She Found The Engagement Ring Her Boyfriend's Going To Propose To Her With, And She's Not In Love With Him

By Bre Avery Zacharski Oct 22, 2026

If you realized that you were dating someone perfect on paper but you didn't feel in love with them, how long would it take you to end it?

This woman knows she's a monster for what she's about to admit, and she hates herself for it. Three days ago, she was digging around in her bedroom closet, trying to find an extra duffel bag, when she made a surprising discovery.

On the highest shelf, slipped inside a shoe, was a tiny, velvet-covered box. She opened it up, and there it was: the engagement ring her boyfriend's going to propose to her with.

"He didn't just buy a ring; it’s custom, exactly my style, and there was a printed itinerary for a surprise weekend trip to Maine next month," she explained.

"The normal reaction would be happy tears or butterflies, right? Instead, the air literally left my lungs. My hands went numb, and I just felt this crushing, suffocating panic. We’ve been together for five years."

"He is kind, reliable, treats me like gold, and loves me completely. But standing there holding that box, I finally admitted to myself what I’ve been burying for two years: I love him like family, but I am not in love with him. I'm not excited about our future; I’ve just been comfortable and too cowardly to blow up our entire lives."

She feels like throwing up considering how guilty this all makes her. Her boyfriend has been planning on spending the rest of his life with her, but that's not what she wants at all.

She knows she now has to dump him before they go on that vacation in November, but she's struggling with having to break the heart of a man who hasn't done a single thing wrong.

Her poor boyfriend deserves to find a woman who is in love with him and not stringing him along for convenience or comfort. She needs to hurry up and tell him tonight, because it's not fair to keep going like this.

StratfordProductions - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person - pictured above is a woman standing in the forest

She just has to do it already. That's all there is to it.

What advice do you have for her?

You can read the original post below.

Pictured above is a screenshot of the original Reddit post for you to read

By Bre Avery Zacharski Oct 22, 2026

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