My wife and I have use the perfect comeback to lines such as this, "It ain't braggin' if it's true."

You're so right about needing a partner that is on your side. My first marriage was zero-sum transactional disaster, not to mention quite a few other relationships.

Sadly, I know several couples in dysfunctional long-term relationships where one of them really sacrificed (or sacrifices) for their partner as a "deal" but then the other side never reciprocates. I keep them at a distance. A) I don't want to lie if I'm asked about their relationship, and B) I don't want to get their relationship cooties on me. (B) is only a half-joke. Being around anything toxic is is not healthy, and relationships are the same as mold spores in that sense.