Man Demands Wife's Engagement Ring to Give to His New Fiancée, Lives to Regret It – Subscriber Story

Man demands that his wife of thirty years give him her engagement ring so he can propose to another woman.

I had been married to Ian for 30 years, and I honestly believed I was happy. They say the wife is always the last to know, and I guess it's true. When he came home one day and said he wanted to talk, I was blindsided.

He told me quite coldly that he didn't love me anymore, and since our youngest daughter had left for college the week before, he didn't see a need to keep up the pretense.

Pretense? I just looked at him, my mouth gaping open like a fish. "Pretense?" I asked bewildered, "I haven't been pretending!"

"I have," he said bluntly, "For the last ten years I've been putting up with all this," he waved his hands around, "For the sake of the children."

"But..." I was devastated, disbelieving, "But Ian, I love you, I thought you loved me..."

"Look, you've been a good mother, I'll admit that, but the spark is long gone. I want more, Dawn, I deserve more!"

I watched shaking as he went upstairs and packed his things. "Where will you be staying?" I asked as he walked towards the door.

Once trust is gone, it is very hard to rebuild, and without trust, love is not enough.

Ian sighed and put down his suitcase. "You might as well know: I'm moving in with Barbara."

I gasped. "Barbara? Your business partner?"

"Yes," Ian said quite coldly. I couldn't believe it. He'd brought that woman into my house a hundred times! Then he said: "By the way, I want my ring back."

"Your ring?" I asked, "What ring?"

"The engagement ring," he said impatiently. "That is the ring my grandfather gave my grandmother, and my father gave my mother."

I closed my right hand over the ring. "I thought I'd give it to Kenny when he found a girl he wanted to marry..."

"I want it!" Ian said, "Give it to me Dawn, and I promise I'll be generous in the settlement, otherwise, you'll have a fight on your hands."

I pulled the ring off and looked at it. That ring had been on my finger for over three decades and I could remember the day Ian had proposed, how happy I'd felt. I handed him the ring.

"Here," I said quietly, "It's yours." Ian looked triumphant and tucked the ring carefully in his breast pocket. In a minute he was gone, and so was the life I knew.

I sank into a chair and started crying. What was I going to do? My life was over... As tears scalded my cheeks I sat up straight. Over? NO! My life wasn't over. I had my children, my work, and myself.

I'd had a life before I met Ian, and I was determined I'd have a life after he left me. Two months later, our lawyers worked out the settlement. I got the house and my share of the business which I sold through a broker.

I had my life back on track, and I had even started dating again when Ian knocked on my door six months later. I was stunned. "What do you want?" I asked bluntly.

"Dawn..." He looked thinner and unhappy. "I needed someone to talk to..." He looked so desolate that I invited him in. He stood in the middle of the sitting room looking lost.

"I was so happy here..." he said.

I stared at him in surprise. "Really? I thought you were bored!"

He had the grace to blush. "I was wrong, Dawn. I made a lot of mistakes..."

"Really?" I asked, "How's that?"

"Things with Barbara...Well, they're not going so well. She doesn't understand me the way you do, Dawn. She's...Well, she's a difficult woman."

"Oh, dear!" I sighed, "Well, I'm sure you'll work through it."

Ian was shaking his head, looking embarrassed. "She's kicked me out. I have nowhere else to go, Dawn...I don't want to be alone...I love you, I always have..."

He reached into his pocket and drew out the engagement ring. "This belongs on your finger," he whispered sweetly, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

I stared at him. I thought about the years we'd been together, and the night he'd demanded that ring back. I shook my head. "The spark... The spark is long gone. I want more, Ian, I deserve more!" And then I marched him out the door and told him to get a life.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Trust is the most fragile and precious thing. Once trust is gone, it is very hard to rebuild, and without trust, love is not enough.

2. Not everyone deserves a second chance. Before you give someone a second chance think about what YOU deserve.

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