I’m Kaori. I live with my husband Shinichi and our 3-year-old daughter Karin. We live about 30 minutes away from my in-laws, and we try to visit every now and then so they can see their granddaughter. But I never actually step foot inside the house. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, and grandmother-in-law all live there together. Grandma is always perfectly sweet to me, but she’s incredibly cold to my mother-in-law. I’ve always wondered… why does she keep living with that woman when she’s treated so poorly?
At first, I thought Grandma was a nice person. Slowly but surely, her true colors started to show, but she never acted that badly toward me or my husband. Still, she was constantly trying to force her own values on everyone, which was a real headache. But every single time, my mother-in-law stepped up and acted as our shield. No matter what Grandma said, she’d protect us, telling me, “Don’t worry, I’ll smooth things over with her later.” And all the while, behind the scenes, my mother-in-law was being bombarded with nasty comments from Grandma. I started to wonder… is she really okay living like this?