kind of thing.

That's how he was.

But Bernie didn't understand why he asked him to come to his trailer instead of his London apartment.

At that point, he just said he was from a very influential family within the UK.

And because of his family, he can't be out.

He can't be gay.

So to escape all of the craziness, he needs somewhere to get away.

And he said, nobody knows about this caravan.

Like his family don't know.

Security doesn't know.

So for him, it's just his little getaway to just be himself.

So I was like, okay, fine.

But at that point, I didn't know

who.

his family was.

Bernie ended up staying and hanging out with Leo for hours.

It got dark.

It must have been around about 11-12 o'clock at night.

It was like, oh, let's go inside.

Let's go in the caravan.

And we sat in the sofa area and just had a conversation.

But there's something very weird that happened.

It was like, do you mind if I ask you to do something?

Can you just undress in front of me?

I won't touch.

I won't do anything like that.

Bearing in wind, I'd probably had a bottle of wine.

So I did, and I got naked, and he didn't.

And he was like, just turn around for me, and that was it.

And he's like, okay, you can get dressed now.

I was like, what was all that about?

He was just like, I've not been with many men.

So I'm a little bit nervous.

Instantly, I was like, oh,

that's so sweet.

They kissed goodnight and Bernie got a taxi home.

Next morning, I woke up, and of course, there was the most beautiful message that was on my phone.

And it was like, look, I really want to see you again.

I can't get you out of my mind.

This, that, and the other.

And we just had normal conversation through the day.

I just started feeling a bit warm.

I was just like,

is this really happening?

They decided on a second date.

So again, I went over.

We had something to eat.

The conversation was effortless.

The subjects, it was just, it was so smooth.

It was as if I'd known him for years.

It was so easy.

And then we started kissing and this, that, and the other.

And then he,

I remember he started coughing.

And

I was like, oh, is everything okay?

And it was like, yeah, it's fine.

I'm just, I'm very, very nervous.

So I was like, look, listen, let's just sit, take it slow and, you know, see where we go.

Nothing has to happen.

And then, you know, we went back to it and the things were happening.

And then he kind of had a coughing fit.

And it actually got really serious that I was like, I'll get you a glass of water.

So I got him a glass of water and he would not stop coughing.

So I was like, I'm just going to step outside because by this point, he was bringing things up.

It was not romantic at all.

And I was outside for about 10 minutes and all you could hear was this hacking up.

And at that point, I was stood there.

And I was like,

what do I do?

Do I go?

Do I just like leave?

But then my car keys are in there.

This is really awkward.

So then he called me back in and we had this conversation and he just apologised.

And that's when he said that he's got a few health issues.

And it's like, he's getting them checked up.

And it's nothing too serious to worry about at the minute.

And it was like so

apologetic.

I was like, honestly, it's fine.

Let's just watch something.

Calm down.

It's, I was like, it's generally not a big deal.

After Leo recovered from his coughing fit, Bernie stayed and they ended up having a really lovely evening.

We had a few dates at that point.

He was like, can I come to yours?

So I was like, do you know what?

Yes.

Come to mine.

I will cook us a nice meal.

And then that's the first time that he came around

and he brought the Bentley.

This Bentley continental white thing pulled up and I was like,

what the hell is this?

Bernie had seen the pictures of Leo's cars, but he was skeptical that Leo really owned all of them.

All the way up until that point, and that was a few weeks in, I took everything with a pinch of salt.

And then I think that was the first time when the Bentley pulled up.

I'm like,

but hold on, if this is true.

The Bentley was impressive.

I'd never even been close to a Bentley.

It's like, drawing a ride.

So I was like, yes.

I was like, come on.

So I got in and we went for a drive and oh my God, it goes fast.

Beautiful car.

Later that night, when they were deep in conversation,

it slipped in.

It was like, oh, I've got to go down to the castle today for whatever event I have to.

I'm being dragged down.

And I was like, castle?

What's this?

And it was like, oh, do you know what?

I think I need to tell you a little bit about my family history.

You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your first thought is, why do I feel so awful?

It's like being betrayed by your own body.

But here's the plot twist.

It's not your fault.

Dehydration and brain fog are sabotaging you beneath the surface.

