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The Boy Who Was Bullied to a Man Who Conquered It All | Reddit Unheard Stories
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Jun 26, 2025
#redditrelationship #aita #redditstories Hey everyone, welcome to Reddit Unheard Stories! I’m Jake, your narrator — just a regular guy bringing you stories that hit deep. Today, we’re diving into the life of Tom Harper, a small-town Ohio kid who thought he had love and life figured out — until everything fell apart. This is not just a story of heartbreak and betrayal, but one of healing, growth, and building a new life from the ashes. Follow Tom’s journey from bullied, shy teenager to football star, to heartbreak, and eventually to success and true happiness. If Tom’s story resonates with you, drop your story in the comments. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell to catch more unheard stories that you won’t hear anywhere else.
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hey everyone welcome to Reddit Unheard
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Stories i'm Jake your narrator just a
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regular guy with a story that's going to
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hit you right in the fields today we're
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diving into the life of Tom Harper a
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small town Ohio kid who thought he had
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love and life figured out until it all
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fell apart this isn't about revenge
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though it might feel like it sometimes
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it's about heartbreak healing and
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finding a way to live well after
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betrayal
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so grab a drink get comfy and let's
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follow Tom's wild ride from a shy
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teenager to a man who built a new life
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from the ashes of the old one tom Harper
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wasn't your typical high school
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heartthrob
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growing up in a small Ohio town he was
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the kid everyone overlooked big heavy
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and an easy target for bullies
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the teasing stung leaving scars deeper
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than he'd admit
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by middle school Tom was shy ducking his
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head to avoid attention carrying the
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weight of being the fat kid in his mind
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long after his body started to change at
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6'3 and 260 lb high school football gave
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him a way out they called him bulldog on
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the field at Lincoln High cuz when he
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hit you you stayed down
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football wasn't just a game it was his
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ticket to belonging it trimmed some of
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that weight not all but enough to quiet
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the bullies
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suddenly girls gave him a second glance
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but Tom was too bashful to act on it his
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old insecurities lingering like stubborn
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fog senior year was a gamecher
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lincoln High's football team usually a
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small-time operation caught fire they
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had a cocky quarterback Mike Larson who
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could sling a ball like nobody's
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business and the Carter twins Luke and
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Ethan running backs with moves like
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lightning
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tom playing left tackle was Mike's
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shield keeping defenders off his back
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the team lost their opener to their
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rivals Jefferson High 21-7 but then they
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went on a tear seven straight wins they
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stormed into the state finals crushing
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Jefferson 38-7 in the semifinals
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tom still lights up thinking about that
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game the crowd roaring his teammates
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hoisting him up like he was king of the
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world
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they fell short in the finals 28-4 but
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those days were golden memories he'd
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cling to when life got rough football
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wasn't the only thing shaking up Tom's
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world that year he met Sarah Miller
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she'd transferred to Lincoln as a junior
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but it wasn't until senior year when
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they got paired as chemistry partners
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that Tom really saw her sarah had dark
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hair warm brown eyes and a smile that
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could melt ice she carried maybe 30 or
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40 lb extra which made most guys pass
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her by
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tom wasn't proud of it but he'd done the
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same at first chemistry class changed
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everything tom was clueless about the
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subject but Sarah was a wizard
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explaining things with a patience that
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made him feel safe she'd cracked jokes
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easing his frustration and they started
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talking really talking they bonded over
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shared struggles both started school
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late tom held back a year by his folks
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sarah slowed by a heart condition she'd
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beaten as a kid at 19 they were older
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than their classmates and that gave them
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a connection that felt like fate tom was
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smitten but scared stiff to make a move
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asking her out took every ounce of guts
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he had "want to go out sometime?" he
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mumbled expecting a polite no her eyes
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sparkled "sure Tom," she said her smile
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soft but real "their first date was
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simple movies ice cream sodas at the
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diner tom was so nervous he shook her
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hand at the end instead of kissing her
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sarah just laughed and he was hooked
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they kept dating and by their third date
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Tom found the courage to kiss her cheek
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then her lips it was like the world
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stopped his heart pounding like a drum
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the more he saw Sarah the deeper he fell
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she was funny kind and didn't care about
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his old insecurities
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with her he felt like he could finally
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be himself prom season came and Tom
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didn't hesitate
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sarah will you go to prom with me her
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grin was answer enough but she threw her
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arms around him whispering "Yes."
