I wasn't meeting her EN. She felt like she couldn't communicate with me for fear of me being judgemental/hurtful toward her. The OM is also coming out of a long term relationship, and was well aware of my presence. In fact, some of their conversation was about her feeling like she was stuck in a rut with me. I had a few conversations with this guy before I knew the relationship had gone beyond "buddies". Part of me wants to tell her "I love you, and I'll be here for you if you need me, but we need to end the relationship." I don't want to give up, but I don't want to be with someone who doesn't love me, or loves someone else.
As far as the ring, we had discussed before that our relationship was stromg enough without being married. I now see it wasn't, although I've never wanted to marry her more in my life.