When I found Early Bird's morning cocktail, I felt the shift immediately.

It's this blood-orange mimosa drink that you mix the night before and you keep on your nightstand.

When the alarm goes off, you drink and it's like flipping a switch.

Clean energy, no brain fog, no crash.

I'm in control of my day again.

Early Bird is clinically engineered to target morning fatigue from all angles.

There's clean, natural caffeine, mood-lifting nootropics, and a supercharged electrolyte blend to combat dehydration.

This is more than just a morning drink.

It's a science-backed tool to help you take control of your mornings and own your potential.

It gives me the energy to show up as the best, most accomplished version of myself.

Discover how good it feels to rise and grind on your own terms.

Visit earlybird.com and use code BETRAYAL for 20% off.

That's clubearlybird.com.

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Bernie was really enjoying getting to know Leo, a guy he met on Grindr.

He knew Leo came from money, and after a few dates, he confided in Bernie about his family's backstory.

So we sat down and he was like, right, he doesn't believe in NDA, so he's not going to ask for one of them.

And I was just like,

what the hell is going on here?

Like, what is happening?

A non-disclosure agreement?

Bernie wasn't following.

But then...

He opened up with, do you know who the Norfolks are?

And I said, no, no i have no idea who that is so then he went through the family history so he was like my dad's brother is the duke of norfolk i didn't know who that was he was like the duke of norfolk is the highest peerage in the uk outside of the royal family so it's literally the royal family then the estate of the duke of norfolk they're bloodline royals they're just not direct in line to the throne.

Obviously, I had a little look on Google and you can see on his profile who the Duke of Norfolk and the immense responsibility that he has within Britain.

So I was like, okay, fine.

So that's your dad's brother.

He was like, yeah.

And Leo's title?

He was Viscount Norfolk II.

And the castle he'd mentioned offhand was a Rundle Castle, a thousand-year-old architectural masterpiece in the south of England.

And it was like, let me show you something.

Because at that point, he'd brung an overnight bag

And he had this Cartier box, quite slim,

and opened it.

It was a crest with flower spikes all around.

It was a circular shape with the St.

George's Cross in the middle.

Then had some inscriptions on it.

And it had the House of Norfolk and Fitz Allen.

And he said, we have to carry this everywhere we go.

badges and emblems and crests because if somebody passes they need it instantly for a sign of respect and all of this.

I held it, it was so heavy, and I was just like, What is going on in my life right at this minute in time?

You know, I've got somebody here that

is amazing and

like

so into me,

but at the same time,

also with the Bentley out front, and I'm sitting here holding this big royal crest.

Bernie couldn't wrap wrap his mind around it.

And I was like, I don't know what to say.

And he was like, it's fine.

It was like, just ask any questions that you have.

And I was like, I literally don't have questions.

Like, my mind is blank.

This was really big.

Leo came from a very important and complicated world.

Bernie didn't know what it would mean for his relationship with Leo.

He was like, I want to keep us separate.

You know, that I have to do.

This with you, I want to do.

And he was like, until we figure out how or if we can mix this, let's just try.

So I was like, look,

I'm fine with that.

I'm not here.

And I never have been impressed by money.

Obviously, I'm impressed by the Bentley, but I'm not here for anything other than you.

This was a pivotal moment.

The conversation deepened their connection.

That was then the first day that he had opened up and he trusted me.

He trusted me with this secret and his family and his lion.

I think that was the first time that I was like, Yeah, he really likes me.

Leo let Bernie into his inner circle, but he made it clear privacy and discretion was critical.

The first few months after that, it was amazing.

He really genuinely wanted to see me happy and

to take care of me.

Bernie and Leo were spending more and more time with each other.

He pretty much moved in.

I think that was about a month and a half in.

I gave him a key and I literally just said, you know,

use it whenever you want.

Leo never missed a moment to make Bernie feel loved.

If I was on a late shift, I would finish 10, 11 o'clock at night, and then he would be there with dinner, with flowers.

At that minute in time, I had felt the happiest, settled, and loved, than I would probably say, bar my mum, than I had ever felt in my life.

Even though Leo came from a wealthy background, he worked hard and had a career he was passionate about.

