Taraji P. Henson is considered one of the most celebrated actresses today, but once upon a time, during her come up, she was dealing with some hardships behind the scenes that we never knew about. The Empire star revealed in her book that she broke things off with her late ex-boyfriend because he physically abused her.

According to The Daily News, in her new memoir, Around the Way Girl, Taraji explains how her son's father, William "Mark" Johnson, physically abused her to the point where she shed blood.

"The next thing I knew, Mark's balled-up first was coming straight for my face. I fell onto the bed crying and holding my mouth; blood seeped off my lips and across my teeth," she wrote. "Droplets splashed across my shoes... slowly creeping into the fibres of my suede boots."

After seeing the blood dripping from her mouth, she said this was the moment she knew she had to leave.

"This is over!" she yelled at him. "Get your s**t and get out!"

Johnson was murdered at the age of 34 back in 2003. 

The actress said, despite her late father, Boris, urging her to reconcile with her abusive ex, she chose to go the opposite route for the sake of herself and her then young son.

"With that separation, my forever man, my first love, was no more," she wrote.

Get the latest on Taraji in the BET Breaks video, above.