I broke up with my girlfriend to avoid being left empty-handed

I was born into a traditional business family. After graduating from university, I followed in my father’s footsteps, working as a manager for his company. My parents are very proud of me because I’m good-looking and talented, and I’m my father’s successor.

My parents have always set high academic standards for me, and have even higher expectations for their future daughter-in-law. When it comes to women, I’m very realistic and want to know their backgrounds. Ironically, the person I eventually fell in love with was a girl that didn’t have a pretty background at all.

She and I met through a mutual friend. When I visited that friend in the hospital, she was there too. I noticed she was peeling fruit for my friend. She didn’t talk much but she was really gentle and politely answered my questions. I could tell she was very skillful by the way she peeled the fruit. I noticed she was quite reserved and rarely smiled. This sparked my interest, so I learned more about her through friends and other sources.

She became an orphan when her parents were taken by a flood in the Central region when she was 12 years old. She then moved to live with a relative. Later, she graduated from college and went to work. Her friends speculated that she was reserved and quiet because of the trauma in her past, calling her kind and sincere. I was sympathetic and curious after hearing her story, so I wanted to get to know her better.

I had to text her for months to get her to open up more. I see something in her that I haven’t seen in any of the girls I’ve dated. She is profound, gentle and also really resilient. She would only inform me when she was sick and never complained about it. She goes to work during the day and at night works as a restaurant waitress.

Sometimes I have to wait a long time for her to get off work to meet her. I saw her struggle and offered to support her, but she always refused. She said it’s fine as long as I truly love her. She is young, healthy, and capable of earning money. She said if our relationship develops further and we have children together, she would stay home to care for them, leaving me to provide for her. I was happy to hear her say that, but I had to return to the reality that my parents won’t accept her.

When I told my parents about her, my father said he had known about it for a long time but didn’t stop it. He said it’s fine for a man to be in love, however, our marriage is not possible. My mother said she was an orphan and her family background was not good.

Although she didn’t have anything against that, she couldn’t accept that I wanted to marry a girl who was completely inferior to me in every way, from family background to education. My parents then found a suitable girl for me. I had no choice but to listen to my parents and break up with her to be with another girl as I would have to leave the house empty-handed if I didn’t. My parents always keep their word.

When I told her about it, she had a long pause before asking if I have considered it carefully. I was speechless and didn’t know what to say, so I just apologized to her. She told me not to worry because that is the harsh reality, then said good bye and left. I cried a lot that night because I really love her. My new girlfriend is very good to me, and my parents are satisfied with her.

Our wedding will be held in a few weeks. I want to give it all up to be with the one I love but I lack the courage to do so. Why didn’t she stop me back then? If she cried and begged me to stay, maybe I would have had the motivation to leave it all behind and be with her.

What should I do?