He knew about watches.

He was a horologist.

He had been to Switzerland, studied at the best places.

Absolutely knew everything.

He had space to do a little studio.

He was taking taking all of these Rolexes apart and in front of me putting them back together.

And then he was like, I'm licensed by Rolex to do that.

It was a very competitive certification.

But luxury watches were Leo's life.

He always had Rolex Patek Philippe on his arm.

Within a few months, they were spending almost every night together.

They were exclusive.

Bernie was starting to think that Leo could be the one.

There was only one big concern, and that was Leo's health.

It was there from the beginning, but Bernie was seeing his symptoms worsen.

Leo wasn't just coughing.

He was now throwing up.

He went silent for,

I want to say two days.

Now, by that point, please realize that two days when I am now fully into this, fully into the emotion is like two weeks.

During those two days, Bernie was desperate to hear from Leo.

While he waited, his mind began to spin.

What have I done?

Have I said something?

I went back through WhatsApps, and this is only two days of no conversation.

I went through WhatsApps to find out what I've said that he could possibly take offense with.

Anyway, he eventually came back and basically apologized for not being in contact with me over the two days.

Leo had a good reason for being out of touch.

He'd been in the hospital.

He was like, I can't say anything over the phone, but I just need to get out of London.

My family are going

into a panic and trying to keep this maintained, you know, make sure that it doesn't go to any press.

He was like, can I just come to yours?

I was like, absolutely.

At that point, he told me that he was suffering from brain cancer.

And they've given him a year to live.

And obviously, he had a lot of processing that he needed to do

bernie was devastated he wanted to be there for leo any way he could i'm just going to sit here and be quiet you talk to me you vent to me you get your frustrations out anything that is in your mind i was like you literally throw them at me this is what i'm here to do and he did and he got upset, he got angry, he was crying and then he got to the us conversation and he said, I can't really see you anymore.

Leo didn't want to be a burden.

He was like, look, I can't promise you anything.

If this is how my life is going to end, there's bits that may not be pretty.

And I was like, look, I really don't care.

I was like, if I have to be a complete secret, even if we have to break up, just I want to be your friend.

It wasn't about any of the sex or the relationship.

For me, it was this person that was in front of me.

To Bernie's surprise, Leo even brought up his will.

He was like, obviously, he can't change that because if he put my name in there, all questions will come up of who I am.

And I was like, I really do not care.

I was like, I literally do not care about any of that.

I was like,

if you get to that point, I will be here as much as you need me to.

Leo couldn't come out to his family.

So in order for Bernie to stay in his life, he suggested Bernie pretend to be his assistant or driver.

It was the kind of arrangement Bernie wouldn't have agreed to under normal circumstances, but he was willing to do anything to make sure he could care for Leo.

So he agreed.

And

I meant it a hundred percent.

Not a second guess in my mind.

So Bernie immediately focused on helping Leo make sense of his diagnosis.

I went online, I researched the hell out of it down to all different methods.

And I mean, I did go crazy with it, to be honest.

I was there for at least an entire 24 hours googling researching what this meant

experimental drugs and like I just went to town with everything that I could find out.

But Leo had already accepted that he didn't have much time left.

He was talking about that he might not actually go for chemo because he just wants to just end it on his terms in Switzerland.

That was a conversation that we had.

And then that's when we went on to a conversation about I think I need to start living my life while I've got it.

And I was like, right, okay.

So let's do that.

For Leo, living his life to the fullest meant finally launching his own watch restoration business.

That would be his legacy.

He had a collection of incredible luxury watches and he couldn't take them with him.

One day he said to me, I've got all of these watches.

I might just start selling them because I kind of like swap and a buy and trade on this site.

And he's like, I kind of want to build something.

So instantly I kicked in.

I was like, I can build you a website.

Let's register this company.

And I did.

We had quite a few business meetings on how the logo is going to look, what it's called, setting up all of the social media for it.

And I sat on my little Photoshop and I done the logo.

And the company was called the Vintage Crown.

Leo wanted Bernie to list all of his watches and post them online.

So he brought his entire collection to Bernie's house.

We came up and he literally had about two, three trunks of

watches.

