I (Miyuki) raised two children, Sayaka and Shinichi, with my husband, Makoto. Since it was decided from the start that we’d live with his parents, my married life became a never-ending cycle of enduring my mother-in-law’s bullying. My own parents would never have allowed a divorce or separation, and back then, the social norm was still very much “a wife obeys her husband.” My only glimmer of hope was the burning desire to one day walk away from that woman. It’s no exaggeration to say I endured everything just so I wouldn’t have any regrets when “that day” finally came.
Every single day I spent with my mother-in-law since marrying into this family was pure agony. But I pushed through, clinging to one single hope in my heart. Filing the “Termination of Marital Family Relationship” was something I had been planning all along. I had decided a long time ago that one day, I would submit this. To make it work, I had to play the part of the “sweet daughter-in-law” the whole time. In reality, I wasn’t “sweet” at all. I was just hiding the dark, bitter resentment buried deep inside me. I’ll never forget the color of the sky I looked up at that day—feeling truly, finally free.