I got married at 19 to the ‘love of my life,’ then he held me hostage and would rape me for cleaning something wrong

WHEN Bethany Green hid in the bathroom to text for help after her husband of 14 years beat her, she was 100% convinced he was going to end her life. Her husband, a federal law officer, took her hostage and bound her before beating her head with a picture frame. The mum-of-three, from Florida, had just come back to the family house after running to her dad's to get away from the abuse she had suffered for 14 years but realised her children had to go to school.

At the time, Bethany thought her husband was staying at a hotel but he appeared at the house early in the morning the next day to take the children to school. After dropping them off, he made his way to the house in a furious rage. He then held Bethany hostage for the day as she recalls it being the 'most harrowing moment of my life'. "He bound me. He gagged me. He threw me across the house. He bashed my head in against a picture frame," she told Unfiltered Stories.

"When I tried to escape, he chased me outside and pulled me back in. He ripped my shirt.". He had refused to let her use the bathroom several times, and when he finally did, she took it as her sign to text for help. "I knew that him catching me with my cell phone, I would be murdered, 100%" she adds. "So I sent out a text message to my father and my stepmother, and I said, "He's here." Or, "He is hurting me. I'm probably not going to make it. I love you." And I hit send.

"Then I freaked out, and I went back and deleted it, hoping that it didn't actually send. I wasn't sure because I didn't want him to find it on my phone.". Bethany realised she also had Snapchat on her phone, an app her husband didn't know where messages can disappear, so she messaged a friend for help. When she finally made her way out of the bathroom, her husband found the phone and continued to beat and rape her.

After the horrific sex offense, he held her in a jujitsu hold and laughed hysterically as she struggled for air. "I do remember distinctly how much he was laughing at me," she says of the day. Thankfully, his personal and work phone both began to ring and a bang at the door got him to stop, and he went to open it fully naked. Knowing what was about to unfold he turned to Bethany and said: "They're here, baby. Well, I love you. Got to go," without a hint of remorse.

There stood one of his closest friends from the police force ready to arrest him. Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families. If you are a ­victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support ­service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk. Women’s Aid provides a live chat service - available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.

You can also call the freephone 24-hour ­National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247. Bethany reveals she grew up in a strict Christian household where her mum worshipped the ground her father walked on. "It was incredibly unhealthy, but it set the tone for me from a very early age," she says who got engaged to her future husband just three months after dating. "I got this idea that I was going to have a fairytale," she said after meeting her now ex-husband, who she found attractive.

There were so many omens. I cut my finger, I bled on my dress walking down the aisle. Looking back, she recalls how her husband conditioned her to be submissive and get used to constant fights. "The first thing that he ingrained in me was that His parents fought consistently," she adds. "I mean, every single moment of every single day, and they swore it was because they loved each other, and their mantra was, 'the moment we stop fighting is the moment we're done,' I believed it.

"It wasn't very long before I was getting kicked out of the car on the highway, in the rain, during wintertime because I was being immature.". He soon had her drop out of school claiming she didn't need an education to be a stay-at-home mum and got her to stop seeing friends as he was the only one she needed. She was just 19 when she got married to the 23-year-old and says even the wedding was filled with bad omens.

"There were so many omens. I cut my finger, I bled on my dress walking down the aisle," she explains. Her idea of a fairytale relationship came crashing down as soon as their vows were said and the pair were on their honeymoon. He flew into a rage after accusing Bethany of timing her contraception to coincide with her period while they celebrated. And it didn't end there, soon he began controlling her finances by taking away her debit card, threatening to leave her with nothing if she put a foot out of line.