What can you do when everything you do is misinterpreted in the worst possible way?

Is there anything you can do when the people who think poorly of you -- at least one of whom you'd considered one of your closest friends -- don't tell you that they think the worst of you for months or years, but rather spend that time collecting evidence that you're selfish, irresponsible, callous, and a bald-faced liar to boot? That they believe that you've deliberately set out to ruin reputations and tear apart friendships?

What happens when you finally find out that you apparently have a doppelganger doing these dreadful things, because you sure as hell never intended any of it and don't know where things went wrong and if they'd just told you they had concerns way back when we could have talked about it and clarified what was really happening before it got to the stage of irreversible anger?

What if you tried explaining that what they thought was the exact opposite of what you'd been trying to do, only to be accused of trying to rewrite history and twist things Like You Always Do?

What if you really were trying to do the right thing and accept responsibility for mistakes and consequences and were instead accused of showing no remorse?

You can say goodbye, because there's nothing else to be done. And you can hope that other friends know you better and are more understanding.

But, damn.