Woman Opens Ripped Purse Inherited from Grandma and Old Ring Falls from Inside — Story of the Day

A woman inherited a fortune from her grandma in the form of an old battered purse hated by her sister, who had no idea of the riches it contained.

Rose had always admired her grandmother Bella Bright. She considered her an extraordinary woman who had enjoyed many adventures in her youth and even old age.

While most people had been setting down roots in their 30s, Bella had been traveling and having fun times with her friends; they went on road trips to great locations — neither of them could ever forget what happened when they went to Las Vegas.

Whenever they spoke about it, Bella and her friends would all smile fondly as though enjoying some inside joke. No amount of prying on her part had been able to get the stubborn old woman to talk about it.

Not many members of their family liked the way Bella lived; every penny often went into planning trips or doing something with her ever-ready friends; people thought it would be better to see her spend on more tangible things.

"They know nothing," Bella would always tell her when she talked about it.

Rose had started living with her grandmother since her own mother passed away during childbirth. She had been trying to bring her brother into the world but instead lost her life and, by consequence, his.

Rose's father had been a soldier, and he had died years before she and her sister, June, were born. Because the two girls had nobody else to stay with, Bella had to take them in. It took away her freedom to go away on long trips, but she agreed to undertake the responsibility because it was family.

It was not easy; Bella suddenly had two mouths to feed, and her wealth of memories could not help. She took jobs and, through sheer determination, was able to care for the two girls. They grew up into proper young women; June moved out to seek out her own destiny, but Rose stayed behind to care for her grandma.

"I need to leave this town and get started with living my own life B," June told her sister one holiday she spent at home as a graduate of a big-shot university.

"I think I'll just stay here with granny while I decide on what I want to do," Rose had replied.

When Bella passed away, all that was left of her was a few of her vintage style dresses and a battered old purse that had traveled the world with her. On her deathbed, she rewarded Rose for sticking by her as she did.

"Thank you for taking care of me as wholeheartedly as you did these past couple of weeks," Bella had said.

"It's nothing less than you deserve for taking us in granny," Rose had replied.

"Be that as it may, I have a gift for you. I know I don't have much but I wanted to give you something. My mind settled on this purse."

"Why this purse?" Rose asked.

"Well, it's been with me for a very long time during which it has brought me a lot of luck. I think it will bring you luck as well."

Rose had doubted that the old purse, which sported a shallow rip down the side, could do that, but she had wisely kept her intuition to herself and accepted it. "I'll use it well," she told Bella.

June was out of town when Rose reached her with news of their grandma's imminent demise. "What happened?" June had asked.

"Granny had a heart attack and her weakened system could not take it."

"Her weakened system? Was there something wrong with her?" In truth, Rose knew Bella had been faring terribly for some time before her death, but she and the woman had decided to keep it from June.

"I'm sorry we kept it from you but you were in the middle of fulfilling your dreams so we didn't want you to drop everything and come home. I'm sorry," Rose told an angry June when they met face to face.

"I deserved to know the truth. You should not have made that decision for me."

June stormed around the house, angry as they arranged for the funeral. Her mood worsened even more when she found out that Bella had left Rose her cherished purse as a gift. She became spiteful, and she wanted nothing more than to get rid of the purse.

"Let's sell it at the flea market," she said. "Granny would probably like it to end up with someone who will cherish it more."

"That's not why she passed it to me, June," Rose answered. "I'd like to keep it in memory of her."

But June was not satisfied with that answer. One day, when her sister left the purse in plain view, she took it and threw it into the garbage. It took Rose a long time to fish it out.

Just as she did, the trash collector rumbled by to collect the day's trash. "That was close," Rose whispered to herself as she dusted off the purse.

When she opened it, she saw something small and shiny fall. It was an ancient-looking ring with a white gem that didn't sparkle. The ring was a perfect fit, so she wore it nearly every day.

Years passed, and Rose kept the ring on her finger. One day, in anticipation of her 62nd birthday party, she made a trip to a mall.

There she observed a strange man who seemed unnaturally fixated on her hand. She quickly rounded up business and walked towards her car, hoping to get away from his stare, but the man followed her.

Between getting all she bought to her car and keeping an eye on the man trailing her, it was all Rose could do not to trip. When Rose reached her car and saw there was no quick way to get her goods into the trunk quickly enough, she turned and faced him.

"Do we have a problem?" she asked shakily.

"Not at all, I was simply curious about your jewelry. It's an interesting piece to be sure. Do you mind if I take a closer look?" he asked.

Rose did not like his energy, so she turned him away, crammed her things into her trunk, and got in the car to drive away. As she zoomed past him, she heard the man yell, "It doesn't belong to you!"

"Whatever did he mean?" Rose thought later that night. Things returned to normal after that, but Rose kept an eye out for the strange man.

One day she was in a rush, so she forgot to put the ring on. She only realized this when she was already on the subway, and it took everything in her not to swear right there. Rose considered the ring a lucky charm and did not like being without it, so she got off at her next stop and returned home for it.

As she rounded the corner to her home, she caught sight of a car speeding away, and from her perspective, it seemed like it had been parked in her driveway.

Rose felt pressure build up in her chest as she half walked, half ran through her front door. She looked everywhere for her ring but could not find it.

"That's it, it's gone," she whispered. "What was so valuable about it that made the man steal it?"

But when Rose walked into the bathroom to wash her face and return to work, she spotted the ring. She had left it there when she brushed that morning.

Rose was thrilled, and she decided to go to an antique shop to have it appraised after that. They took the ring away for a few days to run a test. It was a tough time for Rose, who was afraid of losing it in a scam.

"What if the staff at the pawnshop decide to make away with it like that strange man?" Rose worried.

Her mind kept casting back to the ring as she went about her daily activities until the test result was ready and she was summoned to hear it.

"This is a 25-carat cushion-shaped white diamond from the 18th Century and it used to belong to a Dutch princess which is why it is valued at 1.5 million dollars. I'm surprised nobody has brazenly attacked you for it," the portly shop owner told her.

"Are you certain?" Rose asked, playing back all the years she had worn the rings and remembering how she had occasionally caught people gawking at it.

"Very. In fact, if I did not believe that you inherited it, I would have called the cops," he said. "If you want, I could help you arrange for it to be displayed at a museum for a nice fee."

"I would be pleased," Rose said, still shocked by her fate.

She got a number to contact the museum and Rose left the man after settling her bill. As she walked out of his door, he murmured about how lucky she was to have inherited such an heirloom.

When she stepped outside, Rose looked up; the sky was beautiful and there was not a single cloud up there. She felt like she could see right to heaven where her granny was smiling her toothy grin.

"You were right grandma, your purse did bring me luck."

What did we learn from this story?

• Jealousy is not an emotion you should court. When June realized that Rose had gotten a gift from their late granny, she had been overcome with jealousy. It led her to suggest they get rid of the purse, and she eventually did by throwing it away. Luckily, Rose found it, and it led her to riches.
• It's what's inside that matters. The old purse Bella left Rose did not look like much — in fact, it was tattered and faded, making it unsuitable to be used, at least for the aesthetics. Still, it held a ring — one that changed Rose's life. In a world where many judge a book by its cover, it's always best to look inside.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who mocked his wife for buying a little enameled egg at the flea market, but he was in for a big surprise.

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