In today’s world of well-curated love stories, of feminine coaches offering countless tips on how to attract a rich man and the idea of getting spoiled by ‘bae’, romance has become a social performance that needs to be validated by strangers and if it isn’t, what’s the point?

Whenever I got a new boyfriend or started talking to someone new, after asking me if he was good looking, my best friends would ask if he had money. I’d laugh saying I didn’t know, while still hoping that he’d be rich enough to spoil me.

If I figured out he wasn’t, I kept it away from my friends because there was something unworthy about being with a man who wouldn’t spoil you. It’s either one of two things: he doesn’t like you enough to spend his money on you or he’s broke.