From the outside, Rachel's* life looked perfect. A nice house in a well-heeled suburb, two kids, a husband with a good job.

But behind closed doors, her relationship was slowly unravelling. The man she had fallen in love with was transforming before her eyes.

"You're like a frog in a pot," Rachel told Mamamia . "The person you marry is not the person you divorce."

Things started to change in their relationship after he started a new job.

"He got a high-powered job while we were married, and I watched him change over the course of about two months," shared Rachel.

Suddenly, he became very controlling when it came to finances, and Rachel needed permission to make purchases as small as a newspaper.

The couple began fighting, and eventually sought marriage counselling. But to no avail.

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