“I read his diary, and he wrote that he married me because I owned a house, made a good living, and he needed someone to take care of his 4-year-old son. It was immediately over. I still hate him.”

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"And these aren't even the tip of the iceberg on his lies. Thank goodness I'm out of that marriage."

"Then, he was shocked I divorced him. Absolutely shocked. He thought he owned me because he waited until he married me to hit me. The funny part was that I was a process server. I delivered legal papers (like divorce papers, child support, and other non-criminal papers) for a living. He was shocked both that I'd divorce him at all and that I knew how. Like, dude, did you forget what I do for a living? I know where the courthouse is."

"The divorce took forever because she lied about everything. Years later, my son is amazing, and she has alienated her whole family. I'm happily remarried and loving my spouse."

"He traveled for work, and six months after we had been married, he got upset with me while he was on the road. He then ignored my calls for three days, and when we finally spoke again, he asked if I wanted a divorce. We went to dinner, and he said he had made a huge mistake and wasn’t really in love, and we were divorced a week later. We haven’t spoken since."

"I spent the next few years really figuring out who I was and what I wanted my life to look like. I met my match, and after dating for four years, I got married again. This time, we knew exactly what the rest of our lives would look like before we ever talked about a wedding. We just celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary and have the most incredible 5-year-old. I haven't seen my ex since he moved out of our shared apartment 16 years ago, but he also remarried eventually and looks happy in the few pictures I've seen. It all worked out, or at least it did for me."

"I have been through all the ups and downs, but I'm in a good place at this point in my life."

"I have been single for about 15 years and have never had more peace — just me and my cat living a drama-free life!"

"Finally, she stalked me at work. I worked in law enforcement at the time, and she would listen to a scanner app to hear my call number and location if I was dispatched or called out something on the radio. Y'all, my ex-wife would show up at my traffic stops. Because I was looking for dates? Rot in hell. (FWIW: I never considered cheating while we were married.)"

"I tried to make it work for a couple of months after, but the wounds just ran too deep. This happened when I was 26, and I'm 32 now. Let me tell you — I'm thankful it happened because it made me into someone who doesn't do things they don't want to do just to please others. It's so freeing."

"I left. He tried to get me back, but I wasn't having it. I met the love of my life a few years later and have been happily married for 22 years now."

"Turns out he was gay, which honestly wouldn't have bothered me if he'd just told me instead of using me and then treating me like absolute trash the minute we'd gotten married. By what would have been our first anniversary, I had left the state. I spent the next 12 years moving around the country and experiencing a life I never imagined I could have — all while knowing I'd never get married again. I'm 42 now and just celebrated my eighth wedding anniversary and my daughter's seventh birthday. At the time it sucked, and a lot of people were pissed off one way or another, but if that had never happened I would have never had the courage to leave this little town and find all the adventure I did."

"Then, I get a call on Thanksgiving telling me she'd been seeing someone for a few months and wanted a divorce. I found out she was four months pregnant when we were signing the divorce papers in January, so she'd been cheating on me even before the wedding. We were together for five years and married for six months. Now, we've blocked each other and haven't spoken since we signed the divorce papers."

"I thought I'd never get over him and that heartbreak, but I've been in a long-term relationship for eight years. I'll never get married again; that ruined it for me."

"He became aggressive and controlling. We didn't last long after that. I learned that pushing for a quick commitment can be a sign of an abuser. I don't think he ever stopped cheating, either. I wish I had followed my intuition and stayed away."

"Horrible 18 years of raising our son alone with my ex-husband, who was diagnosed many years later with bipolar disorder. Also, Tennessee racism is appalling, and I would never want to raise a child there. It was the most traumatic experience."

"Her last long-term relationship broke up because she had a sexual affair with him. She has been cheating in every relationship, ever. By January of this year, it was clear that her issues were a lot deeper than I was equipped to handle. The divorce went through a week or two ago. Ultimately, what happened was awful, but at least now I know, and my mutual friend and I talked everything through. We're not friends by any means, but we have an understanding. When I first found out, I definitely blamed him, but now, knowing everything, I'm 99% sure she pursued him for the attention and preyed on his existing struggle to find a solid long-term partner, I have better empathy for the situation he found himself in and am grateful that 1) he was the kind of guy to not take it physical, and 2) I found out when it was still early days of the marriage, and I had time to get out. No kids, no obligations, really. 

