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 35

Click

Akiko opened the front door and took a step inside. But then, her body froze again. Inside, her ex-husband, Shinichi, and their daughter, Misaki, were waiting. Misaki, in particular, glared at Akiko with pure hatred.

“You sure have the nerve to walk in here like nothing happened.”

Akiko hung her head at Misaki’s words.

“This house—Dad worked so hard to buy it for us! The happiness of the family he built with love! You destroyed everything! Did you really want to sleep around with another man that badly?! Was feeling good worth betraying Dad?! Even a monkey has more self-control! You disgusting pig! Just die already!”

Misaki screamed, her voice trembling. Tears slid down Akiko’s cheeks as she kept her head down.

“Misaki, that’s enough,” Shinichi said.

“I want to kill her right now!”

“Misaki!”

Shinichi scolded her. Misaki buried her face in his chest, and he gently placed a hand on her back.

“Akiko, take everything you need. Whatever’s left, I’ll throw away.”

“Wait… all of it?”

“Yes. All of it. I don’t want to use anything that’s been tainted. So, I’ll throw everything away—furniture, appliances, and of course, the bedding. All of it.”

Akiko remembered. Even in Misaki’s bed, she had…

The weight of her actions crushed her. All she had left was regret.

“Come on, don’t waste time. Pack your things.”

Shinichi’s voice was firm. Without a word, Akiko stepped inside and slowly made her way upstairs to the bedroom closet.

Inside, she began folding her clothes.

“Did you really want to sleep around with another man that badly?!”

“Was feeling good worth betraying Dad?!”

Misaki’s harsh words echoed in Akiko’s mind.

She forced herself to think back on what happened with Atsushi. She had never actually enjoyed their time together. His rough, aggressive movements often hurt her, and she had always faked her pleasure.

Even so, she clung to Atsushi because he desired her so desperately, because he claimed to love her so much. He was rough because he wanted her. He was intense because he loved her. That’s what she had told herself.

So she did everything for him—pleasured him while he drove, acted out his fantasies, posed obscenely, even let him record their encounters. She was willing to have his child.

It wasn’t sexual pleasure she sought.

It was validation.

Then, it hit her.

She was right back where she had been in her student days—when men used her and threw her away.

She had never grown up.

And in the end…

“A public toilet.”

That was all she had become.

Shame and humiliation seeped from deep within her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Akiko sat there, sobbing silently in front of the scattered clothes.

She finished packing and went downstairs.

At the entrance, her mother, Saori, was waiting—along with Shinichi and Misaki, just as when she arrived.

“Do you have everything?”

“Yes…”

Shinichi’s concern made Akiko’s voice small as she slipped on her sneakers.

Facing Shinichi and Misaki, she bowed deeply.

“Thank you for everything…”

That was all she could manage.

When she looked up, Shinichi was watching her.

“Akiko…”

“Yes…”

A long silence.

Then, slowly, Shinichi spoke.

“…I’m sorry… that I couldn’t keep my promise… to make you happy.”

His voice trembled.

Despite everything, despite the betrayal, he still wanted her to know—

“I truly loved you.”

His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto his knees, shaking.

“Dad!”

Misaki rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him in a gentle embrace.

Thump.

Akiko’s heartbeat pounded in her ears. Memories flooded her mind, one after another.

Thump.

“Huh? Osada (Akiko), good work today. Taking a break?”

Thump.

Yes. Back then, when everyone called her a “public toilet”—

It was Shinichi who stood up for her.

It was Shinichi who chose her.

Even after learning about her past, he accepted her.

Thump. Thump.

“I will make the both of you happy.”

Thump. Thump.

He had promised her back then.

To love her.

To love Misaki.

To build a happy family together.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Okay, everyone! Smile! Say cheese!”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That moment when they bought the house—

That was real happiness.

A loving home. A family full of smiles. A future full of light.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Akiko asked herself.

Where did it all go?

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

She asked herself.

What was this scene before her eyes?

How had it come to this?

Thump.

Then, she found her answer.

Thump.

She thought cheating was just something to satisfy herself in secret.

Thump.

She was wrong.

Thump.

She thought that if no one found out, it was like it never happened.

Thump.

She was wrong.

Thump.

Cheating is—

Thump.

—a brutal act of violence that leaves an everlasting scar on family.

Snap.

Something inside her mind shattered.

“Nooooo! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Akiko collapsed onto her knees, screaming.

“Shinichi! Misaki! Please forgive me! Please!”

She reached for them, desperate.

But Saori grabbed her by the collar and yanked her back.

“No! Please! I’m sorry! Shinichi! Misaki!”

Tears streamed down her face as she wailed.

She struggled, thrashing wildly, but Saori held her firm.

Finally, she realized the weight of her crime.

Regret and guilt poured out of her as she begged for forgiveness.

But it was too late.

“Akiko! Stand up!”

“No! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“It’s too late for that! Now move!”

“Nooo!”

Saori dragged Akiko outside.

Through her tear-blurred vision, the figures of Shinichi and Misaki at the entrance slowly disappeared from view.

Clang.

“……! ……! ……!”

From beyond the closed door, Akiko’s cries could still be heard.

Click. Slam. Vroooom…

The sound of a car driving away grew quieter.

At the entrance, Shinichi curled up on the floor, his body trembling.

Misaki knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around him gently.

Thus, the “happiness” that once filled this home was lost forever.

Shinichi was swallowed by despair, while Misaki stayed by his side.

But humans are meant to seek happiness.

And so, on this day, Shinichi and Misaki began their search for a new future.

Meanwhile, Atsushi—the man who destroyed their happiness along with Akiko—