The Dating Detectives - "If I End Up Dead, My Husband Did It": Part 1

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

This week on the podcast, our guest Hannah shares the terrifying story of how a whirlwind romance that felt like a fairytale quickly unraveled into something far darker. After meeting a man o...n Hinge who seemed perfect in every way, the two fell fast, married within months, and began building what Hannah believed was her dream life. But when subtle behavioral changes and suspicious late nights started piling up, Hannah’s intuition led her into full detective mode — uncovering a shocking double life involving lies, manipulation, and escalating abuse. In this emotional and deeply intense first part of a two-part story, Hannah walks through the moment she realized the man she trusted was not who he claimed to be, and how quickly love can turn dangerous behind closed doors.Are you in the Chicago, Tampa, or Orlando area and want to come see us live?! Get your tickets at the links below:7/16 in Chicago: https://tickets.thedentheatre.com/event/dating-detectives-llpj8q?utm_source=performer&utm_medium=performerlink&utm_campaign=datingdetectives8/5 in Orlando: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/48863575/the-dating-detectives-live-orlando-funny-bone-comedy-club-orlando8/6 in Tampa: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/35010834/the-dating-detectives-live-tampa-funny-bone-comedy-club-tampaClick here to join our Patreon! For only $5 a month you will get 2 extra episodes a month, monthly virtual live events, and access to our community page. And now for $9 a month you can get all of that, plus ad free episodes!If you've been dogfished and want to share your story on the show, email investigate@thedatingdetectivespodcast.com or contact us through our website using this linkGet control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code DATING at MonarchMoney.com in your browser (not app) for half off your first year!This episode of The Dating Detectives is sponsored by Jones Road Beauty. For a limited time our listeners are getting a free Cool Gloss on their first purchase when they use code DATINGDETECTIVES at checkout. Head to jonesroadbeauty.com to get yours today!This episode is sponsored by SKIMS. Shop the SKIMS Everyday Cotton collection at SKIMS.com. After you place your order be sure to let them know we sent you by filling out the survey!This episode is sponsored by Miracle Made. Get silver-infused, bacteria-fighting, temperature-regulating sheets and towels at TryMiracle.com/TDD and use code TDD to save over 40% and claim a FREE 3-piece towel set.***The following Program contains names, places and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety. The following Program is provided for entertainment purposes only and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances.If you or a loved one are involved in an abusive relationship, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for support.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The following program contains names, places, and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety. The following program is provided for entertainment purposes only, and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances. If you or a loved one are involved in an abusive relationship, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-723 for support. Happy dating detective Sunday. Hello, hello. Hi, hi. We've got quite a story today, part one of a two-parter. But before we get into that, happy things.
Starting point is 00:00:50 But first. We're going on tour. If you haven't heard, we have live shows coming up in Chicago, Orlando, and Tampa. July 16th is our Chicago date. And then August 5th and 6th for Orlando and Tampa. Come see me. Yeah, we're going to McKenzie's stomping ground. rounds and all of the info to get tickets is in our show notes and they're selling fast.
Starting point is 00:01:15 So we'd love to meet you and see you. Can we talk about how I love how fast the tickets are selling? Like you guys are awesome. Thank you. It really is like blowing my mind. It still blows my mind. So that's our first order of business. And Patreon as always, if you want to support us, there's $5 a month for extra episodes,
Starting point is 00:01:36 $9 a month for everything that Patreon gets you plus add free listening experience. So you could listen without ads. And thank you to all of our Patreoners. All right. We're so grateful for you. But that being said, this one's kind of a hard one, you guys.
Starting point is 00:01:53 This is some of the worst domestic violence we've talked about on our show. And it's just a lot. So I just want you to keep that in mind going into it. Our guest, her name is Hannah. So love her already. but yeah there are major trigger warnings domestic violence rape suicide talk of suicide and like we said it's a two-parter so we're gonna be on the journey with you she is so gracious and brave to share
Starting point is 00:02:22 this story but it's a heavy one and if you want to set it out we understand you can always write us and we're happy to like share the general details i don't know like that's happened before where people or like just telling me what happened and leave out the stuff that I probably can't handle. We want you to protect your little hearts. But also we we want you to know that these stories are real. This stuff really happens. And by talking about it, we are hoping to make the conversation so loud and so big, letting your voice be the weapon that fights against this behavior.
Starting point is 00:02:57 So that's why we appreciate our guests coming on and sharing these stories. So we hope that you, if you can listen and push through those hard parts, we just want you to know these stories are real. This really, really happens. We want to speak loudly about it. Our guest is public with her story. And we're always careful about anonymization, even if we're able to say names. Sometimes we don't. So we're not going to say this dogfish's name or anybody else's name.
Starting point is 00:03:26 But she really wants to be loud about this experience. because she's passionate about the same thing we are. And she can't let them get away with us. And she's so brave, you guys, so brave for sharing this. So the community, creating the safety in this community, it just really helps when you share and when other people share. So we're just grateful for everybody who shares their story with us and allows us to be an ear or a platform.
Starting point is 00:03:53 Yeah. I mean, I think we're ready to get into it. It's a long one. And I hope that you don't relate to it. but I know that some of you will and just know that we're here for you as a community when you need it. Let's meet another Hannah.
Starting point is 00:04:16 Hi, Hannah. We're so glad you're here. Thank you for being here. Hi, thank you for having me. Will you please take us on your journey? We want to hear your story. We want to give you the floor. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:28 So me and my ex-husband met off of Hinge in August, of 2023. We texted for a couple of days. Our first phone conversation lasted eight hours. We stayed on the phone with each other. All night long. I've done that before. That's legit because you're just chatting. Wait, eight hours for real, though? I mean, easily, it started that evening and then all the way until the morning. And I actually think I was late for work that day because we didn't realize what time it was. We related on a lot of different things. Conversations got really deep, really fast. He told me about his upbringing and his family, and I really liked that because I'm not
Starting point is 00:05:13 super close with a lot of my family. So he told me that he was close with his family. I mean, we just clicked a lot of what we talked about morals right away. A lot of our morals lined up. I mean, everything, everything lined up perfectly. So I immediately wanted to meet him. And we matched on a Tuesday. and by that Saturday, I had invited him over to my apartment for us to meet and hang out.
Starting point is 00:05:40 Earlier that day, I had made chicken tacos and was bragging about my cooking skills. So literally right off the bat came down from my apartment and met him at his car. We said hello to each other, hugged, walked upstairs. And I told him that my crock pot would fill on and asked him if you wanted some chicken tacos. and he said, of course, and sat down on the couch, and within 10 minutes, I was hand-feeding him chicken tacos. And he was locked in. Someone hand-feeds much good chicken tacos.
Starting point is 00:06:16 That's it. Oh, yeah. Had you been in any serious relationships before this? Yes. So before him, I was single for four years, but then before that, I was with my high school sweetheart for six years. Those four years I was single. I really took the time to be single, find out what I liked, what I didn't like, find out my boundaries. And when he came along, at first I was a little hesitant. But I mean, like I said, we just hit it right off the bat. And I was like, okay, well, let's lean into this. And so I guess instead of leaning into it, I dove head first because we're kind of inseparable since three weeks into us like dating. His car broke down.
Starting point is 00:07:01 And he lived about 30 minutes from my apartment, but my apartment was only 10 minutes from his job. And he didn't have any money saved. He's not good at saving money. But I said, things are going so well with us. You only work 10 minutes from my place. So instead of you paying for an Uber every day to go to work, why don't you just stay here? So not like move in, but move in. So he did that.
