But my parents wouldn't have it. They looked down on his rural background. On top of the $38,800 dowry, they wanted him to buy a place in the city.
The numbers scared Marvin off.
"My parents worked themselves to the bone putting me through school," he said. "There's no reason they should have to drain their savings for a wedding too."
"These four years of ours were worth too much and not enough at the same time."
Marvin broke up with me.
In the end, I was the one who couldn't let go.
I begged him through tears. "Please don't do this. We can save up together."
After that, I moved to the city with him behind my parents' backs.
For four years, I pinched every penny, saving alongside him for the down payment and the dowry.
And now he'd taken that money and given it to another woman as her dowry.
The down payment on our apartment had been made at the end of last year. We'd split three months of mortgage payments together.
After the down payment, we'd only had $38,000 left. Where did Marvin get $98,000?
The recipient's name contained a character I didn't recognize from anyone in my life.
Who was she?
Questions kept surfacing, one after another.