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Two moments of horror cemented my decision to leave my wife and a marriage of toxic hatred and fury. My beautiful daughter came between us when we were screaming at each other one evening. She stepped in, arms out, tears streaming down her face, and cried, "No! No! No!" We stopped, I died a little. The other incident was more horrific. I was drying my daughter off after a bath and my (ex) wife was yelling and screaming and trying to enter the bathroom. My daughter was pushing against the door, trying to keep her out. The (ex) wife retreated to the bedroom. I brought my daughter, wrapped in towels, to the bedroom to put on her pajamas. My (ex) wife had them at the ready and insisted on dressing her. As my daughter lay on the bed, crying, she pleaded with her mother (my ex), to give her a hug and a kiss. My (ex) wife, screamed, "NO! Bad girls don't get kisses!" I have tears in my eyes as I type this. My daughter was three years old. Two days after the "bad girls don't get kisses" incident, I left and filed for divorce. Unlike the LW, I didn't seek validation for my decision. And I don't seek any now. Just know that in the end, you have to decide for your children. Every day that goes by, my daughter's radiant happiness is all the validation I need.
