I’m Miyuki. I live with my husband, Shinji, and our daughter, Akane (a 9th grader). My in-laws and my husband’s sister, Honoka, live nearby. But Honoka’s son, Taichi (a 12th grader), looks down on Akane because she’s younger. One day, Taichi came over and finished a jigsaw puzzle Akane had been working so hard on without even asking. After putting up with him for years, Akane finally snapped. But when my mother-in-law heard about it, she treated Akane and me like the villains. Even my husband, when he got home…
Akane has always stepped aside and played along for Taichi’s sake. She must have sensed it for a long time, even when I didn’t—that her grandparents, Honoka, and even her own father expect her to just bite the bullet and let Taichi have his way. But Akane is her own person with her own feelings.
It breaks my heart that she’s been through so much that she feels their entire relationship “only works because she stays quiet.” I’m starting to think I need to pull Akane away from the in-laws entirely.