spent could not guarantee that their approach to communication was healthy enough for marriage.
The dinner therefore forced her to separate two questions.
Did she love him?
And did she trust the way he handled major decisions?
Those questions did not necessarily have the same answer.
A person can love someone and still recognize that a particular relationship dynamic is unhealthy.
That realization can be especially painful when the problem is not obvious cruelty but a pattern that one person believes is reasonable.
Her boyfriend apparently believed the test made sense.
From his perspective, he may have viewed financial contribution as evidence of partnership.
He may have wanted reassurance that marriage would not leave him carrying every expense.
Those concerns themselves were not unreasonable.
The problem was the method.
He could have asked.
After seven years, the couple had enough history to sit down and discuss their financial expectations honestly.
