(32M) Was recently seeing a (30F) for about a month, and things were going fantastic. She made me feel more: Appreciated, seen, understood, valued, etc. than practically any partner I have EVER had in my entire life.
She told me that I was "everything" she has ever looked for in a man, and seemed to genuinely be interested in investing into a long-term relationship with me.
I stayed the night at her house on New Year's Eve, and we had a wonderful night together. Midnight kiss, watched a couple movies, cuddled all night long, etc. When I left in the morning, I kissed her goodbye and she had a huge smile on her face.
The next day, supposedly her "student loan garnishment" had increased on her paycheck. The following day, she randomly told me out of nowhere when I was trying to plan our next date (we live an hour and a half away from each other, different work schedules, and she has 3 kids.) She said when I tried planning our next date: "My student loan garnishment actually got raised recently so I'm taking a break from dating. I do really appreciate the offer though!"
I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend on NYE, but I got nervous/anxious and didn't know if that would be too soon for her and didn't want to make things awkward since I was supposed to spend the night.
I asked why it mattered about her student loans, and she said she doesn't have the space in her budget to date. I mentioned that I always pay for everything on our dates, unless she insists on buying drinks or something and pushes my card out of the way. She brought up paying for a babysitter being expensive, and I said I wouldn't mind paying for one if that's what it took for us to continue seeing each other.
To me, if you're genuinely interested in someone and feel as strongly as she claimed to about me, it doesn't make any sense to end things due to something entirely unrelated to the situation directly, especially when the other person offers an easy fix. I feel like she lied to me about how passionate she felt about me, led me on, and wasted my time.
If I feel like I'm developing a genuine connection with someone, NOTHING outside of the two of us could make me just throw things away. Like, with how strongly I felt about this situation: Nothing in my life could make me end it, that was not directly a result of the person I was dating's words or actions. Does it seem like a valid reason to just walk away to anyone, or does it feel like there was some underlying reason and she just came up with a BS excuse?