Why won't she say "I love you" back?

Anonymous
I've been in a relationship with my girlfriend for about a year. After the first 5 months we decided to move in together. We are both in our late twenties and this is her first time living with a boyfriend. Everything has been great.

We talk about the future and both of us are in it for the long haul. There is just one problem. She has yet to say "I love you". I've said it a few times and always get a positive response from her, like a hug or a big kiss. But she has yet to say those words back and frankly it bothers me.

I don't want to mention it to her because then she may start saying it out of obligation rather than meaning it. So I guess I'm just trying to figure out why she won't say. Actions show that she does, but why can't she say it?

The only thing I can think of is that she was raised in a broken home. Her parents split when she was a baby and from what I gather it hurt her deeply because as a teen she found out that the reason wh was because her father cheated on her mother. It totally broke her mothers heart and helped to foster a life of drinking addiction and low self-esteem. She was raised seeing how love can hurt when it does not go the way you think it will.

Aside from that I have no clue why she has not said it yet. Have any women here had trouble saying those three words to someone they love?
Why won't she say "I love you" back?
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