He Kept a Scorecard for Our Love, So I Left Him at Zero

I spent seven years earning points on my boyfriend’s “relationship scorecard.” A hundred points earned a wish. I was at ninety—until he docked ten for being ten minutes late and gave my anniversary IMAX ticket to his assistant. He wiped my score on New Year’s Eve, and when I was sick, he threw my medicine away. So I didn’t cry. I bought a train ticket, took our dog, and left him at zero. He chased me with a necklace, a promotion, and a revised scorecard. I told him the problem wasn’t his rules—it was that he ever thought he had the right to score me.