Starting point is 00:07:33 He immediately started help. Kind of for convenience. Yeah, he basically kind of halfway moved in. He started helping immediately paying bills. I mean, he paid half the rent. He paid the electric bill. So nothing was odd about it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:53 Yeah. That's not usually what we hear on this show. When we would go out, he would pay for dinner, breakfast, whatever, buy me gifts and everything like that. So everything was green flag, green flag, green flag, everything was perfect for the next few months. Then both of my best friends announced that they were both getting married. Both of them had destination weddings. So we got ready to go to the first one was in Las Vegas. And then my other best friend, she was getting married in Clearwater, which is like my favorite vacation spot.
Starting point is 00:08:32 And that was about eight, nine months into us dating. And that's where he proposed to me the day before my best friend's wedding with her approval, of course. Yeah. And your friends all liked him. There were no, nobody was like, hey, I don't know, this is fast. I mean, I admitted to myself that it was fast, but it just, it felt right though. And he just kept saying how excited he was for our future. Can't wait to create a family with me. This is all he's ever wanted. It's all that we've ever wanted together. He never thought that he would get to this point in life. And yeah. Saying everything. Had you guys talked about like kids and finances and marriage? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We had already had all those discussions. We talked about how we wanted two kids.
Starting point is 00:09:22 We had all the future type discussions, everything like that. Then we decided on a date. At first, I told him that I wanted to wait until 2025 to get married. So it gives us time to save money for a wedding because at first we were going to do like a bigger wedding. And then I looked into how much weddings cost. And I was like, okay. Maybe not. On second.
Starting point is 00:09:50 It's crazy. So then we started discussing, let's have a smaller wedding and then we can have it sooner. And I'm thinking spring of 25, but he said, no, I want to get married this year. And I said, what do you mean this year? It's our halfway done with the year. And he said, you've always said you wanted to get married in October. Let's get married in October. And I said, okay, well, at this point, it's May.
Starting point is 00:10:17 And what was the rush? Did he say why? or just he was just excited or he was just excited he just wanted to be married and he literally went online and bought himself an engagement ring for him to wear he wanted he wanted yeah he wanted to wear a band so badly and i had never been treated so well in my life i mean people think i exaggerate but i'm not kidding when i say this him and i had never had an argument we would maybe bicker for an hour or two over something. But we never had an argument.
Starting point is 00:10:56 We always agreed. I mean, always agreed. And it's not like he just always agreed with me to shut me up or something like that. We would always come to a compromise very healthily. Why are you here? I don't want you to be on this show. Never in a million years did I ever think this.
Starting point is 00:11:17 What transpired, transpired. So then we kind of pulled back the reins on having a big wedding. And I mentioned maybe just having our closest friends and family go to a really, really nice fancy dinner. And then afterwards, all of the older family members go home and then all of us, you know, young ones go out and party for the night. Just something very low-key. I'm a very simple girl.
Starting point is 00:11:48 I don't need a whole lot. I was just happy to have been proposed to, and I felt so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. I mean, he was perfect in my eyes at the time. So then it's the day of the wedding. We show up to the courthouse. We got married, and then we went and took our pictures. Everything was great. Now we're newlyweds.
Starting point is 00:12:14 The rest of the month of October was great. and then November hit. And I'll never forget when we were at Thanksgiving at his aunt's house. And he took a phone call. And he went outside for the phone call, which was weird. He has never done that before. And he was on the phone for probably like a half an hour. And I kind of piqued my head out the door.
Starting point is 00:12:42 And I said, who are you on the phone with? And he hurried up and hung up the phone. And he said, it was my brother. And I said, oh, okay. I was like, well, tell him. I said hi. He's like, I did. I did.
Starting point is 00:12:54 So that just always stuck in my head for some reason that I, I don't know, that just always stuck in my head. And then December 1st happened and he said, I need to help my friend move. And I said, oh, what friend is it? And he said a name I had never heard before. And I was like, oh, you haven't hung out with him since you and me have been dating. and he's like, yeah, it's an old friend from high school. Is it okay?
Starting point is 00:13:20 And he went and borrowed a truck from a longtime family friend to help him move. And he was gone. You know for sure he borrowed the truck. Like we have proof of that. Yes. Oh, yeah, yes. Okay. I don't know where these people go.
Starting point is 00:13:35 Yeah. He helped the friend move all day long. I mean, he went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And the entire time, I'm like, oh, my God, you poor thing, I bet you're so sore. I hope your friend is at least buying you lunch. I hope he's paying for the gas. Like, that's a lot. I'm not kidding.
Starting point is 00:13:54 He probably took 12 trips back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Wow. Good friend. And he was like, it's fine, it's fine, whatever. That was in December. And then December, January, February, March, I noticed we started to argue. And it was much less compromising in me being, you know, a newlywed bride. And I really, really, really fell into that submissive wife role because I truly thought he was leading me as a man.
Starting point is 00:14:30 And I'm not really, neither of us are really super religious. But, I mean, I really yearn for and looked forward to that soft wife life. Yeah. Even though I still worked hard and I had two jobs and everything like that, I mean, I cooked, I cleaned. I mean, he also helped cook and clean, but I mainly cooked and cleaned. And I mean, I really leaned into that wifely duty. So he started to just kind of be really impatient with me the next following months. And then in April, he did a project downtown.
Starting point is 00:15:06 So he was in town so he would come home. but the project was being done overnight. And I know that for sure, like that actually did happen. But the project just kept going on and on and on and on. So he's like never home at night, basically? Like we went a long time with barely seeing each other, even though we lived together because he would be at work at night. Yeah, we would be opposite.
Starting point is 00:15:35 So can you give me an example of like an impatient? moment he had with you or an argument that you guys got into around this time? If I would ask him what time he's coming home, he would be like, I'll come home when I come home, don't worry about it. Oh, rude. Yeah, you need to stop asking me what time I'm going to come home. You know, I'm going to come home. And that's the only time I would really, you know, bother him.
