I started my married life with my husband, Ryo, at his parents’ house. His parents and grandmother seemed like such nice people, so we decided to move in temporarily until we could afford our own home. However, it turns out my mother-in-law had been mistreated by the grandmother for years. Gradually, she started doing the exact same things to me. One day, Ryo and I came home from doing the shopping she asked for, only for her to start complaining about how the brand of detergent was wrong…?
Just as I was getting used to living together, my mother-in-law’s petty comments started. At first, when the hot water would suddenly cut out while I was in the bath, I just thought, “Maybe it’s a glitch?” But after it happened again and again, I realized it was intentional. It actually made me laugh—like, “Oh, so this is what ‘bullying the daughter-in-law’ looks like…” I was happy that Ryo tried to defend me the second he noticed her being mean. But I’m not just sitting here moping about being picked on. I told Ryo, “Wait a bit before we call off the move-in.”