Love and Ownership

[Xray]

Ayn's. It was my understanding that this is how 'true love' is treated; that a Man can see the woman he claims as his own, and no one else's. After all, Roark was nearly defaced when he heard that Dominique had chosen to marry Peter Keating, and Galt feels anchored to his life by Dagny Taggart, happy merely for the fact that she exists, but knowing he'd be happier if she belonged to him. He was jealous of Rearden-if only for a moment--and he's claimed he has *earned* Dagny, just as Dagny felt she has earned Galt. Similarly, she had only earned Rearden, prior to her change in mind and loyalty to defending Mankind after meeting Galt. Is this also not a relative action?

I'm saying that earnings imply ownership, and rewards for one's virtues, just as a paycheck implies achievement, and rewards for one's hardwork. But isn't ownership of a person precisely what John Galt rejected from Twentieth Century?

I find the mere idea of either "owning" one's partner or being "owned" by one's partner totally unappealing. For "ownership" is more than a mutual commitment in love. It has the connotation of 'property' to it.