I know the path wasn't the correct one but I wouldn't change it. I would still be treated like crap, belittled, not loved like I should have been, and it would have all been passed off like a joke.
I wouldn't be so sure your path wasn't the "correct" one. The thing is, we see the big picture so imperfectly. You already recognize sooooo many ways God has used this time of trial for your good.
And I'm certain there are a lot of ways He will use it for your ex and for Peanut as well.
I don't know if anything in our lives is purely "good" or purely "bad" ... it seems more of a mixture of wheat & tares and we don't always properly recognize which is which at the time.
(those wheat & tares have been on my mind for several weeks now!)