20 Stories That Have More Plot Twists Than a Soap Opera

Some say that the best films are those in which everything seems to be going perfectly well and suddenly, something unexpected happens that completely changes the course of the story. But what we don’t always realize is that real life also provides plot twists capable of surpassing any fiction script. And the stories of some Internet users prove it. In the end, “doesn’t life imitate art?”

• Both my dad and his brother were members of the same fraternity when they were in college. One day, my dad is going to his car when this girl stops him and tells him off for not providing rides to a social event for the girls in her sorority. My dad patiently waited until she was done and then told her she could tell that to my uncle. The girl was mortified, so much so that my dad decided to make it up to her by taking her out. And that is how my dad met my mother. © C_Alan / Reddit

• Right after high school graduation, I met a girl who had the exact same name as my mother — it was Jacqueline, for the record. We were both born and raised in the same mid-sized city. I didn’t think much of it beyond the obvious “Oh, that’s a completely coincidental happenstance!”
  Fast-forward two or three months, she and I are dating. I meet her parents, and her dad ’swears’ he’s met me before. A couple of weeks later, I go to visit Jacqueline at work and am greeted with the following: “So, I know why my dad thinks you look familiar. Turns out, he dated your mom in high school, then named his daughter after her.” © FabricateReality / Reddit

• Years ago, my company was slowly going under, so I was looking for other jobs. I got a job with another company and put in my two weeks’ notice with my manager. “I’ve been offered another job, and I’m taking it. I’m putting in my notice,” I told my manager. He replied: “Oh, well, we hate to lose you. Do you mind me asking where you will be going?”
  I mentioned the name of the company, and he made this face, adding that he had applied for the same position. Then, I ended the conversation by saying: “I’m sorry to tell you that you didn’t get it.” © Contorto103 / Reddit

• For backstory, I was in love with my best friend for a long time, but something was always in the way. We had dated once, but it didn’t end very well. I was going to a party with a mutual friend of ours, and he told me that my best friend was going to propose to this girl I couldn’t stand that night. He told me where he was going to propose, so I rushed there to stop him and proclaim my love for him, you know how it goes.
  When I get up there, I see that he has everything set up: candles, rose petals, the NYC skyline, everything that would make a girl melt. I pick up a piece of paper he had placed on the ground, read it, and when I look up, he’s down on one knee proposing to ME. © IZ3820 / Reddit

• The little town I grew up in had these two car dealerships on opposite sides of town. They were bitter rivals. When the owner of one of the dealerships died, it came out he’d also owned the other dealership by way of a shell company. No one saw that coming, including a lot of the higher-ups who worked at the dealerships. © ronearc / Reddit

• I joined the military in the 80s. When I was leaving for basic training, my sister was dating an old friend of mine named George. After basic and tech school, I came back to find out George had married my mom while I was away. The marriage lasted less than a year, but they still live together 30 years later. © fellar111 / Reddit

• I get to this job interview and the employer didn’t know I was coming. He grudgingly walks me into his office and starts asking me questions. I had been on so many interviews, I just wasn’t in the mood for someone to make me feel like I wasn’t welcome. He asks me why I want to work here and part of my answer is “I like to help people.” He responds with a swear word; I am surprised, but I can tell this is going nowhere. The rest of the interview is a formality and I end with a sarcastic “Sorry to bother you.”
  I get back to my apartment, and I’m feeling down. I receive a voicemail asking where I was for my interview. They ask if I am still interested in calling back. I compare the name, number, and company with the business card I was given, and it turns out I was on the wrong floor. I just walked into a random company and was given an interview. But yeah, I didn’t get either job. © adverb_adjective / Reddit

• After three painful attempts at conceiving, my wife and I started the process of adoption. Days after we sent all the final paperwork, we found out my wife was also expecting. Twins. I now have three 11-year-olds that are seven weeks apart in age. © RoboNinjaPirate / Reddit

• My friend who lives on Campus near me had five other roommates, each with their own rooms, of course. One of the roommates was a Chinese guy who, for a while, had been acting strangely. He alternated between being really friendly and being cold. He’d never open his door completely when people knocked, would sometimes forget things that he’d said, his English skills would fluctuate wildly, and he would sometimes change his clothes oddly halfway through the day. He would also usually spend all his time inside his room and make himself a rather large amount of meals throughout the day.
  After 6 months of this strange behavior, one day my friend came back from a class, and there were two of the odd-acting roommates staring back at her. Turns out he’d been hiding his twin brother in his room since he’d arrived and thought that the roommates would report him to the University if they found out. So they took turns leaving the room and alternated cooking meals one at a time, etc. © Mr_Tiggywinkle / Reddit

• While my mother was pregnant, she was told that her child had an irregular heartbeat, so she should be prepared for some complications. On the day that she was to give birth, they had doctors and everything prepared to assist in the birth. Turns out that after she birthed my brother, the doctor turns around and says, “Oh, there’s another one,” and that was me. Surprise twins! © luckyz / Reddit

