Royce learned two huge lessons in this relationship: loving someone requires more than just love, and second, time tells everything. People will show you who they are, and it is your choice to decide what you are going to do with that information, judge people on how they treat you when they don't need you, and recognize the difference between someone who is loving you out of love and someone who is loving you for survival.
The book is called Breaking the Cycle because it shows how the couple didn't end up in the statistics that they should have. In most of the relationship stories we hear today, when there is a breakup, it usually ends up in nothing but hate toward each other. Royce and Alyssa were able to break that cycle and were able to co-parent effectively for their daughter. Royce was also able to become successful and provide for his daughter against all those odds. As for Alyssa, she is still trying to figure out her path to becoming an aspiring actress as she spends most of her days waitressing until an opportunity presents itself.
The crazy baby mom/baby dad stories we have all went through or heard of from our peers is nothing compared to this.