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When this woman’s future mother-in-law offered to buy the engagement ring she had fallen in love with, it felt like an incredibly generous gesture. But when it came to her partner getting down on one knee, it wasn’t the same ring.
Reddit user memequeen137 recently detailed what happened, and it has left the internet in total shock, earning more than 4,500 upvotes.
According to The Knot’s 2024 Jewelry & Engagement Study, the average cost of an engagement ring in the United States is $5,200. But this woman states her “dream” ring was just $20.
In the post, the woman explained that she and her now-husband began discussing engagement around five years ago while navigating a difficult financial period.
“We were quite poor as husband was in between jobs for a short while,” she wrote.
While browsing JCPenney one day, she stumbled upon a ring that she loved and excitedly sent a photo of the ring to her future mother-in-law, who she said she was very close with at the time.
What happened next seemed incredibly thoughtful.
“She offered to buy it for me and gift it to my husband to propose to me with,” she wrote, adding that he proposed three months later.
“To my surprise it was a completely different ring!” she wrote.
The unexpected switch did nothing to dampen the excitement of the proposal, and she happily accepted. The couple remained engaged for a year before marrying.
About three months into the engagement, she spotted a sparkling ring on her mother-in-law’s hand. It looked very familiar.
The ring was the exact one she had originally pointed out and enthusiastically shown her.
According to the post, both she and her husband thought the situation was “weird”, but neither ever confronted his mother about it or asked for an explanation.
Five years later, the woman said she still loves the engagement ring she received, even though it wasn’t the one she had chosen. She included a photograph of it in the July 15 post.
However, her relationship with her mother-in-law has changed dramatically since those early days.
“After years of marriage I’ve become her worst enemy and I have lots of fun stories about that but this one is definitely the least harmful one,” she wrote.
Reddit Reacts
The unusual story quickly sparked discussion among other users, many of whom were baffled by the mother-in-law’s decision to keep the ring herself.
“I would mess with this woman so bad for life. I would lie so much about what I liked or planned for myself just to watch her do it. It would be hilarious,” one commenter wrote.
Another user said: “Every time I’ve let my MIL [mother-in-law] get close to me, I’ve realized why she has no friends.”
Others could not believe the couple never asked about the ring.
“Wow. I am literally speechless,” wrote a third commenter. “I cannot believe you didn’t say something to her. She has serious issues.”
One Redditor even offered what they called a golden rule for dealing with in-laws.
“Rule 1 – your mother in law is never a friend. Never reveal your desires to her.”
Not everyone agreed.
“My MIL is my friend and more like a mom to me than my own mother. It’s not black and white,” another user responded.
Newsweek reached out to u/memequeen137 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Gray R. Thomas
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