Mayu Yamamoto, a 30-something woman who lives in Tokyo, started seeing a man in his 30s in 2022 after their mutual friends introduced the two over a group dinner. He came on to her soon after, asking if they could meet again ¡ª just the two of them.

When Yamamoto, who uses a pseudonym for privacy reasons, confronted him about rumors she had heard after their first meeting about him being married, he denied it saying, ¡°I used to be married but I got a divorce. I¡¯m single now.¡±

Taking his word for it, she entered into a relationship with him. In just over two years, their relationship appeared to have been steadily heading toward marriage, or so Yamamoto thought. They underwent infertility treatment, he had dinner with her parents several times and he even bought her an engagement ring they picked together, according to a lawsuit she filed against the man.