Starting point is 00:16:01 I hate to say that, bother him. Yeah, you're not bothering him. I would call him and be like, what time are you coming home from work so I can start to make dinner so it's still hot by the time you get home or make your plate. And he's like, you nagging wife, want to know if you should make me dinner tonight. I hate it. Yeah. It wasn't all the time, though. He wasn't always like that. So that's why it didn't raise any red flags and it didn't bother me too, too much. He also had gotten a promotion at work. So I know that maybe he was stressed out because more people were working under him and the upper bosses were looking at him. So he was kind of
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Starting point is 00:20:09 going to be the only black guy there and I'm like okay I'm like well I understand how you feel you know being the only black man in a group, you know, I get that. So I decided to just go with some friends that were going and I said, well, what are you going to do with your day? And he said, well, me and some of the guys that I used to be in a friend group with high school, we've been talking and like when you're not home, like I've been on the game with them playing video games. And he rarely played video games. Like I could count on my hand how many time. So when he said that, I got happy because I'm like, oh, finally, he's going to go out with friends. I'm happy for him. And he's like, well, me and the guys, we were talking about going to Kings Island. And I said,
Starting point is 00:20:54 going to Kings Island. I said, why are grown men going to Kings Island? What is Kings Island? Oh, I'm sorry. That's like such a staple here. I didn't realize that other people didn't know. It's a roller coaster amusement park. Okay. Oh, like for kids. Well, no, they have like humongous adult. Like a bush garden, six flags. Yes, exactly. Yeah. And I'll never forget this. I said a group of grown men are going to go ride roller coasters together. And he kind of gave me a look. And he was like, yeah, we used to do it all the time. We were in high school. Like, I just want to go hang out with my friends. Is that a problem? I was like, no, it's not a problem at all. Like, I just, I don't know, that's just a little weird to me. Just making fun of you. Go ahead. Any other day, normally we could
Starting point is 00:21:41 banter. Like, we could go back and forth and lightly bully each other. That wasn't out of the norm for us whatsoever. It's a love language. Yeah, absolutely. And so then the day of my friend's wedding came, he literally helped me get dressed, help me put my dress on for me, help me put my heels on and like buckle him at the ankle and everything. Pissed me, said how gorgeous I looked, have fun, what time did I think I was going to be home, everything like that. And my friend came, we car pulled, and I left with her. And at this point, we've only been using my car this entire time because his car had his car had given out. But with his job, he also had a work vehicle that he used during work. So that's how that all kind of worked out. So then we're at the wedding. He's
Starting point is 00:22:37 texting me every now and then, but I didn't want to bother him or anything. Like, I know he's with his friends. My one friend that drove, she said she was ready to go, so she drove us all back. And he still was at home. And I knew that he left for Kings Island around noon. And it was like seven o'clock at this point. And I'm like, that's a long time, whatever. And then I look at the clock again. It's like 9 o'clock. And I had ironically found a show to watch. And it was called ultimatum cheating. Oh. Yeah. And I was watching it. And he came home and he was like, what are you watching? And I told him what the show was, what it was about. And he said, might be able to cuss on here yeah you may okay he said you need to fucking turn that shit off
Starting point is 00:23:34 oh and i was like why i was like did you not have a good time with your friend what's going on and he's like i just i don't know why you watch all these cheating shows and that's a testy response a hundred percent so that was i want to say the exact date was may 10th that that happened And so seven months into your marriage. Yes. And then May 15th, he said, it's Adrian's birthday. Me and the boys are going to go out to dinner. And then we're going to go over to Adrian's house.
Starting point is 00:24:14 And Adrian is the friend that he helped move back in December. Who you had never heard about. Never heard about him. And have you met him at this point? no but the other friends he had talked about I hadn't met in person but I heard them on the phone at one point he was facetiming them so Adrian was the only one that wasn't so then I never really again I never really checked his location unless I was making dinner or something like that well it was getting late and this happened on a Thursday and he knew and I knew that it was a work night
Starting point is 00:24:52 and it was like 10 o'clock at this point. And I could see that he had left the restaurant they were at and went back to Adrian's house. And I texted him and I said, hey, it's getting late. When do you think you're coming home? And he read it and never responded. And I let it go for like about half an hour. And then I tried to call him and he didn't answer. And I don't think at that point he had ever.
Starting point is 00:25:22 for not answered one of my phone calls ever. Oh. So he didn't answer, but then he texted me right after and said, it's really loud in here. What do you need? What's going on? And something just in the pit of my stomach was like, something's wrong. Something's gone awry.
Starting point is 00:25:45 I have no idea. That's called fim tuition. So I texted him back. And at this point, this is when I said, fuck the submissive wife role. Now I'm pissed. So I texted him back and I said, you can't answer the phone for your wife. You can't step out of the room. You can't tell your friends to turn the music down and just answer the phone real quick.
Starting point is 00:26:08 Like, I'm just asking when you're going to be home. Yeah. And he got immediately defensive. And he brought up childhood trauma, I guess you would say. And he said, my. aunt and uncle put me under surveillance and took my cell phone away from me. I don't need you watching my location. I don't need you asking what I'm at what I'm doing. Yeah, I mean, it was like a flip of a switch. And then all of a sudden do you feel like, oh shoot, I did the thing. Like I'm a
Starting point is 00:26:36 problem now. No, I know. He's like, hell now. He tried. He tried to put the blame on you. Because, well, and the reason I felt like that is because I said, FaceTime me right now with your friends in the background. I want to see them. All of them. And he refused. And that's when he started talking more and more about his aunt and uncle doing this to him when he was younger and da-da-da-da-da, whatever. He finally called me and it was complete silence in the background. And I said, oh, did you walk outside? And he said, yeah, I did. I didn't want my friends to hear me and you argue on the phone. And I said, fuck that. I want to see you on FaceTime with your friends. I want you to send me a Snapchat, do something.
Starting point is 00:27:23 Mm-hmm. And he refused. But I just had a pit in my stomach, and we got off the phone with one another, and I called my best friend, Kenzie, and I said, either I'm overthinking this shit or he's cheating on me. I was going to say, do you have a theory? Yeah, you thought he was cheating on you. Also, I love that.
Starting point is 00:27:44 Her best friend's name is Kenzie, and your name is Hannah. I know. I love that. Perfection. And so she was like, well, don't jump to conclusions. She was very level-headed with me. She's like, what do you need me to do? And I said, will you try to FaceTime him?
Starting point is 00:28:00 So she did. He didn't answer, of course. But he texted her immediately after What's Up. And she said, oh, well, I wanted to FaceTime you and talk to you about she as a son. I wanted to talk over plans. You said you were going to dress up as Spider-Man for his birthday. and I just wanted to talk about that. And he was like, yeah, we can text.
Starting point is 00:28:22 Like, I can't talk on the phone right now. And she was like, oh, okay. And this was all over text. He never answered her call. Then she immediately called me back and was like, he's not answering. And that is when I went into full ass detective mode. And my past jobs, I am a debt collector.
Starting point is 00:28:43 So I know how to find people. Oh, good for you. So I walk us through it. Absolutely skip tracing. So there's a couple different websites that I know. And I looked up the address that he was at on true people search.com. I could see who lived in that house most recently. And it was a woman.
Starting point is 00:29:07 Oh. So I looked that woman up and she was an older woman. And I was like, okay, that's not really making sense. because he told me that his friend Adrian bought the house. And if he bought that house back in December, then this information should be updated by now, but it's still saying this woman's name. So I go to the woman's Facebook,
Starting point is 00:29:33 and she's probably in her, I don't know, 50s, 60s. I'm looking around at her friends list, and I see another woman who appeared to be her daughter. I just got curious, clicked on her daughter. daughter's Facebook was looking around and I could tell from the pictures that she had recently posted she lives in that house because I also zillowed the house and saw what the outside and inside looks like so I could just tell that this younger woman lived at this house you are my idol ended up finding her other social media and I found her Snapchat
Starting point is 00:30:16 at. And I knew it was kind of like unlikely I added her. In five minutes, she actually added me back. Wow. And I thought to myself like, well, also I could see from her date of birth, she was roughly 9, 10 years older than him. So she added me back. And I thought to myself, okay, how I only get one shot at this. This is my one shot. And I am just the type of person that I have to have undisputable, undeniable, undeniable. P. That's just the type of person I am. Unfortunately. They don't want to,
Starting point is 00:30:51 they don't want to any room to question themselves. Yeah. Correct. Yeah. Right now I don't give a shit. If I have intuition, I'm following that shit. Amen, sister.
Starting point is 00:31:02 So I messaged her and I said, Hey, I know this is really weird, but I got a letter in the mail addressed to Adrian. I can't remember. I think I made up a last name. Sure. Adrian Miller. And it has this address on it. But when I looked this address up, your name popped up. So do you want me to drop this off to your house to you? And she's like, that's really weird. I only live here, meet my best friend and my daughter. She has a daughter. No, Adrian. I was like, no Adrian lives there. And she was like, no. And she was like, no. And then I said, her a picture of my ex-husband with nothing else, just a picture, a selfie of him. I said,
Starting point is 00:31:53 do you know this man? She goes, yeah, that's a duke. He actually just left. He was here with my friend. Oh, wow. So I messaged her back, and I simply said, that's my husband. And I told her his full name, and she said, he never knew his name. He never told us his real name. He told us his real name. He told us his name was Duke. Who's us? Yeah. Her friend that lives with her. Oh, boy.
