The Shape of Happiness: A Family Crumbling Due to the Mother's Infidelity, a Wounded Middle School Daughter, and a Struggling Father Finding a New Form of Happiness. - Episode 25

Shinichi collapsed due to overwork and stress. After a thorough medical examination, no other issues were found, so he was discharged after three days in the hospital. His daughter, Misaki, and his mother-in-law, Saori, visited him every day. Their kindness gradually healed the deep wounds in his heart caused by his wife Akiko’s affair.

However, Akiko never came to visit him.

One week after Shinichi’s discharge—

A dark purple compact car was parked in front of Shinichi’s house. It was his car.

“Misaki, will you be okay?”

“Yeah, even if that woman is there, I’ll just ignore her.”

“I should go with you—”

“Dad, wait here!”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Misaki placed her hand over Shinichi’s, which was on the steering wheel.

“If you see that woman, it’ll just stress you out again. I’m just grabbing a few things. I don’t want to stay there long either.”

“…Alright. Thank you, Misaki.”

“Hehe. I’ll be right back.”

Misaki got out of the car and entered the house. Shinichi watched her anxiously from inside the car.

Click. Click. Clack.

She silently entered the house and went straight to her room on the second floor. She packed a few keepsakes and photos of her friend Aika into her bag.

When she glanced at her bed, her stomach churned with disgust—her sheets were messy, stained with mysterious marks of different sizes.

Misaki clenched her fists in anger and nausea.

After packing everything she needed, she turned to leave the room. But just as she grabbed the doorknob, she felt like someone had called her. She turned around and saw… herself, sitting at her desk, studying.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away with her arm and walked out of the empty room.

(That woman isn’t here…?)

As she went downstairs, she heard the sound of running water.

(Taking a bath at this hour? Ugh, she was probably “exercising” again, that pig.)

Misaki muttered insults toward her mother, Akiko, in her mind. With a bitter expression, she peeked into the dining kitchen.

The moment she did, her eyes widened in shock.

Akiko’s smartphone was on the table.

The phone she never let out of her sight was just sitting there. Perhaps she had let her guard down, knowing that Shinichi and Misaki had been staying elsewhere.

Misaki grabbed it in a hurry.

(Please… don’t have a lock!)

She pressed the power button.

The screen lit up, displaying a number pad for password entry.

Misaki smirked.

(She didn’t enable a random keypad? This is easy!)

Misaki had memorized the way Akiko’s fingers moved when she unlocked her phone. Following her memory, she quickly tapped the numbers and pressed enter.

(It worked!)

The home screen appeared, displaying the time and app icons.

Misaki immediately began searching for incriminating photos and videos.

“Ugh… Can people really be this disgusting…?”

Her mother had drowned in her sinful desires, abandoning her role as a parent. There were countless photos and videos of unthinkable acts. A normal middle school girl would never have to see such things. Fighting back the urge to vomit, Misaki continued checking through the files and took pictures of the screen with her own phone.

Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.

She also checked Akiko’s chat history on the LINE app.

There were crude, explicit messages exchanged with her lover. Disturbing photos were sent back and forth. And worst of all—after Shinichi was hospitalized, they had messaged each other gleefully about the potential payout from his life insurance.

“…That pig…”

Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.

“…I think I got everything…”

Misaki continued taking photos while muttering insults.

But then—

THWACK!

“Ugh!”

A sharp pain struck her head, and she collapsed to the floor.

As she looked up, she saw Akiko, fresh out of the bath, standing over her with an enraged expression.

Misaki realized—she had just been punched, hard.

“Ouch… Oh? Finished your pig bath already? No wonder, you reek too much from all your daily activities to go outside like that.”

Misaki’s mocking words made Akiko’s forehead twitch with rage.

“You little brat…!”

In the dining kitchen, a place once filled with happy memories, a battle of anger and hatred between mother and daughter was about to begin—