I’m Kaori, 46. My husband, Yuichi (also 46), was asked by his parents—who run a ballroom dance studio—to eventually take over the business. Before long, he started staying overnight at the studio to “practice.” Unable to shake my anxiety, I walked into the studio at 1:00 AM, only to find him and his dance partner, Suzuka, drinking beer in casual loungewear. Worse, there was a double futon laid out in the corner. Nothing about this feels right to me, but my husband insists, “This is totally normal in the ballroom world.”
If my husband were truly committed to this, I would have backed him up. His parents worked hard to build that studio, and taking over is no easy feat. But since he’s making his wife anxious, the least he could do is prove his intentions are purely about dance.
Instead, he looks down on me, saying I “don’t know a thing about this world,” and just does whatever he wants. Whenever I try to bring it up, he just gets annoyed and cuts me off. My distrust is only growing.