Hear me out, Willow was controlled by Michael when they were married and feared his power and revenge
Please don’t just downvote. This took a lot of digging through the last few years of GH to put together. It’s easy to make another emotional I hat post, but this is an analysis on the stories.
There's a TLDR at the bottom as I know this is long.
When I watched Monday and Willow was complaining to Chase about how she was treated when she was married to Michael as well as some of her other complaints previously about Michael controlling her, it made me just as confused as many others here. They seemed to have a pretty good relationship right?
Well I started digging into the time frame of the stories back then. First, it was because of Chase. It was noted by some that Chase was around so why didn't he notice these things Willow is now saying aren't true? As dense as Chase is, he wasn't around the Q's at that time. He had moved out with Brook Lynn and they were raising Bailey Louise at Jax's old house (which is now Portia's). Then he moved back to his apartment. He was in his apartment up through marrying Brook Lynn. Which if you think back to that time Chase was preoccupied with marriage, his dad's diagnosis, and of course his father's death. Then we had Finn drinking after his father's death. Which got worse and he opted to get help and Violet went to live with Brook Lynn and Chase. They decided then to move into the Q Mansion for Violet. They moved in June 2024. A few weeks later is when Willow and Drew had that kiss during the 4th of July. Chase was not around much for Michael and Willow's marriage. The main point I recall is when Willow and Michael were getting married and Chase found out about the cancer diagnosis he came over and they kind of buried the hatchet then. Chase also opted to forgive Michael as well. But before that, he was pretty much done with both of them (more Michael for stealing his wife).
But this isn't about Chase, it's about Willow's claim that Michael controlled her right?
It is, we are getting there... another key moment in the Wedding between Willow and Michael was that they had opted to leave Nina out of the wedding. Two days before the wedding (or episodes?) Nina had a confrontation with Carly on spoon island (if I remember correctly) where Carly rubbed salt in Nina's eyes over not being invited to the wedding. Nina flipped... and she opted to report Carly to the SEC for insider trading even though initially she was going to let this go (after talking with Ava about it). At the wedding, Carly and Drew were taken in by the SEC to the PCPD for questioning. Months later Michael found out and confirmed (at Nina and Sonny's wedding) that it was Nina who turned Carly in. Rather than tell people, Michael opted to blackmail Nina. Not for money but to control Willow from having a relationship with Nina by having Nina report and get approval from Michael for any kind of interactions with Willow. Eventually this came out (which ended Sonny and Nina's marriage) and Willow took it as him controlling her, that he had been manipulating her life. He did. This was all before Drew and Willow kissed. But it further drove a wedge between Michael and Willow. This is not to ignore the Wedge driven by Willow before the marriage ever happened. That would be when Willow had her Leukemia diagnosis after becoming pregnant and she opted not to tell anyone except Drew. Which she told Drew because she wanted to find her birth parents as she would need a bone marrow transplant. So Michael was left out of the whole thing for quite a while and when he found out, it did affect things. Willow may not have wanted to be pressured to get treatment early which would affect the baby surviving... but that just proved she didn't fully trust Michael would have her back in the decision.
Which during their relationship we did see Michael throwing around his power. Like making a strategic "donation" (aka bribe) to that DA in Llanview to press Identity Theft charges on Nina. Willow knew too well (as she knew what was going on) the lengths Michael would go to. This includes hiring Dex to infiltrate Sonny's organization to take him down. Which this plot to take down Sonny did bother Willow a lot.
None of this ss in defense of Willow or that she isn't embellishing the stories some just that there is truth to what she is saying based on what we've seen on the show. Which it's hard to deny Michael did flex his power in mighty ways against people and Willow was not that comfortable with all of it and it did cause arguments. Michael and Willow had issues of keeping secrets as well as Michael trying to control Willow from using her own judgement on what kind of relationship she would have with Nina by blackmailing Nina to ensure it didn't happen. That kiss with Drew was so terrible but it was part of the breakdown of the marriage which only spiraled with Michael sleeping with Sasha after he found out about the first kiss, and then Willow and Drew sleeping together which Michael kept a secret that he knew until the video made maximum impact by being played during the football game the family had gathered to watch. After that it was 100% over. Willow knew how Michael would fight. She saw him do it to his own father as well as the bribing to get Nina charged as well as his blackmail. She latched onto Drew which was a bad idea but he had power and she had reason to think she was in a very bad position against someone as powerful as Michael had shown himself to be. Afterall, their first marriage was to make sure he won a custody case against Nelle.
TLDR: Michael blackmailed Nina so she would keep her distance from Willow as a way to control Willow from having a relationship with her mother. Michael exacted revenge against Nina with bribing a politician as well as hired Dex to go after Sonny. Willow kept her diagnosis a secret from Michael as she didn't trust he would let her go without treatment so the baby could survive. Willow's fear of Michael's power is well established as she was part of many stories where he used it to get what he wanted even if he had to lie to make it happen.