What Should I Do After Receiving a Cease-and-Desist Letter from My Narcissistic Abuser?

I recently received a cease-and-desist letter from the lawyer of my former friend, who is also my narcissistic abuser. I’m unsure how to handle this situation and would appreciate any advice.

Here’s the background:

About four years ago, I met this person through social media. We connected quickly and developed what I thought was a close friendship. She asked for my phone number and began calling me frequently, sharing her struggles and hardships. Soon, she started showering me with attention, making me feel special and valued—a tactic I now recognize as love-bombing.

Believing she was a genuine friend, I went out of my way to help her. At the time, she was unemployed, deeply depressed, and struggling. I supported her emotionally and financially, to the extent that it negatively impacted my own well-being. I felt drained and exhausted, but I continued helping her because I thought it was the right thing to do.

Once she became financially stable and secured a good job, her behavior shifted. She began devaluing me, treating me with indifference, and eventually discarded me entirely. It was only after this happened that I realized I had been subjected to years of emotional abuse. Her tactics included gaslighting, silent treatment, bursts of anger, devaluation, and future faking.

The trauma bond was so severe that, after she cut me off, I experienced six months of suicidal thoughts and battled depression for over a year and a half. Even now, I feel deeply hurt and taken advantage of.

To cope with my pain and make sense of what happened, I started sharing my story online. I was careful not to mention her name or any identifying details. My intention was to raise awareness about narcissistic abuse.

I wrote about the tactics she used to abuse me, referring to her as "my ex-narcissistic friend" in my posts. I shared details of her abusive behaviors, including gaslighting, silent treatment, future faking, anger outbursts, and breadcrumbing. She would mistreat and disrespect me, often shouting at me at the top of her lungs when things didn’t go her way.

I also wrote about the profound impact this abuse had on me, including the trauma bond that was so strong it caused me to lose my job and fall seriously ill—both physically and emotionally. Despite being kind and supportive to her, she exploited and mistreated me. Now, she’s attempting to silence me as another way to exert control over me.

Recently, I received a cease-and-desist letter from her lawyer. She claims my posts are defamatory and could harm her career, and she is threatening legal action if I don’t take them down.

We live in different countries, and our friendship was entirely online—I’ve never even met her in person, nor does she know my physical address. I’m unsure how to proceed and whether I should comply with her demands.

P.S. We are both females. I live in Canada and she lives in the US.

What should I do?