being from out of town. both transitioning into houston, and we're both steelers fans. >> reporter: leon's selfies showed a loving couple. but there was one trouble spot in meghan's new life. leon didn't have a texas medical license yet. >> why don't you go work as a surgical assistant? he was like, "you don't understand what it's like to be a doctor. you can't just take any job." >> reporter: meghan had to support both herself and leon. >> it really just seemed like frustrations within a normal relationship. >> reporter: but one night, everything changed. meghan expressed her frustration in front of leon's high-achieving family. >> like, i don't understand why he's not working. and he was like, "we're gonna talk about this when we get home." and he just tore up my entire closet and just threw all of my stuff on the balcony. >> reporter: what did you say back to him? >> i was, like, shocked. and i didn't know what to say. and i didn't know what to do. like, here i am, i live with this person. >> reporter: that night started a downward spiral. according to meghan, soon, every day leon seemed to find a new reason to get angry. eventually, she says, his anger turned into abuse. >> it was always something, almost like clockwork. he used to chew tobacco. i don't know what i did or what happened. he took the thing of spit and threw it across the room at me. it was constant. >> reporter: it's humiliating? >> yeah. and he's just -- didn't think it