Dear  letgo:

You asked: “do  I let her ‘win’ and just bow out gracefully, leaving this amazing apartment …. Do I  take the higher road and  just go?”

My answer: no. My reasons:

1. In the situation you described, leaving the apartment to her  is not taking the “higher road”. It  is  taking the lower road, that of submitting to a dishonest manipulation and selfishness. Dishonest manipulation because she didn’t ask: will you move  out. She stated that you will. Selfish because she focused  on her self interest alone, not  considering yours and  being okay with her self interest being served at  your expense.

2. Friendship with  a  person acting for her self interest  at your expense is  unwise. There is no friendship worth keeping to protect or  maintain by leaving the apartment gracefully.

anita