Living beyond your means at the expense of your partner is not generosity — it is entitlement.

If I had not paid off his mortgage, he could not have afforded luxury trips, including taking his children to Florida.

He could have afforded to remain in his home, but not the lifestyle he chose.

He refused to work after being made redundant.

Instead, the financial responsibility shifted quietly, steadily, and entirely onto me.

Many of the things he enjoyed were not earned — they were subsidised.

Not through agreement or fairness, but through assumption.

This past year has made one thing very clear:

support is not the same as sacrifice,

and love is not measured by how much one person gives while the other takes.

Financial imbalance, when paired with entitlement, is not partnership — it is exploitation.