I mean, I've got all the pictures on my phone still.

There was countless Rolexes.

There was the Tech Felique's, there was Van Cleefen Arpaul's.

They were stunning.

There must have been, I'd say, close to

100 watches in my lounge on this table.

And there was this very, very old Rolex.

The glass, the watch face was quite rounded.

Bernie picked up the watch.

It was heavy and ornate.

He was like, this is probably the most expensive watch that I own.

And I was like, well, how much is it worth?

And he was like, you check it out.

So he's like, go on the Rolex website, turn the watch over.

I typed in the serial number and it came in at 1.2 million.

At that point, I probably had about £100 in my bank account.

So I'm like, 1.2 million.

It was just insane to think of the money that was sat right in front of me.

Leo had a staggering collection of luxury watches.

And as Bernie helped Leo launch his new watch business, Bernie got a taste of that world.

Like when Bernie came with him to run errands at high-end London department stores.

And whenever we walked in to Harrod's, they knew of him.

They addressed him by his name, talking about previous purchases that he had made and full conversations.

He even asked Bernie to go to Selfridge's, another luxury department store in London, for an exclusive event.

It's a private party, a VIP, but it would be quite quite nice if you can come with me just to experience a bit of that lifestyle.

And I was like,

absolutely.

Yeah, I'll come out.

So we got dressed, made our way into central London, walk into Selfridge's, and it was red carpet, all of that.

This event was a big deal.

And Leo was a big deal there.

Everyone greeted him by name.

And immediately, people were vying for his attention.

So he went in to this private VIP area through the door.

Leo was there to look at a specific watch.

And then he sent me a message and was like, okay, we're kind of done with the finance side.

Do you want to come in?

So I was like, absolutely.

So I went in and it was a private room with the head of European sales.

The room was gorgeous.

We had hors d'oeuvres that were laid out and the watches were laid out in front of me.

These ridiculous, I mean, the price of a house, these watches in front of us.

And it was just this woman, Leo, and me.

Leo bought two watches that day as gifts for family members.

With Bernie's help, Leo's watch business got off the ground.

And as a thank you, he would let Bernie borrow some of the pieces.

If we'd go for dinner, he would give me a Rolex or a Vatek, Philippe Bin.

He then called one day.

And he said, this Rolex has come my way for me to recondition and to sell.

It's just a submariner.

I've got quite a few of them anyway.

But he was like, I thought of you.

Leo was making him an offer.

He was like, look, you buy it off of me for 20,000.

I will recondition it.

I will make it look as good as new.

I will polish it.

I will have it back up.

And it's usually worth about 30 to 40,000.

20 grand up front.

It would be a huge investment for Bernie.

And then Leo would resell it at a profit of at least £10,000.

Of course it would be amazing.

That extra 10 grand for me at this minute in time would open up doors.

I've never had just a 10,000 pound sum in my account.

But Bernie didn't have 20,000 pounds just lying around.

And I was like, right, I was like, at the first, I just don't have anywhere near that money whatsoever.

Literally, I think for my entire life, it's been paycheck to paycheck.

I'm just very clever with it.

Nowhere do I have that kind of money.

Leo had an idea.

What about Bernie's clothing business?

It wasn't as successful as the watch sales.

So he said, well, the clothes is like, you know, it's taking too much of your time.

Is it really doing anything?

And I was like, no, it's getting a bit tiring.

So he said, look, why don't you just sell?

Sell all of the clothes just in bulk.

Somebody will buy it.

Sell it, sell the website off, like sell the business.

Get this watch and

then use that lump sum.

for how whatever you want to do your next project

bernie had a few ideas for new businesses he wanted to start the investment in the watch represented a new chapter so he started crunching the numbers i was like look i can take this money out of all of my credit cards but if i do that with my bills my wage in retail will it won't even cover half of all them repayments in one go by maxing out them cards.

So he said, look,

once I've got the money, it will take about a week for the watch to get here.

So

I will recondition it.

I will get it sent to you.

You'll sell it before you next get paid.

I get it, but I'd never do anything to hurt you.

This is for your benefit.

Look, if it's too much, then you know what?

Let's just not do it.

Let's just forget about it completely.

