I’m Kana, and I’ve been married for sixteen years. I live with my husband, Masato, and our three kids—Yuma (13), Rei (10), and Taku (7). One day, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a serious illness. Around the same time, I found out from my husband that he has an older brother who’s been a shut-in for over twenty years. After discussing it with my own parents, I made Masato promise that neither I nor our children would have any contact with his parents again.
But despite that, my mother-in-law secretly listed me as her “key contact person,” planning to have me take care of her during her hospital stay and recovery afterward.
It’s clear now—she wanted me to handle her care all along. That’s why she finally told me about her reclusive son. Realizing how selfish and manipulative her plan was only made me resent her more. Masato claimed he didn’t know she had registered me as her key person. Whether that’s true or not, I’ve decided not to dig any deeper—as long as my children and I can stay out of her hospitalization drama.
Still, now that I know about my brother-in-law, I can’t just pretend he doesn’t exist. If I wait too long to bring it up, my in-laws might approach the kids on their own and tell them everything. Before that happens, I need to sit down and explain it to them myself. I owe them that much.