Should I stay or should I go?

I just discovered an audio file of my private individual therapy session that my husband recorded without my consent or knowledge. I was tipped off by comments and questions he kept directing at me that were only discussed in private with my therapist.

When I confronted him about it initially he denied he had brought a recording device on our travel or had a recording. I then discover he did bring a recording device. He denies that he brought it intentionally and had no idea it was in his backpack.
I confront him further about what he has recorded. (This has been a pattern in the past of him recording me without my knowledge or consent, and it’s been brought up multiple times in therapy.) He starts getting sweaty and shaky and locks himself in the bathroom and is denying there’s any such recording.
I start to pack my things and say I am taking space for the night to stay elsewhere and he tells me I am abusing him and starts crying. He then begs me to stay and hands over his phone to “prove” there is no recording after spending some time in the bathroom.
I go to his recently deleted files, and there it is. My entire therapy session in his deleted files.

He then proceeds to tell me he has no idea how i was recorded and he had no idea, really digging his heels in at this point. However, the audio file was renamed, sent to his email, then deleted. And the recording was started before my session before he stepped out of the room and conveniently stopped after he came back in the room.

This is not one isolated event. He threatened to ruin my life if I didn’t marry him, (ie ruing the career I had worked so hard for as a single mom), has been abusing substances behind my back, monitors my location, has put his hands on me and left bruises once. He makes financial abuse threats, many other controlling threats and accuses me of cheating.

The problem is, I have a 9 year old son from a previous relationship that adores him and he is like a father to him. I’m also not currently employed and in my last two semesters of my masters program in the middle of clinicals. I rely on him financially and helping out with my son. I rented my home out to move in with him and had uprooted my son’s schools to join lives with him. I don’t want to create any more instability in my son’s life but at this point it’s instability no matter what.

Any advice for a safe plan?

Tl;dr abuse, coercion, control. How do I stay safe with a child and an exit plan when I’m currently relying on him financially while I finish my last two semesters of my graduate program and in the middle of clinicals?

Posted Jun 3, 2026, 1:39 AM UTC

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