And by that point, I was like, I had already kind of imagined if I sell all of this stuff and I take from these credit cards,

by the end of it, I could have 10 to 20,000 pounds, which is just mine to do with.

So I was like, right, okay, I trust him a hundred percent let's just do this bernie was in so i sold the website off and then i think that only got about half of it maybe a little bit more and then i did have a few credit cards so i got rid of the final bits of the clothes took out from

every credit card that i had maxed it out and

gave it to him

Bernie got £15,000 from maxed out credit cards.

For the rest of the money, he took out an incredibly high interest loan.

These payday loans, the interest rate is 79% per month, and that's more than what you've borrowed.

Bernie was putting everything on the line.

He sent Leo the £20,000, and Leo ordered the watch.

It had been delivered to his Hyde Park address.

But it was the week of Christmas, and Leo wasn't home.

He was at the castle.

He has responsibilities around the UK.

So he was up there doing official business and he will get to it.

With the holidays, it could be a week before Leo got to the watch.

That meant weeks before they could resell it.

That's when I started panicking because at that point there is absolutely no way that I am going to be able to cover that next payment.

And I told him that.

I am getting nervous because

I know the tsunami that's coming if this isn't paid.

But Leo was calm.

He handled deals like this all the time.

He just kept reassuring me, saying, Look, there's a little bit of a delay.

I've got a buyer.

I've got somebody that's interested.

As soon as I can get my hands down to this watch, it will take me one day to recondition it because it's in very good quality.

And I will literally have a buyer for you within 24 hours.

After that, Leo seemed to change.

The loving calls and texts started dwindling.

The communication with me and him went very sparse.

The morning messages, which by this point had constantly continued.

If I had even to the point, if he was staying at mine and I woke up at four in the morning to go to work, when he woke up, I would still get that morning message.

And now those texts stopped coming.

Their connection started to feel less like a romantic relationship and more like a business partnership.

It went from

loving and just amazing conversations

to

all about the watch.

For Bernie, this cold shoulder really hurt.

Obviously, he was concerned about the watch, but that wasn't what he really cared about.

I am fully in-depth.

I am fully in love with him.

In seven months, Leo had become the center point of his life.

He was my world at that point and there was nothing else that I was concentrated on.

I had stopped talking to my friends, even my best friend.

I had stopped talking to my family and all of a sudden this person is completely disregarding me.

I was panicking then.

I was then going back to that state.

What have I done?

What have I said?

I know it's Christmas.

I don't want to contact him too much because I know that he's working and he's probably with people and with his family but at the same time I'm panicking because I'm not getting that response

then comes Christmas Eve

and he's kind of goes silent a little bit and then I get Christmas Eve I get a few messages very cold and it was like I'm with people I can't talk I was like okay I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas

It was important for Leo to spend time with his family because he had so little time left.

Maybe the reality of his diagnosis was finally hitting him.

Bernie understood why Leo might be pulling away, but it still stung.

Next morning, I did actually get quite a nice message.

It's just like, Merry Christmas, handsome, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I instantly, my mood, I was uplifted.

I was like, oh, it's okay.

What's your plans for today?

It was, I went straight into that

puppy mode.

Like, he could do no wrong.

And he said, look, I'm with my family all day.

I won't be able to contact you for the next two days.

I was like, okay, that's absolutely fine.

Look, I get it.

It's Christmas.

You are supposed to spend that with your family.

Bernie spent that Christmas alone, waiting for a message from Leo.

But that day, Bernie noticed something strange.

It seemed like Leo was actually spending Christmas Day with another man.

Someone Bernie had never seen before.

There was

a picture on his WhatsApp update, and it was him, but there was somebody else in the background.

There was this guy just walking towards the camera, looking directly in the camera as if he was going to say something.

And it was the inside of a church.

And it just bugged me for a few days.

Bernie stared at the photo, practically memorizing every detail.

Anyway, so on the 27th, he messaged.

He was like, sorry, I've not been.

I've been with family, this, that, and the other.

I was like, okay, how was your Christmas?

Did you get up to March?

And he was like, no,

we just really stayed around the castle and then we didn't really do anything.

I was like, oh, what about the church?

