10 People Who Unearthed a Secret They Weren't Ready For

Facing the truth about someone you care about can be really tough, but it’s part of growing and protecting your peace. With time, even the most painful moments can help you move forward with a better understanding of yourself and your boundaries.

• Early in our dating, he brought me home to meet his family. His parents pretended they were happily married and completely normal. He and the rest of the family knew they were separated and very volatile. Eventually, he and I got married.
  I learned the real story behind their divorce and realized the timeline meant that the whole “happy family” show was faked on my behalf. He said, “Well, you wouldn’t have wanted to date me if you knew how messed up my family was.” So yeah, gaslit from the beginning. © janes_america / Reddit

• My boyfriend would always leave the apartment to talk to his mom. Once, I asked, “Why don’t you call your mom here?” He brushed it off, saying it was their tradition.
  In the evening, I followed him. I was shocked when I saw him sitting on a park bench, laughing and talking with a woman who looked way too young to be his mom. I stepped out and shouted, “Who is she?” He turned pale and said, “She’s just my ex... she’s been going through a rough time.”
  The woman stared at me and asked, “You’re the roommate, right?” That’s when he confessed—he told both of us different stories. He’d been living a double life for months. I still can’t believe I missed the signs.

• He had a notebook of every detail of my life (including menstrual cycle) and also kept all the details of my friends and family members. Even ones I had never mentioned. And we were only together for two months. © totalfranmove / Reddit

• The pregnancy wasn’t a surprise or an accident. We talked and planned. He got a little overbearing during the pregnancy, like insisting on breastfeeding without even discussing it with me. I put it down to new dad nerves, and not knowing any better.
  Turns out that was only the tip of the iceberg. He believed that children were completely and totally a wife’s responsibility. He wouldn’t change a diaper. He wouldn’t pick up the baby when it cried.
  No way would he get up in the middle of the night. He expected me to work a full-time job, plus do all the childcare. At that point, I was confused and appalled, but I told myself he just needed time to adjust.
  I realized how delusional I was when the baby got sick while he was on a fishing trip. The doctors thought baby had meningitis. So not just sick, but life-threatening sick.
  I called and asked him to come home. He refused. He’d paid for two more days of fishing. He didn’t want to lose the money. © rusty0123 / Reddit

• He lied about where he went to undergrad. I suspected it while the relationship was still going on, but after he moved out, I found some of the stuff he left that included transcripts from a different university than he’d claimed. It wasn’t even in the same country. I’m fairly sure most of the stories he told about his childhood were lies. © ***ousbudgie / Reddit

• I found out his ex-girlfriend was actually still his girlfriend. We broke up with him together and became great friends. © misdolnurs2517 / Reddit

• About a year after getting married, he told me he was about to get full custody of his son. I didn’t know he had a son. © rtyjj / Reddit

• He was always very secretive and a little paranoid. About 15 years into the relationship, I learned that his birthday is not in May like he said, but in November. When he moved to the US from England in the 1970s, they had written it down incorrectly in his passport, and he never changed it to his correct birthdate. I still don’t know why. © GorditoCat / Reddit

• About a month into our relationship, I had found out she was friends with another woman who had stolen a lot of property from me. It kind of ruined the relationship steadily over the next few months, because I let my paranoia get the better of me.
  Eventually, it broke down but looking back, I’m glad. I actually see a lot of immaturity now that I used to ignore when we were dating. I hope she grows out of it one day. © Practical-Shoe2404 / Reddit

• I learned that the man I married is a compulsive liar. I stay with him because of his extremely high income, but I am no longer invested in our marriage, our house, or the future. The deliberate lies have only started as years have gone by, and he knows my standards about how to treat each other and other people in general.
  I feel like I made the mistake of choosing to marry him 25 years ago, so the burden is mine. LOTS of gaslighting attempts on his part. Strangely, he is the most subservient man to all other people I’ve ever been around. © WaterLiliesInMyPool / Reddit

When someone you’ve trusted your whole life drops a shocking secret, it can feel like the ground shifts under you. These kinds of revelations often come out of nowhere and leave people stunned. If stories like that intrigue you, don’t miss 12 Dark Family Secrets That Were Suddenly Exposed.