Neutral Means Betrayal,He Chose Neutral,So I Chose to Leave

For six years, Rodney Butler never once took Melissa Summers's side over her best friend Sophie Fox's. When the two women argued, he told Melissa to be the bigger person. On her birthday his gift always came in two, one for her and one for Sophie. When Sophie fell ill, he sat at her bedside all night. Then he proposed, and even the diamond ring came in a matching pair.

Looking at the ring on her finger, Melissa felt utterly done. She told him that in a relationship, staying neutral is betrayal, and walked out of her own proposal. Rodney grabbed her wrist and demanded to know why she was making a scene; Sophie, who had received the second ring, tearfully tried to give hers back, but Rodney closed his hand over hers and refused. Their friends crowded forward, taking Melissa's side, yet Rodney insisted only hers was a proposal ring and he had merely been looking out for Sophie's feelings.

Melissa pressed the ring into his hand and left. Back home, Rodney and Sophie followed. He told her that if she set one foot out the door, coming back later would not be so easy.