You can spend years, even decades, with someone without realizing they are hiding a big secret that changes everything. In the collection we have today, people shared surprising truths they found out about their loved ones. We admire their courage and honesty in sharing these stories.

My mom kept saying, “I can tell your boyfriend is a bad person.” She wouldn’t meet his parents and chose not to come to the ceremony. Years went by, and we were a happy couple, but she stayed distant.

Then one day, the doorbell rang. Someone left an old photo. I froze when I saw it was my mom as a young woman, kissing a man I knew very well—my boyfriend’s father. I tried to call her to confront her, but she wouldn’t answer. I asked my father-in-law, and he admitted that he and my mother had dated in college for three years. They were even engaged at one point, but he cheated on her, and they broke up.

I was shocked. My mother clearly hadn’t moved on and seemed determined to ruin my happiness just because I was with the son of the man who had hurt her. After that day, I completely lost my trust in her. Now, I wouldn’t even want her to meet her grandkids.