It sucks starting over again and losing five years with the wrong person, but at the end of the day, it is what it is, and I know I did everything I could to save the marriage and made the right choice for me. Oh, and the day I moved out, she was blowing up his phone (though he had blocked her), then got a friend to call him from their phone so he would pick up, not knowing it was her, and he blocked her again. And when I pushed through the divorce paperwork, she was blowing up my phone, but I later found out she had two other guy friends over at the house for 'emotional support.' Yeah, fun times, but pretty sure I dodged a bullet in the long term."

"After I got a divorce, I found out he had told people at both our wedding and the reception that if it didn't work out, he could always get a divorce. They thought it was just a bad joke. We're Catholic, so it was also grounds for an annulment. He hasn't seen our son since the boy was 11; he's 35 now. I'm a happily married mother of three and grandmother of two now. My second husband raised my son and our children with me."

"He should have been more honest with me and himself. We were divorced within the year. He remarried a few years later to another older woman, but convinced her to untie her tubes; they had a child."

"He said the reason for his distance was that he was secretly planning to propose. And three months later, we were married. That should've been the happy ending, right? Instead, it was the unraveling. The 'friend' turned furious and spilled everything to me and the world. She started harassing him nonstop. Frankly, he deserved it. But then, she started calling my job. Reaching out to my family. Turning her rage on me. And she wasn't alone. His so-called 'lesbian' best friend — yeah, her, too. Another secret. Another lie. What he exposed me to — the emotional wreckage, the betrayal, the danger — was more than careless. It was cruel. I don't care to ever see him again. Some endings aren't bittersweet; they're necessary. And mine was overdue."

"Hindsight being what it is, I knew we would divorce eventually, walking down the aisle. Always trust your gut or the little voice when there are concerns BEFORE you say I do."

"Well, she's dead now after driving one son to die by suicide, turning her daughter into a drama queen responsible for a boyfriend's death, and permanently stunting my ex's emotional development. If you let crap in, it splashes on you."

"He struggled with trust; I needed space. I needed calm; he thrived in intensity. It wasn't one big blow-up that ended things; it was a slow unraveling. By December, we both knew it wasn't working. It wasn't that we didn't love each other — we did — but love just wasn't enough. We got divorced before the year ended.It hurt more than I ever thought it would. I questioned everything — my choices, my sense of judgment, even my ability to recognize real love. But time has a way of putting things into perspective. I started to heal. I realized that two people can care for each other deeply and still not be right for each other.Now, I'm doing better. Things are calmer. I've been focusing on myself — rebuilding routines, reconnecting with people I lost touch with, finding joy in solitude. I'm not bitter. I'm just more grounded. I understand myself better now, and I'm clearer on what I want from love and life."

"The day after our wedding, he was intoxicated and ended up punching one of my sons in the stomach. He claimed he was playing; however, the shock with our other children and the pain of betrayal from the one who was punched said otherwise. I knew immediately we were done. It took me three months to get the money and funds together to move out. I moved out while he was out of town and never looked back. Always trust yourself, even when it's hard. I could have avoided so much pain for my children if I had trusted myself from the very beginning."

"My son and I deserved better. A few years ago, he went to jail for not paying child support. Our divorce cost me $47,000, and it was worth every penny."

"I went to the courthouse, got divorce papers, and filled them out as quickly as possible. The best part was that the divorce was finalized on my birthday, and a month later, I was overseas as a contractor. This all happened back in the early 2000s. Now, I'm happily married again and have a great job where I only work six months a year and get to spend a lot of time with my family. Me and her family don't even talk, and I still want nothing to do with her or her family."

"(He had stupidly left them in a random box in the closet, which I accidentally knocked over. While putting back all the stuff that fell out, the pictures slid out!). I confronted him, and he flat out lied that the photos weren't in our house (?) and nothing happened; it was just some random girl he met who was infatuated, blah, blah. I left the house shortly thereafter and never went back."

"At the church rehearsal, she sat with her mother rather than me. A big sign that this wouldn't have much mileage. In our few months of marriage, I became the social guy I used to be, and she tried to keep up. It wasn't fair to either of us. After 11 months, we divorced. It was public and kind of embarrassing, but it was never mean. Most saw it coming. We both maintained respect for one another.

She ended up marrying someone exactly right for her — someone I've known for years. They have two children, and I couldn't be happier for them. A few years later, I met the right one. We've been married nine years and have amazing girls. My ex and I continue our respect for one another, and while we don't interact socially, I worked with her and her husband for a year, and it wasn't weird at all."

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.