A wife stops cooking. She stops cleaning. She stops speaking to her husband. She spends money on things he hates. She criticizes him in front of his friends. She waits. She knows that if he files for divorce, she will get the house, the kids, and the alimony. If she files, she might get nothing.

In this episode, I examine the strategic behaviors that wives use to force their husbands to initiate divorce. The tactics are subtle and deniable. The wife never threatens. She never hits. She simply makes the marriage so unbearable that her husband feels he has no choice but to leave. The legal system rewards her for her patience. In many states, the spouse who files for divorce is not penalized. But the spouse who is perceived as the victim often receives more favorable settlements.

The episode explores the psychology of coercive control in marriage and the legal strategies that divorce attorneys advise for clients who want to maximize their outcome. It also examines the emotional toll on husbands who are pushed out of their own homes and then blamed for abandoning their families.

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the wife who seems sad about the divorce may have been planning it for years.