I (Mariko, in my 40s) live with my husband (Takayoshi, in his 40s) and our daughter (Sari, in 8th grade). Both our parents live nearby. I had thought Sari’s bad language and attitude were just a phase of her teenage rebellion, but it turns out it was influenced by my mother-in-law (Sanae, in her 70s). My husband wants to remarry his affair partner (Misato Fukuhara, in her late 30s), whom he got pregnant, and my mother-in-law seems to want the remarriage for the sake of the affair partner’s assets. My daughter did not choose to live with me. The divorce proceedings progressed, and my life seems to be settling down now that the dog has been rehomed, but it seems there was a major upheaval on my husband’s side.
In the end, my ex-husband’s outrageous claims were thrown out, and the divorce was finalized with me actually being the one to demand alimony. A month and a half after the divorce was settled, my daughter came to me and said, “I want to live with you.” It seems there was a massive fallout between my former mother-in-law and the woman he was having an affair with, causing their plans for remarriage to fall apart right before it could happen. My daughter was shocked to realize she wasn’t actually welcome there, and she came to me to apologize. I’m once again stunned by the selfishness of my ex-husband and his mother, and their total disregard for me. I realize now that the whole incident with the dog was just a tiny preview of how they truly operate. I have no intention of ever having anything to do with them again.