After 10 Years of Living like a Married Couple, My Partner Said He’d Never Marry Me Because It Was ‘Just a Piece of Paper’ – What I Did the Next Morning Made Him Regret Every Word

David always managed to avoid answering. He joked about how expensive weddings were, said we were more committed than half the married couples we knew, or kissed my forehead and asked why labels mattered so much to me.

So when he reserved a table at a beautiful restaurant for our anniversary, I allowed myself to hope.

The restaurant was warm and softly lit. David seemed relaxed, which I took as a positive sign. He ordered a bottle of wine we normally would have considered too expensive, and when it arrived, he lifted his glass and said, “Ten years deserves something decent.”