again and again to listen to my intuition.

It'll protect you better than "reasoning" or rationalization.

Sometimes it takes a bad experience to learn these things. And gut instinct is a powerful thing that shouldn't be ignored. But now you know better. Just don't let it happen again -- no excuses and no more sympathy for you if it does.

Don't feel ashamed. There is an old saying out there...love is blind. Love makes you do incredibly stupid things. If you get "played" you may still be in love and continue to do stupid things that make you shudder after the fact. And you may think yourself stupid in the end. Don't do that. Be strong. Be grateful for the learning. And realize that you actually let yourself be so vulnerable that you loved someone else enough to let something like that happen. It's not pyschobabble. Just life, and love. It sucks, it hurts but you will get over it. And hopefully, learn to be that vulnerable and love like that again.

I was also played recently by someone I cared about. Sorry,
I know it hurts. Hope you feel better soon.

WOW! Thank you so much for the support and kind words.