Woman finds out after 20 years her husband stalked her years before they met

What I thought was the perfect family was a lie arranged by my husband, says 45-year-old Sara. Her story is more like a movie than ordinary life.

One day, Sara discovered that her husband of 20 years, the father of her three daughters, had been stalking her for two years before they "met" and had kept compromising "souvenirs" from that period for over two decades.

An Australian woman shared her story online, asking internet users for help, after she discovered a box among her belongings in which her husband hid several items from her.

"We moved to a new house closer to one of our daughters' school. When I was unpacking some things, I came across this strange box," she wrote.

"I was just checking to see if anything was missing. I opened his box and found a few things."

Mostly, they were photos from when Sara was 20 or younger. The photos showed her in high school going to the gym, where she often hung out with friends. 

The box also included a list of places Sara had visited and photos of Sara in her apartment from the time when she didn't know her husband yet.

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The man took a job as a bartender at a bar where the woman often went with friends and strengthened her drink with additional alcohol. When Sara almost fainted, her future husband "saved" her and offered her help.

"It worked because I was so impressed with him. Many guys would take advantage of a drunk girl, but he didn't," Sara wrote.

"At that moment I felt sick. I was overcome with fear and anger," Sara said.

Today, like many victims of stalking and other forms of coercive control, a woman struggles with two contradictory images of her husband - a loving partner and a predatory stalker. 

She decided to break up with her husband and completely cut off contact with him.

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This article was originally published on Onet Woman.