'My friend urged me to leave my boyfriend... and then pursued him herself'

When Eva* was on the verge of leaving her boyfriend, her friend helped her make the decision to break up with him. As told to Victoria Bright

Mandy* was my friend for nearly 10 years.

Our kids went to pre-school and primary school together. She was such a lovely woman, always very positive and happy. 

I loved spending time with her and because we were both single mums, we had a lot in common.

When I started dating my boyfriend Max, I didn't see Mandy as much. I'd still catch up with her from time to time, but I preferred to spend most of my spare time with Max.

However, if I had a drinks night at my house or dinner or a birthday celebration, I'd always invite her, and that's how she met Max.

They got on very well, and he commented to me once that he thought she was an intriguing woman.

Everything was okay for a while, but then Max started taking me for granted and making me feel like he'd fallen out of love with me.

He was also drinking a huge amount and, having already left a relationship with a heavy drinker, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to continue my relationship with him. 

WATCH: Mel Schilling's tips for supporting friends through breakups when you're close to both parties. (Post continues.)

That's when Mandy stepped in. I confided in her and she was telling me I should leave him. She spoke about how I need to have self-respect and by staying in a toxic relationship, I was just repeating the same old patterns.

I knew she had a point, but it got to the stage where she kept asking me if I'd left Max yet. I found that pushy and weird. 

Anyway, one night Max and I had a huge fight. I told him to leave the house and then broke up with him the next day. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be apart from him permanently, but I was so angry I just ended it.

I didn't hear from him for about 10 days. That made me think, 'Well, he can't that all that into me if I break up with him and then he doesn't get back in touch at all.'

So I got the shock of my life when Mandy came to me to tell me she'd heard from Max, and that they caught up and she spent the night with him.

She also told me she had feelings for Max and that he'd told her he had feelings for her too.

Six months later, they are still together. I feel like she was using me to get information about him and then pushing me to end things with him so she could make her move on him. Well, it worked.

Even though I still think she is very much the "rebound" relationship, I doubt it will last.