• I was a Starbucks barista before the whole “names on cups” thing was big. There was this very cute guy who came in maybe 4-6 times a week. A little often, but nothing out of the ordinary. I flirted like mad. He flirted back. It was all great.
  Then he comes in with his fiancée. I was betrayed and treated him coldly from then on. A month later, two of him come in together, and I find out that they are twins, and I’d shot down any chance I had with the single one. © mindovermacabre / Reddit

• I have an aunt (technically step-aunt) that I only vaguely knew from some family events. I thought she was a motivational speaker because she was always posting pictures of herself on stage talking to large crowds.
  Turns out she was running a multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme. But that’s not the real plot twist. That aunt that I remembered was actually her twin sister who had started the pyramid scheme; she is the evil twin who stole it from her. © Hunterlovespb / Reddit

• Someone I knew at university was talking to his new girlfriend about the Glastonbury festival (a huge music festival in the UK, with around 150,000 attendees). He went every year, and it transpired that she did too and had been going for years. After a while, they started comparing photos that they’d taken over the years.
  My friend pulls out a picture from his first visit to the festival: he’s sitting on a fence, with his back to a field. There are only two other people in the picture: a girl, sitting about 20 feet away with her back to him, and her friend, who is taking her picture. His girlfriend realizes that she was also there for the first time that year, and pulls out a picture. In it, she’s sitting in a field. The only other people in the picture — out of 150,000 other people at the festival — are a guy sitting on a fence with his back to her, and his friend, who is taking his picture. © jeedee / Reddit

• Had a manager at my high school job in fast food. She was overbearing and liked to micromanage everything. She always walked around like she was better than the rest because she was the youngest manager. Happily married for 9 years in December, she is a stay-at-home mom with our two sons now. © bcos4life / Reddit

• This was the early 2000s. My dad goes to the eye doctor because he is seeing double. In all other respects, he’s healthy. He explains his symptoms to the doctor. The doctor picks up a medical book on eye problems. He finds the kind of symptoms my dad is describing. The doctor shows him the book. In the book, there is a whole medical page explaining what he is experiencing and a picture of a kid from the 1960s.
  My dad looks at the picture and says, “Doc, that’s me!” The doctor says, “Yes, those are the symptoms you are showing.” My dad says, “No, really, that’s me in the picture!” It turns out my dad had this eye problem when he was a kid, and it was so rare that they took his picture in the 1960s and slapped him in a book of rare eye problems. He doesn’t remember much about taking the picture, but he did manage to get a copy of it to take home. © flounceymagoo / Reddit

• Studying abroad in England, I planned a weekend trip to Barcelona with this girl. This is pre-cellphones. I overslept. Got to the airport like three hours late.
  As soon as I arrive, there’s the girl. At the exact same time, we both say, “I am SO sorry... Wait, what are you sorry for?” Turns out she’d overslept too. The airline changed our tickets for us, at no charge, and we got to Barcelona a few hours late. © moak0 / Reddit

• I once went on a date with a girl. She was nice, but not really my type. I did not call her after the first date.
  One month later, I got a new job. The first day I show up at my office, my boss introduces me to the person who will be training me. Lo and behold, it was this girl. We became friends later, so it wasn’t too bad. © i_rae_shun / Reddit

• We had an awful manager at a job I had just over a year ago. One day, he took the also-awful forklift driver into the office to have a word with him about his dangerous driving habits. The forklift guy left immediately and swore the place would fall apart without him. The manager got fired shortly after, and also swore the place would fall apart without him.
  The forklift guy got a job at a printing company a block away from where we worked, and the manager got a job at the same printing company. Both were new starters, each wanted the other to quit, and neither could find a different job. They’re still there now, a year and a half later, and our place is doing just fine without them. © P0sitive_Outlook / Reddit

• I was telling a client about a guy I met where I spend my summers. A real piece of work who had a bad reputation in town because he was caught cheating on his wife more than once and flashed money around like he was rich. He blew all his money trying to develop some property and now was running out of businesses in town who would work with him.
  She asked his name. It was her fiancé. So now I’m on the phone with my client, who is crying because she was planning her wedding to a guy who had no money but a wife. © designgoddess / Reddit

• When I went to Tokyo, I ended up going to some nightclubs with some nice Japanese people. At about 2 a.m., we were in our fourth club, and some random fella said, “Hey! You look like you speak English. Where are you from?” To which I replied that I’m from (small town) in England.
  His eyes lit up, and he burst out laughing. He was a security guard at the shopping center where I live. He name-dropped the place and also the shops he patrols. I couldn’t believe it. This proved to me for the first time ever that the world really is a small place. © TheTwoHands10 / Reddit

What has been the biggest plot twist you’ve experienced in real life?