He was like, what church?

And then it was just like, I was like, oh, I just saw your update on your WhatsApp and it was the picture of a church.

I was like, I don't know what you're talking about.

You didn't see anything.

But Bernie had looked at the photo over and over.

He knew what he saw.

And I was like, no, it was.

I didn't do an update.

That was no update.

And then he got into such denial.

He was adamant and quite nasty with it that I completely made it up.

I did not see it.

There was nothing on his profile.

It was the first time Leo had acted like this.

He was defensive and angry over something so small.

He knew it meant Leo might be hiding something.

So Bernie pulled back a bit.

I kind of slowed down messaging him.

I then get a call again quite late at night.

And it's like, I've just had a massive argument with my family.

On the other end of the phone, Leo was hysterical.

And he's like, Bernie, I can't take this.

I can't take this life anymore.

The stress that I've been under.

I just don't like my family.

I don't want to do this anymore.

Can you come and get me?

So, of course, I've then said, yes, instantly, where are you?

Calm down.

Stay on the phone with me.

Leo sent an address.

It was a five-hour drive from London.

So Bernie got in the car and stayed on the phone with Leo while he drove through the night to meet him.

At 2 a.m., he picked up Leo and brought them to a hotel.

We stayed the night.

We had a long conversation about his stress levels and his sorry that he's been distant and he doesn't know how to cope with this, as well as his diagnosis.

And at the end of this, he'll get the watch.

He's going to go down.

He'll get it.

And if he hasn't got it by this point, he will give me the money and then sell it on himself.

And I just felt seeing, and he was in tears.

He went asleep, and I was stroking his hair.

It was as if this guy was broken, broken with life.

There in the hotel room, Bernie finally felt close to Leo again.

Leo needed him, and Bernie would do anything to make him happy.

The next morning, Leo seemed renewed, back to his old self.

He confessed to Bernie that he had been hiding something.

Now, he was finally ready to talk about it.

It's like, so I've got a serious question that I need to ask you.

And I've been thinking about this with everything that's been going on.

And I was like, okay.

And it was like.

I've had enough of this entire life that I have to do.

And I'm done with it.

I want to move away.

And he was like, I want to move somewhere in Scotland.

Would you come with me?

And I was like, sorry.

I was like, what?

And it was like, I've seen this house.

I've been thinking about this for a long time.

And I was going to go on my own.

And that's why I've been distant because I didn't know what I was going to do.

But I want you to come with me.

Leo was dead serious.

He was ready to put in an offer on a house.

He was like, I've already contacted the estate agent.

This house was a

full-on castle in the Scottish Highlands.

When you think the quintessential English castle, it was exactly that.

They looked at the listing together and started imagining a new life there.

They wouldn't have to hide from Leo's family or the press.

Bernie could take care of Leo as his cancer progressed.

And whatever came next, they could face it together.

It's like, I just want it to be me and you.

And I was like, yes.

And it's difficult now to really kind of

explain exactly how it felt because

his world

at certain points starts to crumble.

And he has to get what he can do and run.

to create another life for himself.

But in the end,

it was all a lie.

On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly,

I emailed Arundel Castle, which is the official residence of the Duke of Norfolk.

There was absolutely no record of Leo Howard, Leo Bose Howard, or absolutely anything.

So then I started doing my own research.

This person, this Leo Howard, there was absolutely no trace.

Before we end the episode, I have some exciting news.

Betrayal will be doing our first ever live show as part of the Virgin Voyages true crime cruise.

We'll be answering listener questions and discussing them live on stage with Stacey and Tyler from Betrayal Season 3, as well as Caroline from season four.

So if you have a question for us, please email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com with the subject line listener question.

And if you want to join us on the Caribbean cruise, there are still spots available.

Search virginvoyages.com/slash true crime.

If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com.

That's betrayalpod at gmail.com.

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A big thank you to all of our listeners.

Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.

The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison.

Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning.

Written and produced by Olivia Hewitt and Monique Laborde.

Also produced by Ben Fetterman.

Associate producers are Caitlin Golden and Kristen Melchuri.

Casting support from Curry Richmond.

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Additional audio editing by Tanner Robbins.

Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines.

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