Man grew suspicious when his girlfriend refused to let him enter one room in their home — when he finally learned why, he hugged her and cried

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of assault that some readers may find distressing.

Almost all of us have a memory that we choose to lock away. But for one man (u/lockedroomsthrowaway), this analogy became a reality. It started when the 31-year-old male decided to move in with his girlfriend, Amy. His partner owned a spacious five-bedroom Victorian home and lived alone. So, finally, after 5 years in the relationship, the man decided to move in with her. At first, everything was okay. In fact, the couple was excited about starting a new phase together, but then the man noticed something strange on the second floor of the house. Well, he saw a room heavily secured with a padlock. So, out of curiosity, he decided to dig deeper. But what he found next was quite unexpected, as he detailed in a Reddit post on April 12, 2017.

Mystery deepens

Well, upon noticing a locked room, the man naturally confronted Amy about it. However, instead of telling him anything about the room, his girlfriend brushed it off, saying she doesn't use that room. "I asked her what was in it, and she shrugged and said 'stuff' like it was no big deal," the man recalled. Moreover, Amy refused to let him use that particular locked room as his home office. The nonchalant answer further fueled her boyfriend's curiosity. This led him to ask the Reddit community about this mystery. So, he wrote a post about the same and even mentioned that his girlfriend had bought his house when she was 19.

Conspiracy theories

With no one knowing the truth, the internet came up with bizarre conspiracy theories. While some thought there might be weapons in the room, others assumed a supernatural entity was hiding. Nonetheless, the man started to believe that Amy must have hidden guns or something related to her law enforcement job in that room. However, the truth turned out to be something really unexpected.

The shocking truth

Three days after his first post, on April 15 the guy returned to Reddit to share an update. Apparently, he had a long conversation with Amy, and although she initially tried to brush it off, she eventually told the truth. Amy began crying when confronted about the room, which was quite surprising because she didn't cry much. It took her about 15 minutes to gather herself. "Actually, the room is empty. There is nothing in there," he revealed. As it turns out, back when Amy bought the house as a teenager, someone broke into it and assaulted her. "I don't want to get specific with details as it's pretty gruesome and also privacy," the man noted. Following this, not only did Amy buy a security system, but she also locked that room away, as she didn't want to relive the horror of that night ever again. 

Fear of opening up

Of course, the man wasn't expecting this to be the truth. In fact, he was sad that he forced Any to relive her bitter memories. Nonetheless, he was also relieved to know that he could now help her partner overcome this traumatic experience. Moreover, even though this was sad to hear, partners unable to tell their current partners about their previous traumatic experiences isn't uncommon. According to a study by PubMed involving about 221 participants who had reported sexual victimization, about 25% never shared this with anyone. This was the case because of four major reasons. One of which was shame, as the victims feared they'd be looked upon differently. Meanwhile, the others included min minimization of experience, fear of consequences, and privacy. 

'People need to respect privacy'

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/Gifted_GardenSnail commented, "Aw man, that went from a 'What's in the box room? Bluebeard joke mystery' to sad and traumatizing. Hopefully, they've moved by now. I am kind of surprised she didn't take the chance to move out of there right away." Similarly, u/Ecomaj noted, "Locking away trauma isn't necessarily the healthiest option. I wonder if the room could be refurbished in a way that utterly changes it so that it no longer holds the negative association. I mean, tear out the walls/door with a proper header installed to support the weight. Put floor-to-ceiling bookcases in with reading chairs, kind of a renovation. Change the flooring, paint, structure, and purpose drastically so that op/gf can reclaim the space and alleviate her distress. I know personally the traumas I've wallowed over and tried to forget always rear back up in the worst times/ways."

If you’ve been sexually assaulted and need help, please reach out to the National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) at 1‑800‑656‑HOPE (4673). rainn.org

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