I’m Aine. I was bullied in middle school, and the hurt stayed with me for years. When I told my boyfriend back then, Hiroki, he said, “I’ll protect you for life. Trust me.” He felt dependable, and I believed we could be happy, so I said yes to his proposal. Now we’re a family of four with our son Yuu (8th grade) and daughter Niina (7th). But years have passed, and Hiroki has changed completely…
Lately, whenever I make the smallest mistake, Hiroki throws the same line at me: “That’s why you got bullied.” Every time he says it, it rips open the old wound and I’m left speechless. He once told me, “Trust me. I’ll protect you for life,” and that’s why I chose to marry him.
When I forgot to wash the kids’ gym uniforms, he made the usual snide comment. Even when I asked him to stop, he snapped back, “The bullied one is partly to blame.” The gentle Hiroki I knew is gone. I don’t know what to do anymore.