Story 6

Before marrying my dad, my mom had been engaged to someone else. Her parents even had silverware engraved with the other man’s last initial. I always wondered why our silver had a “V” on it.

She never spoke about it and took the secret to her grave. We only discovered an old engagement notice and a few photos, but never learned more. © Dot_Tip / Reddit

Story 7

Growing up, I thought I had a half-sibling that my parents wouldn’t talk about. After my dad passed in 2006, my mom called me in 2009 to say a daughter he’d fathered years ago had just reached out to her.

He had left a pregnant girlfriend before meeting my mom and confessed to her later, but made her promise never to tell anyone. © mermaidpaint / Reddit

Story 8
My mom racked up six figures of credit card debt and dragged my dad into it. We only found out when he tried to co-sign my college loan and got a call from a credit bureau questioning his massive unpaid bills. Since then, I vowed to always manage my own money. © Unknown author / Reddit

Story 9

I found out that my husband was on a dating app. Instead of confronting him, I made a fake profile with someone else’s pictures and started chatting with him.

He claimed he was long divorced—said his wife (me) left him—and acted like he was a wholesome guy looking for love. I arranged a fake meetup out of town. That night, he said he had urgent work and left.

He came back at 5 a.m., furious after wasting hours and money on a cab ride to meet no one. What he found instead was his suitcase waiting by the door. We’re getting divorced. That’s the end of it.