I’m Kaori, and I live with my husband, Shinichi, and our 3-year-old daughter, Karin. We used to live with my parents-in-law and my husband’s grandmother. Whenever Great-Grandma would start meddling or giving us a hard time, my mother-in-law was always there to shield us. But that meant she was the one constantly taking the heat and dealing with Great-Grandma’s nasty comments. Four years later, my father-in-law suddenly passed away. Right after that, my mother-in-law filed to legally sever ties with her in-laws and moved out! When she came to our place, she dropped a bombshell: she had purposely endured all that abuse as part of a long-term, epic revenge plot against Great-Grandma.
I couldn’t quite wrap my head around a revenge plot that took decades to pull off. It just didn’t sit right with me. But when I talked to my own mom about it, she said she actually understood where my mother-in-law was coming from. Back in a time when social reputation meant everything—a world with values I don’t really share—my mother-in-law had to figure out how to leave that house without any lingering drama or blowback. Looking back now, you’d think there were better ways to handle it, but I guess this was the best solution she could come up with at the time. And honestly, if she’s finally happy and smiling now, maybe it’s not for anyone else to judge. Now, the only thing left is figuring out what to do with Great-Grandma…