I’m Mariko, in my 40s, living with my husband, Takayoshi (also in my 40s), and our daughter, Sally, who’s in 8th grade. Both my parents and my in-laws live nearby. Sally is in the middle of a rebellious phase, and her attitude and language have become increasingly disrespectful. To make matters worse, my husband and daughter—knowing full well that I’m not a dog person—went ahead and got a dog anyway. I couldn’t stand the sight of the mess or the unbearable stench, so I moved in with my parents, Hiroshi and Rie (both in their 70s). After discovering that my mother-in-law, Sanae (in her 70s), was abusing the dog and that my husband was doing nothing to stop it, I decided to divorce him. Later, I realized that my husband was hoping to remarry his affair partner, so I decided to crash the prenatal class they were attending together.
I showed up at the prenatal class, and my husband completely panicked when he saw me. It looked like he finally realized there was no hiding the affair anymore. After talking to both him and the woman he’s seeing, I found out she’s his childhood friend—the same person who had originally given us the dog. My husband then dropped the bombshell that his mother was already on board with their remarriage, and he started begging me for a divorce. I’m shaken, but I suspect there’s even more to this, so I’m staying calm and trying to get to the bottom of the whole situation.