In late September, my wife embarked on a solo road trip to visit her father and stepmother, driving nine hours to be with them for a long weekend.

Here's some context: I'm a freelance musician, and my wife works for a nationwide company. Due to the unpredictable nature of my work, I couldn't join her on this trip.

When my wife arrived at her father's place, she sensed tension between him and his wife. On Friday, her retired father had planned to work on Ancestry research with her, but things took a strange turn. He began complaining about how his retirement plans were disrupted by his wife's grandkids and their activities. The night was tense, and my wife couldn't help but notice the strain between them.

On Saturday, her stepmother continued the tirade, berating her husband for the same issues. It felt like my wife was thrown back into her childhood, trying to mediate and bring her parents together.

Sunday morning, she had breakfast with her mom, which wasn't easy due to her mother's behavior toward me.

All of this led my wife to question her own happiness and whether I might be lying about my own happiness. I've had a successful year as a musician, but it's been a challenging journey in the music industry.

Our relationship has been mostly free of the bickering that plagues her parents. We enjoy the things we do together, even if it means I have to endure a lot of bug spray due to my outdoor allergies. Or so I thought.

Backtracking to when we first met, I was about to start a six-week tour. She told me not to worry about calling her and to have fun at work. I jokingly said she was on track to marry me.

When she returned from her trip, there was a noticeable disconnect between us. She eventually sat me down on October 1st and expressed her unhappiness, both physically and emotionally. She felt we should split up and brought up instances where she believed I had lied to her.

One instance was finding a gift from a concert sponsor, a sex toy, in my bathroom. The other involved my health insurance being canceled earlier this year without me immediately sharing the news with her.

I've been urging her to seek marriage counseling, but she's not interested. My question is whether you think there might be someone else involved, as she's been spending a lot of time on her phone and staying at a residential address during her current business trip in Minneapolis. We've spent a decade building our relationship, and it's hard to believe she'd throw it all away like this. Do you think there's someone else?