I’m Kana.
I live with my husband, Masato, and our three kids—Yuma (7th grade), Rei (5th grade), and Takuto (2nd grade). Life was loud but happy, and I often thought, I’m really glad I married him.
Then one day, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a serious illness. That’s when I found out that my husband, whom I thought was an only child, actually had an older brother who’d been shut in for over twenty years. We’d been married for sixteen years… and they’d kept it from me the entire time. Whenever I tried to talk about what to do next, my husband just ran away from the conversation.
Since I couldn’t get anywhere with him, I decided to call my mother-in-law— but she completely lost it on me! She acted like she was the victim, as if I was the one being cruel for asking questions. She went on about how I didn’t understand how much they’d suffered because of her eldest son’s condition. Then came the insults: “Terrible wife.” “You’re a heartless woman!” “Do you enjoy blaming me?” After yelling all that, she hung up.
The call didn’t solve anything—it just left me exhausted and frustrated. In the end, nothing moved forward, and all I was left with was a heavy cloud of unease.