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When he picked her up she was a vision
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in a light blue dress that hugged her
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curves she dropped some weight to fit
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into it and Tom couldn't stop staring
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"you're beautiful," he said barely
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getting the words out
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they danced all night lost in each other
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afterward Sarah had a surprise she
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guided him to a wooded spot outside town
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her uncle's hunting cabin it was small
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just a couch a bed a tiny kitchen and a
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bathroom but it felt like a palace they
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started on the couch laughing kissing
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and things heated up they took their
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relationship to the next level that
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night careful but caught up in the
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moment
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tom got her home just before her 2 a.m
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curfew his head spinning with love
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graduation brought tough choices tom
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scored a partial football scholarship to
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Mountain Ridge University a division 2
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school two states away
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sarah chose a local community college
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for psychology while Tom studied
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computer science they talked about their
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future hearts heavy and decided to break
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up thinking long distance would hold
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them back if we're meant to be it'll
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work out," Sarah said her voice cracking
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leaving her felt like ripping out his
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own heart tom drove to college with a
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lump in his throat terrified he'd lost
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her for good college was brutal tom
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buried himself in football and classes
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to keep Sarah off his mind he took a
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full course load trained like a machine
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and turned fat into muscle by the third
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game he'd earned a starting spot as left
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guard his strength outweighing his
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slower speed the team went 8-2 and Tom
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landed on the dean's list impressing his
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coaches and parents but every Sunday
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night he called Sarah her voice sad like
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his was a reminder of what he'd left
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behind they'd talk for hours laughing
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over old memories but the distance felt
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like a canyon that summer they fell back
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into each other's arms it was like no
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time had passed
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tom thought he was in love maybe it was
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love maybe it was something else but it
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felt real they spent every moment
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together picking up where they left off
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tom powered through college in three
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years driven to get back to Sarah right
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after graduation they got married in a
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small ceremony surrounded by family and
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a few high school friends they moved to
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Virginia landing jobs at Omnitech
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Solutions a big software and electronics
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company tom worked in software
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development Sarah in HR they bought a
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little house talked about kids and
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settled into married life but old habits
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crept back tom hit 310 lb Sarah 230 they
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weren't thrilled about it but Tom loved
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her no matter what and she seemed to
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feel the same 3 years in they hit a snag
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they couldn't get pregnant and their
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doctor suggested weight loss might help
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so they went hard on a diet sarah
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dropped 80 lbs Tom 90 she started
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wearing tighter clothes turning heads at
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work tom was proud but couldn't shake a
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uneasy feeling guys noticed her in a way
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they hadn't before and she seemed to
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soak it up then Mike Larson their old
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quarterback got hired as Omnitex's head
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of HR Sarah's boss mike was married to
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Lisa a former cheerleader and Tom didn't
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think much of it at first but Sarah
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started working late going out with
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friends
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tom's gut twisted but he didn't want to
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believe it he hired a private
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investigator and within a week the truth
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hit like a freight train photos videos
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even footage of Sarah and Mike in their
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house on their living room floor
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tom's world shattered he confronted her
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that night laying out the evidence
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"what's going on Sarah?" he asked his
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voice cold but breaking she turned pale
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buried her face in her hands and sobbed
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she admitted she loved Mike too couldn't
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choose tom's heart pounded with rage and
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pain he gave her until the next day to
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decide him or Mike she chose Mike the
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words cut deeper than anything he'd ever
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felt he wanted to scream to fight but he
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just said "Fine you want a divorce you
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got it." He served her papers at work
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citing infidelity and split everything
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50/50
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mike's divorce from Lisa was messier a
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kid under a year old meant child support
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and 15 years of alimony two months later
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Sarah and Mike got married tom was a
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mess rage consumed him he fantasized
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about revenge slashing tires worse he
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bought a gun his mind in a dark place
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but then he started counseling with his
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pastor who sat him down for 2 hours
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revenge won't fix this Tom he said only
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time and distance will
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tom wasn't sure he bought it but he was
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desperate for anything to dull the pain
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a lifeline came from Omnitech
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the company was in deep trouble with a
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defense department contract classified
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software and electronics for Air Force
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jets way behind schedule and over budget
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most developers were jumping ship but
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Tom saw a chance to escape he moved to
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California 3,000 m from Sarah and took
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over the project he fired threearters of
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the team brought in fresh talent and
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scrapped their work with an 11-month
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deadline he worked 20our days drowning
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his pain in code and circuits
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3 weeks before delivery tests showed a
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96% success rate tom fixed the last 4%
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and the project was a home run
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omnitech stock shot up 300 points and
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the contract expanded to the Navy Army
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and Marines raking in billions tom
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tweaked the tech for commercial use
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opening endless possibilities and got
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promoted to senior VP on a trip back to
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Virginia he ran into Emily Carter Lisa's
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best friend and Ethan Carter's ex-wife
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emily was a former cheerleader petite
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with long black hair and a warm smile
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that hadn't changed since high school
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she was divorced ethan had cheated with
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multiple women leaving her to raise
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their son Ben alone
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over dinner at her place Tom and Emily
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clicked ben a huge Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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fan bonded with Tom over football talk
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they started hanging out and Tom took
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them to a Bucks game one night Emily
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showed up at his hotel room and things
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turned romantic
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"i've been waiting for you to make a
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move," she teased climbing onto his bed
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they kissed and it was like nothing Tom
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had ever felt not even with Sarah
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6 months later they were engaged a year
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after that they married ben was over the
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moon calling Tom dad ethan still buddies
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with Mike loved bragging about Mike and
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Sarah's happy life tom didn't care
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anymore sarah had quit her job to raise
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their three kids but Tom had moved on at
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Omnitex Christmas party Tom was named
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executive VP in front of 500 people
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emily pregnant with their first child
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beamed with pride they ran into Mike
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Sarah Ethan and Ethan's date Karen sarah
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had gained weight again and Mike looked
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worn emily suggested Tom dance with
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Sarah during the dance Sarah confessed
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they were headed for divorce mike was
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cheating leaving you was my biggest
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mistake," she said tears streaming
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tom felt a pang of sympathy but no pull
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to go back holding Emily close that
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night Tom knew the pastor was right
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revenge wouldn't have healed him living
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well loving Emily raising Ben building a
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family did that was his victory thanks
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for joining me on Reddit Unheard Stories
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if Tom's story hit home drop yours in
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the comments i'll catch you in the next