Starting point is 00:32:26 Yeah. I'm not sure. I don't really, I don't want to use their real names. That's good. So the first call that I actually had contact with that I Snapchated, we'll call her K. And then her friend that lives with her, we'll call her C. So it was, it's honestly a blur.
Starting point is 00:32:45 the time that happened between when I told her that's my husband and she had said he just got done hanging out with my friend C here at the house because the next thing I knew the bedroom door got busted down almost and it was him and he came into the room and he looked me in my eye and he said what the fuck did you do oh what did I do oh okay literally I'm not kidding that's exactly what I said to him, I stood up from sitting on the bed and I said, what the fuck did I do? What the fuck did do? Who the fuck is K? And then he tries to make up this really long drawn out story right there on the spot and say it was somebody that he was talking to before him and I even met and they stayed in contact but just as friends. And he went to go hang out with her. And then I'm like asking
Starting point is 00:33:42 him like you told me that Adrian lives there and she told me that Adrian doesn't live there. And then in the midst of us kind of arguing, he took my phone from me and he ended up blocking. He, to this day, I don't know what he did or how he did it, but I've never been able to find her on Snapchat again. Oh my goodness. I don't know how he did it, what he did. I have no idea, but I, yeah. Interesting.
Starting point is 00:34:13 So then also in the midst of us arguing when he was done blocking her, had put my phone down and we're still arguing. And then, sorry, I'm like shaking, reliving all of this. Oh my gosh, I don't even imagine. Take your time. I've never told the full story like this ever before. Thank you for, thank you for sharing it with us. We really appreciate you showing me on.
Starting point is 00:34:38 Oh, then. my best friend, Kenzie, started to call me, and I answered it. And she said, Hannah, you need to leave the apartment right now. He's been cheating on you with both A and C. And I remember hanging the phone up. And then I looked at him and I said, now who the fuck is C? And that's when he went silent, silent. And he walked into the other room. and he grabbed his gun and he said that he doesn't deserve to have me and he's just going to end it. Oh my gosh. And when the switch flipped in me, of course, and I am no longer mad, I am petrified that he's going to harm himself. I was never afraid for myself. Never at this point was I afraid for myself. So from that point on, I spent the next, this was, this was probably about 11, 11.30 at night at this point. And he kept trying to get me to go out of the bedroom so he could lock me out. And given his, the sum of his little backpedal, his family trauma, his older brother committed suicide when he was about 11 or 12.
Starting point is 00:36:07 So I was so scared that he was going to do the same thing. Of course. And he kept trying to push me out of our bedroom so he could lock me out. And I didn't want to call the police because we live in a very like country type area and him being a black man. And then if I tell the police he has a gun and I don't trust the police with black men. And he knew that, and I know that he used that against me. So he kept trying to push me out of our bedroom so he could lock himself in the bedroom with the gun. And the only thing I could think of doing is getting him to stop.
Starting point is 00:36:52 I like, he was trying to push me out. And I reached around and I punched him as hard as I could in his side to get him to like drop, drop the gun. and it did make him drop the gun. And then he looked at me and he was so stunned. And then he pushed me up against the door and choked me. Oh, Hannah. And I was close to blacking out, but I didn't. That was the first time that he'd ever put his hands on me.
Starting point is 00:37:23 And then he let go when he could see I was almost done. Like, I almost blacked out. And then, of course, like my first priority should have been myself. but he grabbed the gun again and I can only think about him. Of course. And then the next thing that I thought would make him stop was I literally faked an asthma attack. And I acted like I couldn't breathe in hopes that he would care and go try and find my inhaler for me. And it worked.
Starting point is 00:37:57 And he started freaking out and he said he was going to call an ambulance. and then I was like, no, like I just put the gun down, just put the gun down as I was like fake, asking for air. And he eventually, he put the gun down. Then he found my inhaler. And I told him, like, in between faking breaths, I was like, I'm not taking my inhaler until you unload all. He had three or four guns in the houses. So I'm not taking this inhaler until you unload all of the ammo and you put it in a separate room.
Starting point is 00:38:33 and he finally did. And then I didn't realize how long I had been chasing him around our apartment, trying to get him to put the gun down until I looked at my phone after he finally took all the ammo out and put him in a separate room. And it was 5.30 in the morning at this point. So I'd been chasing him around our apartment for like five and a half, six hours. So your mental headspace at that point must have been like not. nothing you'd experienced. I did nothing but shake. Like I'm not, like, I, I've never been through
Starting point is 00:39:10 something like that in my life. I'm so, so sorry. I said, can we please just go to sleep tonight? Like, it's literally 5.30 in the morning, and we can talk about everything that happened and get through this tomorrow. And I remember getting in bed and he was standing on his side of the bed and he was just staring at me. And I said, you better not go in the other room and get the ammo. I swear to God. And he said, I'll never, oh my God, I'll never forget this. He looked at me and he said, you have to go to sleep eventually. Oh, my God. And I looked at him and I was a exhausted and I said, you know what, I've done everything I can do. If you're going to kill yourself, then you're going to do it. You cannot sit here and babysit you for the rest of our lives.
Starting point is 00:40:11 Are you even thinking about the affair at this point? Like, is that still on your mind? I would imagine, yeah. I mean, yes, but him being alive was like my number one. Like, we are literally still knew Lee Wett. And so I remember turning over. He had gotten it. He got in bed. I remember turning over and I realized my phone was on the floor and I put it on my charger and my best friend. I had 12 missed calls from her and I had like 20 text messages from her. And I texted her immediately and I said, I'm okay. We're both in bed. And then I realized all the things, she was texting me.
Starting point is 00:41:02 And it was screenshot and videos because when, sorry, let me back back. Before he had gotten home, before he busted through the door, I was relaying everything Kay was saying to me to my best friend, Kenzie. Sure. And she put on her sleuth hat and went digging, I'm sure. Correct. Yes. And she ended up getting her.
Starting point is 00:41:23 phone number and they were texting each other the entire time him and I were arguing for those five, six hours. And that is when all of the cards were laid out. So I'm looking through all of these screenshots and come to find out he had been sending money. He sent her money for her phone bill just because, and it wasn't like $5. It was like he paid her phone. own bill, that was like $200. Damn. How long had they been seeing each other? Well, come to find out he had randomly added her on Snapchat one month after we got married
Starting point is 00:42:07 in November. Bro. What? And then other things I found out, apparently him and Kay talked for like November, December, she ended up not really liking him like she said but i think he would like my friend c so really homie hopped in the same apartment they live together right yeah so the stuff he was helping move was see stuff out of storage in two k's okay disgusting so at this point emotionally cheated on me with K and emotionally and physically cheated following the seat.
Starting point is 00:42:55 And his story to them was that he was single, like he lived alone and worked alone. Single, alone. His name was Duke. Wow. Did he have social media? No. And that is what I thought was such a green flag when I met him. We, people fight us all the time on this because I know privacy, people prioritize it.
