We were married for 10 years and ran a small grocery business together to support the family. Throughout our marriage, we often disagreed and rarely had a proper conversation. I could always sense that he did not truly love me. He never said he loved me or showed me any affection. Instead, he often criticized me for not being well educated and even insulted me in front of my parents.
He also did very little to help care for our children and rarely spent time playing with them.
A couple arguing. Illustration photo by Pexels |
I know I am not perfect. I am not a good cook, I do not enjoy shopping, and I rarely dress up. Our income was only enough to cover our monthly expenses, so I never dared to spend much on myself. I believed that after 10 years of marriage and two children, everything else could be overlooked as long as we focused on raising our family.
What I never expected was that he would have affairs with several women and eventually start a serious relationship with a divorced woman his age. She later became pregnant.
He told me she was his true love and that their unborn child also needed a father. He even urged me to agree to the divorce.
I was devastated. He said he loved that woman and her unborn child, but what about his wife and his own daughters? Did our children not deserve to have a father too?
I refused to let him leave so easily, so he immediately filed for a unilateral divorce. The day I received the court summons, I was heartbroken because I knew our family would never be the same again.
Soon afterward, I learned that his family had already visited the woman’s family to formally propose marriage on his behalf. Her family was wealthy. She owned a house and even bought him a car.
Three years have passed since the divorce, and my life has changed greatly. I have become more cheerful and outgoing, and people often tell me I look younger and prettier than before.
Some men have shown an interest in getting to know me, but I am not ready for another serious relationship. I feel at peace with my current life. I focus on raising the daughter who lives with me and bring my younger daughter home to visit at weekends.
Recently, however, my ex-husband and his parents began calling me. They want me and my daughter to move back into his parents’ home so that I can care for them and look after the daughter who lives with them.
They said that because of their age and poor health, it was becoming difficult for them to take care of their granddaughter. They also said moving back would allow my daughters to live together again.
My ex-husband now lives separately with his new wife and their son.
I cannot understand why they think it is reasonable to ask me to return and take care of his parents after everything that happened.
My younger daughter has ADHD, so caring for her can be challenging. I previously told my ex-husband to let her live with me and provide monthly child support, but he refused.
At the same time, I cannot afford to raise both daughters on my current income. Yet I also cannot imagine moving back into my former in-laws’ home and becoming responsible for both them and my child.
I finally feel that I have rebuilt my life after the divorce. I do not want to return to the place where I once felt unhappy and disrespected, but I also worry about my daughter.
What should I do?
Comments are closed.