“My wife was never happy, and everything had to be adjusted to...

“My wife was never happy, and everything had to be adjusted to that situation. In her mind, everyone was always against her. She had a constant sense of victimhood. I saw her journal one day, and without going into detail, I will say it seems that she had a very abusive childhood. But that translated into a non-stop, throbbing anxiety. She’d pick fights with shopkeepers. She went through three different dentists. She made one of them refund her invisible braces because she could see them. Her friendships would last an average of four months before she manufactured a reason to break them off. And she’d always try to get me on her side during these feuds. If I tried to talk reason to her, she’d claim that I was against her too. One day my mother’s friend was walking behind my wife on the street, and overheard her talking about getting a divorce. I’d seen up close how vindictive she could be, so I decided to get a lawyer too. We’d signed a pre-nup, so my lawyer told me that I’d have very little leverage. And I knew my wife would chisel anything she could from me. So my lawyer told me: ‘This is going to be extremely tough, and many of my clients can’t handle it. But the law allows you to remain in your apartment during the proceedings. If you stay in the house with her, our one bargaining chip will be her desire to get you out of the house.’” (2/4)