Starting point is 00:43:18 No, it's a red flag. me now if you don't have any social media he had snapchat that was it okay i mean you don't have to be on it all the time but i want to be able to find you let's be real i need to at least find a linked like you have to be trace i'm sorry in this world if you're not online i'm like you don't exist he did have an instagram but he i honestly don't even think he had one singular post on there and then if he's telling them another name i guess it doesn't even matter if he has social media because he's like they don't see his wedding photos right and then this entire time so on his snapchat i never was one to have like a private story or close friends on snapchat i just posted to my
Starting point is 00:44:03 story my public story like normal but after all the puzzle pieces came together i'm like oh my god he made me think he was posting pictures of me and i was the only one in that private story and here Oh, my God. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. So he was, it says private story. I have more of an Instagram girl than a Snapchat girl.
Starting point is 00:44:28 So you can see that as private, but yeah, you don't know who else is in it. So Kenzie was also smart enough. She had woken her husband up and took his, told him what was happening and took his phone. And while she was on the phone with Kay, he used her husband's son. to record the conversation to send to me. And hey, explain to Kinsey, like, we are so sorry.
Starting point is 00:44:57 We had absolutely no idea. He was married. In a relationship, yet alone married. He never wore his ring, so he would always take his ring off, obviously. He was using my car to cheat. The audacity.
Starting point is 00:45:14 The whole time that he was working, that overnight project, she would come up and see him every single night he was working. So he was actually working this overnight project? He was actually working, but she would literally come up and be with him on his breaks or bring him food. So, yeah, Kay explained like, no, he literally is telling her that he loves her, wants to be together. They talked about marriage. They talked about kids.
Starting point is 00:45:47 They talked about X, Y, Z. And she's also older. So she's 10 years older than him. And she has a, at the time, 14-year-old daughter. Oh, my goodness. Oh, no. So I found all that out. And he sound asleep five minutes, five minutes after he laid down,
Starting point is 00:46:08 sound fucking asleep, snoring. And that's when I got up from the bed and went into the bathroom and had my phone on the lowest volume to listen to the video. that Kinsey had sent me. And I'm an absolute disbelief, of course, at this point. So I listen to everything. I save everything. I save Kay's phone number because in the screenshot, I could see it in the text messages.
Starting point is 00:46:34 Okay, good. And then I go back into the bed, and I probably slept just from pure exhaustion for an hour and a half, two hours. Because at that point, I think I woke up at, like, like eight o'clock. Yeah, how can you sleep with all of that? And also you're like, I can't talk to him because he's going to grab the gun again. Like he's a loose cannon right now. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:01 So then he eventually woke up and he came out of the bedroom and sat with me at the kitchen island. And this, I'm not mad at myself, but I will never be this soft girl. ever, ever, ever, ever again. I took him by both of his hands and I said, I understand you and through a hard time as a child. And I understand this is probably why you did this. And I said, please just lay everything out on the table and we can talk about it. Start from point A and we will go to point Z. I don't care how long it takes to get there. Just please tell me everything right now. because if you tell me the truth, it's only going to hurt one time.
Starting point is 00:47:48 But if you lie to me and I figure stuff out. Yeah, hurt me with the truth, man. Yes. So little by little, he would give me little bits and pieces. And at this point, this happened so long ago. I don't even remember all of the different lies and loopholes. He was trying to tell me. Like, at first, I remember he said at first, it was a one-time thing.
Starting point is 00:48:09 And I'm like, but you keep in mind, I did not tell him that I was trying to get him to tell me the truth before I revealed what I knew from K's screenshots and videos. And then you get to see if he's lying. Yes. So that's what I was trying to do. When you start asking questions, we already know. Like get a lawyer. You already on trial? Godspeed. Like we already know. So I let him talk and I do remember saying like, is that all?
Starting point is 00:48:42 Are you sure that's all? Is that it? and he'd be like yeah yeah that's pretty much it and I said okay well I know X Y Z so that wasn't all of it and then he would say well I didn't get to that part yet or I didn't lie about that I just didn't tell you and I'm like withholding the truth is a form of lying like so this was a Friday then the rest of the weekend happened honestly the rest of the weekend was a blur and then Tuesday came and I had to go in on Tuesday. So I mustered up enough whatever I had at the time and I went into work on Tuesday even though I did not feel like going into work. And it was about halfway through the day and something was just eating at me alive like you don't know all of it. You don't know all
Starting point is 00:49:35 of it. You don't know all of it. So I texted Kay and I said, hey, this is Hannah. I'm sorry to message you like this. I'm sure you're just as shocked as I am, but like, here's what he told me. Is there anything else going on? And she immediately texts me back and she's like, you need to call me. That's not what you want to hear. So I put myself on break at work and I walked over to this common area and I called her. There was just like so much more shit. So when I called him when he was at the house, I actually was interrupting C giving him a tattoo Oh
Starting point is 00:50:19 how was he going to explain that Your guess is as good as mine That's crazy So it had gotten to the point where she Shaved his upper leg Like it was going to go on his thigh And did she do it or not yet? No because I interrupted
Starting point is 00:50:37 When I called He's like, oh my friend Adrian's calling Yeah. So that was new information I found out. She sent me a screenshot of everything he had bought her, sweatshirts, sweatpants, given her his underwear and hoodies that I had bought him to wear, bought her a brand new pair of Jordans, had bought her and her daughter concert tickets to Tyler the creator. And I'm assuming you didn't share finances. Like he had his own. So no, we did have a joint bank account, but he kept his individual bank account. And I was okay with it because he would put most of the money he made into our joint bank account. And he convinced me at the time that he would keep his account because he still owed money on his car.
Starting point is 00:51:35 And he said, babe, like, I know you budget every month. So it's just easier for me to key my old account. So you don't have to keep record of money coming out of our joint account for my car payment. So I was like, yeah, that makes total sense. So that's how he was able to get away with it. Okay. So he's buying them tons of stuff. She's tattooing him.
Starting point is 00:52:00 He's there all the time. Not yet. Not yet, almost. I don't know why, but the tattoo got me. Like that just absolutely got. me. It probably got me because him and I, right before we got married, got matching tattoos
Starting point is 00:52:14 on the sides of our neck that says 4-4-4 and that means for better, for worse, for life. Oh. Oh. Wait. That's heartbreaking. And I don't care. After everything happened,
Starting point is 00:52:32 I discovered the angel numbers. 4-4-4 means divinely protected and I'm keeping my shit. I'm not getting covered and that is the meaning of that tattoo now for me because what what happened if there's a god whatever is out there was watching over me so i got back to my desk after i got off the phone with k and i just i didn't know who to talk to i obviously couldn't go back to work so i told my boss i said i'm so sorry but i have to i have to take the rest of the day off i i can't work and thank God, he was so understanding, and he's like, do whatever you need to do. So I walked out to the
Starting point is 00:53:13 parking lot of my job and I sat in my car and I'm just thinking like, who can I call right now? Like, I just, I need to talk to somebody. And the only person that I wanted to talk to in that moment was his aunt, because that's how close I was to her. And I called her. And I said, you know, Auntie, I hate to tell you this, but he's cheated on me. And she thought I was pranking her. And she was like, don't say that. You're joking. And then she could hear me like sobbing. And she's like, I'm leaving work right now, come to my house. And I left my job and I started driving to her house. And I don't know if I turned my location off quick enough. I don't know if he saw that I had left work. But I realized that he started calling me and calling me and calling me and calling me.
Starting point is 00:54:07 So I turned my phone off. And then I got to her house and I probably was at her house for like three, three and a half hours just crying into her arms, telling her everything. Was she supportive? How did she balance being his? Oh, she was absolutely supportive of me. So then I told her everything. We talked. She was like, you know, if you decide to leave him.
