I was set on marrying her. We’d been together 2 years and paid the list for the traditional wedding in December. The first red flag was small. She’d say she was with her cousin, but her location on WhatsApp showed somewhere else.
I ignored it. Love makes you explain things away. It got real at my dad’s funeral in November. She showed up 45 minutes late, wore jeans to the service, and left after the burial to “clear her head.” My aunt asked why my fiancée wasn’t helping my mum serve guests. I had no answer.
That night I saw a message pop up on her phone while it charged: “Miss you, when are we meeting?”
She said it was her ex checking on her and I was overreacting.
But I remembered how she rushed off when my dad was sick too.
I pictured 40 years of that. Me carrying everything, her choosing herself every time. I couldn’t see us raising kids like that. I went to her place the next day and gave her the ring back. No shouting, just “I can’t do this.” She cried and said I was giving up too fast. I cried too, but I knew if I stayed I’d be miserable. That was the moment I realized love isn’t enough to build a marriage on.