トモコは30代で夫のヒロアキと8か月の息子トウマと暮らしている。義兄のリュウジと義姉のミオ、2歳の甥は車で30分の場所に住んでいる。義姉のミオがヒロアキに執着し、義実家に泊まった際にヒロアキは酔いつぶれてしまい、義姉が体の関係を迫ったことが発覚する。トモコは義姉の行動に怒りを感じ、ヒロアキも責めるが、義姉の行動は理解できない。義姉には叱るべきか悩む。
I (Tomoko) am in my 30s, living with my husband (Hiroaki, also in his 30s) and our 8-month-old son (Touma). My brother-in-law (Ryuji) and sister-in-law (Mio) along with their 2-year-old son live about a 30-minute drive away from our home.
I find it uncomfortable when my sister-in-law fills the void left by my brother-in-law by getting too close to Hiroaki and speaking in an overly clingy manner. Despite Hiroaki’s subtle refusals, she doesn’t stop, so I have started avoiding her. Just to note, my in-laws live an hour away by car, while my own parents live two hours away by Shinkansen.
Every summer, our visits to my in-laws’ place used to be day trips. However…
This summer, we decided to stay overnight at my in-laws’ place. My brother-in-law’s family will also be staying there during the same period. Since Touma is only 8 months old, I was worried about his night crying, but Hiroaki assured me he would help, so I agreed to stay.
However, Hiroaki, who was supposed to take care of Touma’s night crying, ended up getting drunk early on. I realized it would be quite tough to deal with Touma’s night crying alone at my in-laws’ place.
When I mentioned, “I feel bad for inconveniencing you, but I’ll be going home tonight as I think Touma might cause a disturbance,” I was told, “It’s okay for him to cry at night. But if Hiroaki gets that drunk, well… you do what you need to do, Tomoko,” so Touma and I returned home.
A few days after our visit to my in-laws, on a holiday, Hiroaki’s phone, left lying on the living room table, started ringing. The caller turned out to be Mio, my sister-in-law.
Sensing something amiss, I immediately confronted Hiroaki, asking, “What’s this all about?”
It turns out, during our recent stay at my in-laws’, Hiroaki was approached by Mio for a physical relationship. When Hiroaki was asleep, Mio would wake up in the middle of the night and find her smiling at him. After putting her son to bed, she would come to where Hiroaki was and try to get close to him, saying things like “I want to be with you” and “I want to sleep with you.”
Completely shocked, I took Hiroaki’s phone and checked the messages sent by Mio.
How can my sister-in-law think it’s okay to get involved with someone else’s husband if her own husband is mentally unwell? Either way, I can’t forgive Hiroaki for not clearly rejecting her advances. It’s infuriating. I can’t believe my sister-in-law attempted to cheat on her own husband or persistently pursue her brother-in-law. Moreover, she’s a mother of one. It’s an unimaginable behavior even as a fellow mother.
Even if my brother-in-law’s mental state was affecting my sister-in-law, it’s still not acceptable behavior. Hiroaki is at fault for not clearly rejecting her, but I feel the need to say something to my sister-in-law. However, I’m torn about whether to tell my unstable brother-in-law.
Continued in Part 2.
Original Article: MamaStar Community, Script: rollingdell, Artwork: crono, Editing: Misato Ishii