Starting point is 00:54:33 which I think you should. Like, she straight up told me, like, I think I, you should. You know, I still want you to come around. Like, you're still invited to the family holidays. Like, I don't want to lose you. I look at you as a daughter because I look at him as a son. And then I realized what time it was, and I got scared because he would have been getting off of work. So I told her that I had to go, and I would let her know what was going on, like, later on.
Starting point is 00:55:03 and I leave her house and I drive back to our apartment and I had turned my phone on when I was only 10 minutes for my apartment and I timed it perfectly so it looked like I was leaving work. When I turned my phone back on and when I turned my phone back on, I had like 10 missed calls from him. He texted me. Why did you turn your phone off? I called your work. I called your extension. Why weren't you at work? Where did you go?
Starting point is 00:55:41 I messaged him back and I said, I just got home from work. Because another part of me, like I was obviously sad, upset, but I was mad too. I was like, if you can lie, I'm going to lie too. So I said, I'm on my way home. I just got home from work. I don't know what you're talking about. So I get home, I go upstairs into our bedroom and I'm looking out of our window and I could see him through the window of our apartment that he was sitting in the car on the phone with somebody. And all of a sudden as I'm looking out the window, I get a text from Kay.
Starting point is 00:56:20 And she said, is he home from work? And I said, yeah, I just saw him pull in. And she goes, well, C's on the phone with somebody. Is he on the phone? I said, yeah, he sure is. So he's on the phone with her before coming inside to our apartment. So all the sadness left my body and I'm just in full on rage mode. And then I see him get off the phone, get out of the car, get his things out of the car,
Starting point is 00:56:47 and start walking towards the apartment. And Kay had texted me and said, C just got off the phone too. And I said, okay, that's confirmation enough for me. Yeah, that's for sure. Also, I hope C was ripping him a new one. You would think. Summer is almost here. And if you are like me, you have a lot of things coming up, a lot of travel. Summer travel is difficult on finances. And I feel so much better about it because of Monarch. Monarch is the personal finance app that tracks everything, your accounts, investments, savings, goals, spending.
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Starting point is 00:58:52 including my belly, where your underwear goes and squeezes, but Skims doesn't. It is the most comfortable underwear I have ever found. And the Skib's Everyday Cotton Collection specifically, like that's my favorite underwear. I absolutely love how they just don't cut into my tummy and give you that little roll that makes you look like a busted can of biscuits already. Now you feel a little bit more confident wearing your undies. So shop the everyday cotton and all of our favorite bras and underwear at skims.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you. Select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show dating detectives in the drop down menu that follows. So he comes inside and I said, pulled on your pants. He said, what? What the
Starting point is 00:59:45 fuck are you talking about? I said, pull down your fucking pants. And he slowly pulled him down and I lifted up his boxers and I could see that his leg was shaven and I said you motherfucker you were going to let her fucking tattoo you and I said you need to go stay the night at a hotel somewhere I said you're not staying here with me tonight no and he's like I'm not going to be able to get a hotel room this late and I said okay fine you can stay the night here but tomorrow you're gone so he stayed the night and then the next day happened and then he had gotten home from work the next day. And he immediately came in from work and got a shower and started packing a bag to stay the night at a hotel. And of course, that's when regret kicked in for me. And I was like,
Starting point is 01:00:34 okay, well, maybe, well, maybe you don't need to stay the night of hotel. Maybe you should stay here and we need to talk through things because now I'm scared. Like I don't, I, I wish that wouldn't have happened, but it did. And I'm crying and begging him not to go. now the rolls reversed and he kisses me on my forehead who looks me in my eyes and he said this is going to make us stronger. I do think we need time apart so I can get my shit together and figure out why I did what I did. It was wrong with wrong with me and we will get through this. We'll get through this together and he left and he went to the hotel. How did you feel when he said that?
Starting point is 01:01:16 Awful. I did not feel reassured whatsoever. And the hotel he was at, I shit you not, is one minute from our apartment. Like one minute. What? One minute. All right. So I texted him like two hours later and I said, I know you haven't eaten anything. Can I please just drop food off at the hotel?
Starting point is 01:01:41 Because he had gotten the hotel from Wednesday until Saturday. because I told him he needed to stay there for a few days. So he texted me, no, I don't need food. We should not be messaging each other. This should be our time apart. And that's when I went crazy. And I went to the hotel. And I get to the hotel and he can see my location.
Starting point is 01:02:12 And he's like, I'm not letting you in the hotel room. I'm like, we need to spend time apart. We need to spend time apart. And I'm like, no, I'm not taking no for an answer. And I thought, well, surely he's not going to say no if I go up to the clerk and ask him what room he's in. Like, you're not going to embarrass me like that, right? You're my husband, right? So I go inside the hotel, go up to the clerk, and I say, hi, then my husband's name.
Starting point is 01:02:38 You know, I'm his wife. I can show you proof that I'm his wife. And she's like, are you on the registration? And I was like, no. And she was like, well, I'm sorry. Unfortunately, if you're not on the registration, even if you are his wife, I can't tell you what room he's in. But I can call his room and get his permission. And I said, okay, yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Starting point is 01:02:57 Call him, call him, call him, call him. Me being confident, like, yeah, call him. So she calls him, and he tells her, no, don't let her into my room. Don't tell her what room number I'm in. And she tells me that. And I walk away from the desk and I get a phone call from him. And I'm still in the lobby of the hotel. And he's like, you are fucking crazy.
Starting point is 01:03:18 I told you, do not come here. I told you, we need time apart. Da, da, da, da, da. And I said, you're making me think that she's there with you right now. I was going to say, what is going on if not somebody in that room? And he didn't budge. He was like, go home. You're not coming up into this hotel room.
Starting point is 01:03:38 I'm trying to set a boundary with you and you're trying to cross it. Definitely trying to flip the tables on me as if I'm a bad guy. like you're the bad guy. So then I go home and I don't think I spoke to him for like two days. And at this point, I had already looked up all of C's social media except Snapchat. So already looked her up on TikTok. I had already looked her up on Instagram. She didn't have a Facebook. And she never posted anything about him on anything. And then, And then I went on Snapchat and you know how you can post a public story to stay on your public profile for like ever? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:23 Well, she had a picture posted of her in front of the hotel in her car. Oh, boy. And when was that taken? That, that day. Oh, no. The day he went. Because the filter she had on the Snapchat picture was like the date. Wow.
Starting point is 01:04:43 She made it easy. Okay, so she was for sure in that. Oh, yeah. So I took a screenshot of that and I sent it to him. And I said, fuck you. I want a divorce. We're done. I can't believe you would do this to me.
Starting point is 01:05:02 And he was like, no, no, no. I told her to come here so I could tell her that I did you so wrong. And I want to work things out with you. And she was literally here. and gone within five minutes. And I said, you want me to believe that you told her to drive all the way. So it was probably like a 40-minute drive. For you to talk to her and cut things off in person for five or ten minutes?
Starting point is 01:05:27 No, I'm not believing that. But keep in mind, I went through phases of being tough and he's such a good fucking manipulator and is just able to talk his way out of everything. So I held my guns and then that was... I must have been Thursday that I looked and saw that. And I literally did not talk to him, didn't speak to him for the rest of Thursday. And then Friday happened. And at my job, they're always hiring new people.
Starting point is 01:05:59 So this guy saw me walking through the hallway of my job. And he stopped me. And he was like, you're really pretty. Like, I know this is kind of weird, but can I take you out? And I said, you know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. So I was like, yeah, sure.
Starting point is 01:06:18 I said, but here's the situation. And I literally gave him a quick rundown of everything that had just happened to me. You're like, this is what you're walking into. Would you like that? Yeah. And he's like, no pressure. Even so, like, I'm new to the job. Like, you can, like, show me around and like nothing weird.
