Wedding rings are among the most sentimental pieces of jewellery out there and for some people, having someone else try on your ring without your permission can feel like a violation.
That’s what happened to one woman on Reddit, who claims her mother-in-law picked up her bespoke wedding ring after it was shipped to her house and decided to rip open the packaging and put it on.
She wrote: “I fortunately have had few encounters with my mother-in-law due to distance, she is a horrendous woman and treats everyone around her terribly. She doesn’t like me much and does not support our relationship from the beginning because she assumed we were having pre-marital sex.
“We were newlywed and in town visiting, we got married with some cheap temporary rings because my husband got me a really beautiful and custom made ring that was my dream and took some time to make.
“I had no idea when it was actually coming in the mail, he wanted to surprise me with it and couldn’t wait any longer. So he had it shipped to his parent’s house.”
The woman explained her husband had sent the jewellery to his parent’s house so that he could surprise his wife with the custom ring, but when the other woman – who is actually the man’s stepmother – saw the box, she assumed it was for her.
She added: “Well, I received the ring alright. In an opened box, and with my mother-in-law handing it to me instead of my husband.
“My husband was furious, but stayed quiet. I just wanted to cry. I solemnly received the box and said ‘it was okay’ because I wasn’t even expecting the ring and it took me a minute to process what actually happened.
“The box opening was supposed to be the experience as well, it had special and sentimental messages inside about our relationship before it finally unveiled the gorgeous ring.
“Why would she open someone else’s mail? Well, she says she saw the box with his name on it and assumed he bought her a gift. She was so happy she ripped it open and was so amazed he bought her some fine jewellery and put the ring on, only to disappointingly realise it didn’t fit her so it must have been for me … his dreadful wife instead.”
The woman can’t shake the feeling that her ring is “cursed” now and admitted she feels angry that someone wore her ring before her.
She said: “Her marriage is terrible too – not a loving, respectful or long-lasting one either. I can’t help but feel angry anyone but me wore my wedding ring, and she cursed it or something. Silly I know! But that was my introduction to what life with her as a mother-in-law would be like.”
The new bride also updated her post to clarify the other woman is her husband’s step mum, who has only been married to his dad for a few years.
She wrote: “My husband knows I made this post, and he wanted me to make sure everyone in here knew that it’s his stepmother of only a handful of years, not his real mother (who has sadly passed away). He says that’s what makes it 10x worse.”
And commenters couldn’t believe what the woman’s mother-in-law had done.