A 35-year-old lady wrote us a worried letter. She explained her difficulties in accepting that her husband had turned out to be harsh. He repeatedly commented on her body odor, which had a severe impact on her mental health. But she was furious when she realized the genuine reason for his behavior. We completely sympathize with her after learning about his method.

The woman has always had a wonderful marriage to her husband. To be honest, our marriage has always been built on powerful emotions, intense love for one other, mutual respect, and trust. I’ve always thought of my relationship with George as happy; it was wonderful for me. He has always been a nice, caring husband.

I’ve alw ys had a rocky relationship with my MIL because I dislike her demeanor. She has always been assertive and entitled, insisting that her viewpoint is the only one that matters in any situation. She enjoys messing with other people’s private lives.George started making harsh remarks about my body odor. There was no evident reason for this—no changes in my health or lifestyle. Everything had been fine until one day, when he just started doing it. Every day, at least once, he would tell me how bad I smelled.

I grew so concerned about my body odor that I started taking three showers per day. I began applying a special, strong deodorant every hour, and I even set reminders on my phone. I also began wearing perfume and cleaned my teeth five times per day, whenever I ate or drank anything other than water. I felt like I was losing my mind. I knew I hadn’t smelled bad during our relationship, and I didn’t think I did at the time. However, my spouse definitely disagreed. I’ve always been the type to discreetly check my armpits for odor. I even saw a doctor, who told me there was nothing medically wrong.

I informed George that I would be gone for approximately three hours. I had planned to see my sister and figured a nice walk would be calming. But after a while, I started to feel unwell. I decided it was best to return home and rest, so I arrived about 30 minutes after leaving. Of course, George did not expect me to return so soon. Because I was feeling bad, I entered the house quietly, not making any excessive noise with my keys or anything. I had a terrible headache, and every sound made it worse. George didn’t hear me enter because he was on a video call with his mother.

George tentatively informed his mother that he was tired of this “smelly game.”He appeared concerned, saying that due of his repeated comments about my body odor, we had stopped being intimate and I would no longer kiss him. His mother responded by advising him to be patient if he wanted to keep me. She claimed that George’s father had done the same thing to her, calling it a failsafe method of keeping a woman from leaving. According to her, a woman would stay with one man for the rest of her life because she would feel too low to break up with you, be completely committed to you, and always be fresh and clean.

George has no idea that I already know everything. I want a divorce, but I also want revenge before I end things with him. I understand that many people do not consider George’s behavior to be serious grounds for divorce, but I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with someone who uses such “smelly methods” on a lady who adores him totally.