Starting point is 01:06:33 I'm like, okay, yeah, sure. Let's go. So after work, we had gone to this little spot. And we were there for maybe two hours. I was just talking like we weren't truly we weren't even flirting we were talking about work just chit-chatting told him the whole ordeal that I had just been through he told me some like stuff about his exes stuff like that it was honestly like friends it was not flirting or anything then it came time to pay for everything and he had just moved there and he didn't move I guess he didn't move all of his
Starting point is 01:07:09 money over from one wallet to the next or whatnot. And he only had cash. So he was going into his pocket to grab the cash out of his pocket. Oh, no. So I just handed the waitress. I'm like, here, just take this because like he's fumbling his cash. And she swiped my card and he looked at me. He's like, don't ever do that again here. And literally gave me a stack of cash. He's like, don't, don't do that. Don't ever pay for me again. Like, don't. So then I get a text message. from my husband and he said why did you just spend like $60 at you know Jimmy B's like if you're like are you there alone are you drinking what's going on my God so I texted him back I said not that it's any of your business but I just went on a date and he freaked out and and he of course he did and he was
Starting point is 01:08:09 he was like we're not getting a divorce like I want to work things out with you I know this is all my fault it's like at some points he would take full accountability and be so sorry but then at other points it would like he wouldn't like firsthand blame me but it I don't know how to explain it I mean it makes sense to me that whatever wanted kind of way yeah yeah it seems like whatever would work for him in that moment like in that moment he was losing so he said yeah he needed to say like it's not genuine ever. So then he freaked out, said, no, I don't want to get a divorce. We're going to work things out.
Starting point is 01:08:48 We'll talk when I come home tomorrow morning. He ends up coming home that morning. And we obviously talked everything out. And we weren't good by any means, but we were getting through each day. And where were you thinking there was hope to stay together? Yes. because he this is going to make this this is the part where I'm going to sound so stupid and where people would think I sound stupid hindsight is 20 20 yeah no you are absolutely not going to sound stupid
Starting point is 01:09:20 we don't tolerate that here and also it's like the circumstances you can't you have to be gentle with yourself I would ask to look at his phone as reassurance and he no he wouldn't let me he's like if we're going to build trust back you can't just sit there and look through my phone and then he would bring up the fact that his aunt and uncle used to do that when he was younger. And he said he doesn't want to feel like he's backed into a corner like that again, like when he was younger. Yeah. And then you start feeling like, okay, if I really want to do this, I have to compromise and trust him.
Starting point is 01:09:53 Right. Yeah. No, it's a playbook. So like I said, things weren't good between us by any means, but we were getting through each day. and each day got a little better and better. And when he would be away at work, he would always text me. There was never huge spaces of time where he would not text me back or not answer my call or anything like that. This is like they're really, really, this is probably harder than, I don't know how to explain.
Starting point is 01:10:27 This is the hardest part that I'm going to have to say happened. And it was at this point, it's like two weeks past when I initially found out. So it's probably the very beginning of June at this point. And he, we hadn't been intimate. And one morning we woke up and he started to like touch on me. And at first I was okay with it. But then I, like my body literally started shaking. It was rejecting him.
Starting point is 01:10:57 Really quick. I just want to jump in and give you a heads up. She is about to share her husband's raping of her. And she's very honest and graphic. And it's important, but I completely understand how hard this is to listen to. It's about three minutes long if you want to skip ahead. I'm grateful she's being so open, but it's really tough. And I was like, I was so nice about it too.
Starting point is 01:11:25 I was like, listen, I'm not ready. I don't want to do this right now. and he did not listen to me and he tore the covers off the bed and he got off of the bed and stood by the bed and grabbed my ankles and he pulled me to the to the edge of the bed as I'm screaming no please don't stop like you don't actually want to do this like stop and he put me in a choke hold and put his hand over my mouth like around me and he forced himself inside me and literally I could tell that his body didn't even want to do it because he wouldn't even stay hard like I could tell that his body didn't even want to do it but he did it anyway oh I am so sorry that is terrible when he was done right I laid down on my stomach on the bed and I was just sobbing and he just stood there and watched me cry. And I looked at him and I said, you just raped your wife. Like, how could you do what he just did?
Starting point is 01:12:36 And he said, no, you like it rough. You, you told me that you like doing it like that. And I said, no, I said, stop. And he just completely turned it around on me and made me believe as if I didn't say no, serious enough. I don't want to blame myself, but like, I hate that I, I stayed after that. And this is someone you trust. And it's, it's one thing to like it a certain way or enjoy sex in a certain way, but it always has to be consensual. And no is no. For some days that I forget that even happened. Like, I can't, I still can't believe that that happened. And so he eventually got me to the point where I'm like, okay, I guess that's, I guess that's okay. I guess that I, like, I got to be okay with it. Like, it's my husband. It's hard to admit that like, okay, this is my
Starting point is 01:13:38 husband. That's not rape. This is my husband. And a lot of people, you know, don't think that your husband can rape you. So that was like at the beginning of June. And then the summer happened. and part of me so badly wanting to make my marriage work. And it was very, very, very hard for me to know that the person that I thought he was and fell in love with is actually this person. It was hard for me to separate the two when in reality he was never the person that I actually fell in love with. That was a mask the entire time. and just the manipulation tactics and the being able to just talk his way out of anything and everything. There's a lot of people who think that, like, you know, why wouldn't you just leave?
Starting point is 01:14:31 How come you're not able to see that? But honestly, you're lucky. If you've never been in that type of situation, you're lucky. And my birthday is August 1st. And over my birthday weekend was his cousins. or well, soon-to-be cousin-in-law's bachelorette, and I'm really, really, really close with her when we were going on a trip to Nashville for her bachelorette trip. And up to this point, nothing else violent had happened.
Starting point is 01:15:09 He hadn't put his hands on me or anything like that. And it was a couple of days before the trip, and he talked about, like, you should do something for yourself, like go get a manicure and pedicure. And he said, let me drop you off at your nail appointment. And I'll just hang around and pick you up. And I was confused on why he wanted to do that because the nail place is not even five minutes from our apartment. But he kept insisting, kept insisting. So I was like, okay, okay, fine, drop me off, whatever.
Starting point is 01:15:45 They dropped me off at the nail appointment. I'm thinking everything is like, I hate to say this. between us. Like, I thought we were moving forward with everything. Nothing bad had happened since then. Nothing weird, like sneaky had happened. And then I'm at the nail appointment and I get done with a nail appointment and I call him to come get me. And I could see that he was like at the, like, there's like a strip mall type ordeal kind of by the nail place. And he was at Petland. And I was at Petland. And I I was like, what are you doing at Petland? And that's like where you buy, I hate Petland.
Starting point is 01:16:24 They sell purebred dogs that are not healthy and like come from puppy mills. It's a puppy mill or something, right? Yeah. And I'm like, what are you doing at Petland right now? He's like, I'm just looking at the dog. So I was waiting on you. I was like, oh, okay. And he was telling me all about this dog he saw.
Starting point is 01:16:41 And anyway. So he came and picked me up while I was waiting for like 15, 20. minutes, which the place is right across the street, basically. Like, it shouldn't have taken him that long to get me. He picks me up, and we drove, we got dinner, came back. I started packing, and I was trying on all the new clothes that I had gotten because we were going to Nashville. I'm a girl, so every time we go on a new trip, we need new clothes. Yeah, you have to buy a whole new I was like showing him certain things and all of the sudden he was like, you're not wearing that. Why would you wear that?
