‘I had a loving husband – then I lost weight and he turned into a brute’

It's a frightening story - one of a "kind, loving man," who then changed into a controlling, abusive husband.

At 5'3" and more than 200lbs, she knew she had to lose weight. So she did. "I then got a job. Suddenly I was cheating, I lost weight to get men," the story, shared on Imgur, continues. "He hit me and sexually assaulted me. He waited outside my work for whole shifts, not telling me if he was carrying the Beretta M9 he had purchased recently. "I wanted to go out with two (female) coworkers for my 23rd birthday. I told him weeks in advance and when the time came he punched me in the face and slammed my head into the floor... I tried to go to the police in the middle of the night, he tailgated me the whole way. I tried to talk to his parents and they told me it was normal in a young marriage and I should reassure him." She states: "I finally got the guts to leave when he hurt my dog and kitten. While he was at work I packed a bag, my pets, and their food and hid at a coworker's house and called the police. I spent hours getting bruises photographed, giving my statement, waiting while they put him on restriction." She adds that she only saw him a handful of times after that - all in court. At the divorce hearing, she says he told her if she dropped the charges he'd support her financially. In the end he got eight months in a military prison in San Diego. "I still had to listen to several people testify how great of a person he was - a whole group on his side while I sat there with one friend and my lawyer. "3 years later and I'm actually doing great. I have my own place, a decent job, my pets are doing very well... This isn't really a sob story; I'm really proud of what I've done on my own. I just wanted to share for possibly some closure since I never really got that. "Strangers on the internet are better than keeping it inside for so long." She also published the below terrifying text messages that she says her husband sent her to remind herself "how far I've come". If you feel you're a victim of domestic violence you can access support via Women's Aid.