Months later, when he made a reservation at one of the city’s fanciest restaurants, I thought it was just his way of showing me how serious we had become. But what happened that night showed me his character ran deeper than I could have imagined.

The dinner started beautifully—warm light, soft laughter, easy conversation. But then three women in glittering designer dresses at a nearby table began mocking the waitress who served them. Their words dripped with cruelty: how she “smelled poor,” how her shoes were scuffed, how she probably “lived off leftover