Rich Woman in Tears Runs past Homeless Man and Drops Diamond Ring into His Cup — Story of the Day

A broken-hearted girl drops her valuable engagement ring into a homeless veteran's begging cup, and it changes her life.

Rachel Farlow was floating on air. She had just become engaged to the man of her dreams, and she was on her way to surprise him with a bottle of champagne and plane tickets for a weekend getaway in Cancun.

Rachel breezed through the doors of her fiancé´s office and greeted his secretary cheerfully. "Hello, Maggy!" she cried. "Just popping in to surprise Tom!" Maggy was on her feet, but Rachel didn't notice the panic in her eyes, so when she opened the door her world fall apart.

Tom was there, and he wasn't alone. There was a woman with him, and she wasn't wearing any clothes. Tom was busy, so busy he didn't hear the door open, and he only looked up when Rachel cried out his name.

"How could you!" Rachel cried. "I loved you!"

Tom was shoving the naked woman away, pulling up his pants and stumbling towards Rachel. "Babe, please, it's not what you think...Wait! I love you, I'm sorry..."

But Rachel was slamming the door behind her and running past Maggie and the doorman, running away from the sight of Tom and that woman. Rachel ran until she ran out of breath.

She leaned against the side of a building and covered her face with her hands. And that was when she felt it, the ring. She raised her trembling left hand in front of her face and stared at the glittering 15-carat monstrosity Tom had slipped on her finger just two months before.

"I didn't even like the ring, Tom!" Rachel cried. "It's vulgar and ugly..." Rachel started tugging at the ring on her finger and finally got it off. She looked around for a garbage bin, anything.

Then she saw a man sitting in the corner leaning against the wall, a tin cup in front of him. She started running again, then she stooped to drop the ring in the man's cup.

At the metallic sound of the ring falling into the cup, the man looked up. "Lady," he cried. "Hey lady, you lost your ring!"

Rachel, who had run past the man, slowed down and stopped. "Keep it!" she called out. "It's worthless."

The next day, all the social media pages reported the breaking of socialite heiress Rachel Farlow, and then, of course, her own small personal tragedy was forgotten.

Over the next two years, Rachel tried to forget too, she even dated a little, but again and again, she found herself refusing to become involved. She couldn't, wouldn't place her heart at risk ever again.

One day, her personal assistant brought her an invitation from the New Beginnings Foundation which was inaugurating its second long-term shelter and treatment center for the homeless.

"They want you to cut the ribbon, Rachel," her assistant said. "And it's such a good cause! You should go, get out, meet new people!" So grumbling Rachel had accepted her assistant's suggestion and now here she was.

Rachel stood in the middle of the crowd of contributors and philanthropists feeling awkward. Then she was introduced to a tall, ruggedly handsome man -- John Kendry -- the founder of the organization.

John gripped her hand and smiled warmly. Rachel found herself blushing. "Mr. Kendry," she said. "I must tell you I'm a little bewildered. Why did you invite me to cut the ribbon? I'm not a supporter of your organization!"

John Kendry smiled. "Oh yes, you are. You donated the first two million dollars that started the ball rolling!"

Rachel stared at him confused. "You're mistaken..." she stammered. "I never..."

John Kendry held her hand in his and looked deep into her eyes. "Do you remember dropping a diamond ring into my cup?"

Rachel gasped. "The ring!" OH! So that's what you did with it?"

"Yes," John said. "I invited you here tonight because I want you to know that that ring you threw away wasn't worthless -- look at what it has done. And you didn't just give me the means to get out of the gutter, Rachel. You gave me a reason to live.

"So when I got on my feet I started looking for you, and saw the reports on the end of your engagement, and your picture, so here we are!"

After that night, John and Rachel started dating, and a year later, he asked her to marry him. Rachel accepted and proudly wore the ring he'd had made with a small piece of concrete from the sidewalk where he used to beg, and where they had first met.

What can we learn from this story?

• Every cloud really does have a silver lining. Tom's cheating ended up bringing Rachel to the love of her life.
• All it takes is one step to bring us out of the darkness. Rachel's ring gave John the opportunity to help other people just like him, find a new life.

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