Starting point is 01:17:21 You would look like a slut. You're not wearing that. And I was like, the fuck I'm not wearing it. Yes, I am. And so that's kind of when like the certain types of clothes I couldn't wear started. But I packed him anyway because I don't give a shit. I'm wearing what I want to wear. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:17:39 Then we go on the trip. the entire time on the trip, I have low-key anxiety. Like, if he wanted to cheat, this was the perfect time. I'm out of town. I'm four and a half hours away. But he had FaceTime me. We also had a, we have a ring camera that was on the outside of our apartment. And then we also had an indoor camera.
Starting point is 01:18:03 So I anxiously checked those. Nothing weird happened. I didn't see anybody come or going, besides him. So we're on the trip, whatever, everything's fine, get home from the trip. The rest of August happens. Everything is literally fine. September happens. Everything is fine. I'm thinking August and September were huge leaps for me of trust for him because nothing bad had happened, nothing weird had happened. I started to actually build my trust back in him. And then he said, I have a surprise for you. You need to take off work. the first week of October.
Starting point is 01:18:43 And I'm like, oh, that's our anniversary. What are we doing? And he was like, I planned a trip for us for our anniversary to show you how sorry I am and to show you I love you and to show you that I'm serious about wanting to do this. Also, in the midst of all of this, I would say sometime in July, he's the one who brought up to go to therapy. I was going to say. Individual therapy and couples therapy.
Starting point is 01:19:09 So we had started that as well. Okay. But yeah, so we were in therapy. So a week before the trip, I saw on my TikTok that C had looked at my profile on TikTok. And she accidentally liked and unliked a couple old videos. Whoopsie doodle. So when I saw she did that, I messaged her. And I said, you know, why are you looking at my shit? Leave us alone. So then all of a sudden 20 minutes later, I get a call from my husband and he said, what did you say to see? She just called me anonymously because I have her number blocked and said that she's going to come to our place. and beat your ass and she's going to curb stomp you and stab you and da-da-da-da-da-da all this and that.
Starting point is 01:20:19 Well, that's lovely. And he said, I need you to leave the house. I'm scared. I'm scared. She's going to come there. I'm scared. She's going to do something to you. And in my head, I'm like, at this point, I've seen her social media.
Starting point is 01:20:31 I know what she looks like. I have six inches on this girl. Also, the way our apartment is, it's like locked down like Fort Knox. he wouldn't be able to get in. Like there's just no way. And so he begged me. He kept begging me, you need to leave the apartment. Please leave the apartment.
Starting point is 01:20:50 Please leave the apartment until I come home. Because he's working out of town at this point. And he speeds home and he stays on the phone with me the entire time. And I listened to him and I did leave the apartment. And finally after like, two hours. I said, listen, I'm going back to our apartment. This is ridiculous. So I go back to our apartment. Obviously, she's not there. He comes inside and he gives me the, like, the biggest hug since our wedding day with tears in his eyes. And he's like, I'm so sorry that I've put you through this.
Starting point is 01:21:33 You do not deserve any of this. I can't believe that I have caused somebody to threaten your life. I am so sorry. And I truly felt, I feel like a fool now. But at the moment I felt like he was so genuine in his apology with tears in his eyes. Like I can't believe I did this for you. I promised to be a better husband. I will become a better man. I'm so sorry.
Starting point is 01:22:01 And I believed him. And then that next week is when we went to Nashville for our anniversary, the first week of October. Oh, so I'm on a high. Hero, Night and Shining Armour. Yeah, I'm on a high thinking like, finally we got past this. Everything is good. The trip was probably the last time I had felt true absolute happiness with him. That trip couldn't have been any better.
Starting point is 01:22:25 And then the rest of October was totally fine. And then November 2nd hit. And I was working a double at my serving job. And he texted me right when I got to. work at 11 a.m. And he was, he was like, hey, just so you know, a group of guys, we're getting together and we're going to the movies. And I was like, what? I was like, that's not, what do you mean, a group of guys? And then he also said, we also might hit up top golf. And I'm like, why are you
Starting point is 01:22:56 doing all of these activities when you don't even, like, not to sound mean, but he's not friends like that with his coworkers. Like he does not hang out with them outside of work. Yeah. Last time he was hanging out with a bunch of guys. you didn't know, it didn't end very well. So we have questions. Right. So when he said that to me, I said, okay, that's fine, but can you send me a picture of y'all together? So it's history repeating itself. And then he freaked out in the same hissie fit. We've been doing so well together. We're in therapy together. I told you that C called me. Like, no. I don't need to do this.
Starting point is 01:23:40 Like you're putting me under surveillance again. Like I already lived through this with my aunt and uncle. I don't need my wife doing this. Da-da-da, whatever. Oh, geez. And this is when I truly did start to, like, I, it's like my soul new. Like, this is the end. Our marriage is not going to last.
Starting point is 01:23:57 But it's like my heart and brain didn't accept it, but like my soul knew. And you don't want to believe that it's true, but you know in your body that. Yeah, your body recognizes this pattern. Yeah. This is a cycle now. And we were texting the entire day, just arguing, except like the last two hours of I worked, I just didn't text it back. And I get off of work, I clock out, and I look at one of the girls that I work with. And I literally looked her in her eye, and I said, if I end up dead, my husband did it.
Starting point is 01:24:27 Oh, my God. Man, so first of all, this is, and this is only half the story. Like, there's still a whole other part to go. And it's crazy because did you guys know that marital rape was not illegal in all 50 states until 1993, you guys? I just. That's in our generation. And I think it's easy to forget how many people don't know that this is so prevalent and has been like, like, I don't know.
Starting point is 01:25:09 The Me Too movement, all of that stuff, like, it's not enough. Like we're not even close to being done talking about this stuff. And yeah, how many people do I don't want to think about how many people don't realize that what happened to them was rape. Yeah. And just because you're married to someone, you don't owe them anything, even if you're married to this person, even if it's not violent, if it's unwanted and there's no consent or there's not enthusiastic consent, then it's rape. Period. That's it. Period. We're not sugar-coding it.
Starting point is 01:25:45 This whole story is scary, and we just said after we got off the call with her, just like, like, I'm so happy she's here and safe now. And obviously she's telling the story. At the end of part two, we will get into more of a dogfish debrief. I definitely want to do more research on the psychology of compartmentalizing abuse and assault. You know what I mean? Like I'm interested in talking about that at the end of this and all of the other things that came up. And there will be more.
Starting point is 01:26:19 So stick with us at the end of part two. And we want to hear your thoughts. And if you have messages of support for Hannah, we always like to pass that along to guess. So on Dating Detectives podcast, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Patreon, wherever you want to write us, we can always share that support with her. Thank you for being so supportive too. We have such an amazing audience in you guys and just the way that you're willing to be so supportive and, you know, show so much empathy and concern and compassion. And you guys are such an amazing. We literally have the best listeners ever.
Starting point is 01:26:57 You guys are amazing. And when you share, it reaches people like Hannah. Like if we can just give a mic to everybody who needs to share their story, that's all we want to do. So thank you for sharing and posting. and hopefully we can just keep sharing stories like this because it's important. Yeah, and thank you for tagging us on social media when you hear a story that you're like, yo, this needs to be heard. You tag us.
Starting point is 01:27:20 You tag the dating detectives or dating detectives podcast. I think we are on socials and just say, hey, you should share this. You're basically sharing a platform that you feel safe with, that others are now feeling safe with. And so it's just growing and helping people to feel us alone. So thank you so much for great time. We love you all. And as always, trust your foundation.

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