Four years ago, TikToker Cierra (@cierraayana) married her husband. But a few months into the marriage, she found out that he had slept with someone during his bachelor party. Cierra tried to forgive him and move on, especially because they already had two kids together.
A year later, they had another child. While she was pregnant with their third child, Cierra discovered that she had contracted an STI from her husband due to his being unfaithful.
“This was a huge blow to the gut that I had to find out that way,” said Cierra. “I should have left then, but I didn’t. I decided to stay.”
“From then on, we decided to go to marriage counseling and do therapy and go to church and focus on God to try to rebuild our marriage.”
Throughout the marriage, her husband continued entertaining other women by liking their photos on social media and messaging them. She chose to ignore it so she could keep the family together.
Later, they agreed to have another kid. While she was pregnant with their fourth child, his behavior was very questionable, leading to a separation.
Cierra’s instincts told her that something was off. She searched through his phone and found inappropriate messages to other women.
To him, it wasn’t cheating because he wasn’t sleeping with the women. He tried to turn the situation around on her and has constantly blamed her for being crazy and unsupportive of him.
Cierra was at a loss on what to do. She wanted to leave, but didn’t want to break up her family. She comes from a broken home herself and was fighting to give her children a two-parent household. However, the whole process has been traumatizing for everyone, especially her.
In the end, she took a leap of faith and left. She hopes her story will encourage other women to make their own choices and leave situations that are hurting them. Many TikTok users shared their own thoughts and experiences in the comments section.
“If it helps, I didn’t leave until our son asked me why I was still with his dad. I told him it was for him, and he said, ‘I don’t want this, Mom.’ I left that day,” commented one user.
“My mom didn’t leave for her kids like she should have. Now, I’m a leaver at the first sign of a red flag because it traumatized me so badly. Always put your kids first. Even when it’s hard. They see. They know. I promise they will thank you one day. You got this,” added another.
“The only thing worse than being in a bad marriage for four years is being in a bad marriage for four years and a day. Leaving him shows your kids that a) it’s okay to leave a relationship that does not make you happy and b) you know your worth and so should they,” wrote a third.
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
