Assalamu alaikum - I feel like I was taken advantage of; was I wrong to tell her how I felt?
Assalamu alaikum. I (42F) met a sister through a local Muslim moms' group online. We discovered we were both from similar areas originally and that we’re both reverts, so I was happy to connect and hoped to make a friend. She came to my home only once when I invited her, and after that I would message to check in or ask if she’d be at events. She isn’t very social and neither am I, but I still wanted a friend. The pattern became that she mostly contacted me when she needed something. She began asking every week if I could pick up and drop off her daughter because my daughter is in the same class on Saturdays. At first I thought nothing of it - I assumed her husband was working and she doesn’t drive - so I helped for a couple of weeks. Then one day I went to pick up her child and her husband’s car was parked there. I wondered, if he was home, why she asked me to do it. It wouldn’t be a big deal except getting to her place adds extra driving: about 8 minutes one way, then another 12 minutes in a different direction, and then two hours later returning her child. If she truly had no option I would help, but with her husband at home it felt like a waste of my time and fuel. A week later she messaged saying she wasn’t feeling well and asked if I could make dinner for her family. Again, not huge on its own, but odd that she’d ask someone she barely knows instead of asking her husband to pick up food or arrange something. I mentioned it to my husband and he thought it was strange too and warned me to be cautious because it might become a habit of asking favors. I don’t mind helping, but I started to feel used. When I dropped off the food she didn’t even open the door herself; her little ones came out and it felt like I was just a delivery person. She kept messaging and I didn’t reply for a while. When she sensed something was off I decided to tell her honestly how her requests and actions made me feel. She said she appreciated my honesty. I tried to be gentle, saying I didn’t want to offend or hurt her. Part of me feels justified for standing up for myself - I’ve been manipulated before - but another part feels guilty. Was I wrong to tell her how she made me feel?