Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?
Like the roller coaster of life...novels aren't fun without ups and downs and even an occasional loop.
I believed in happily ever after as much as anyone, because Jane Austen, Prince Charming, and Hugh Grant promised me it could happen. But maybe that particular delusion was universal.
I believe it is the woman in the relationship that drives the relationship to what she wants it to be