Anonymous wrote:Sorry folks, I kept it.
We dated for two years. It was lovely. Then he proposed and I moved in with him, and it all fell apart while he gas lit me for a year and cheated, serially. I saw things dissolving, asked that we sit and talk, untangle things, do it the right way, etc. (which obviously would have involved giving the ring back). I was sincere, genuinely loved him, and was willing to make it work, or move on. One or the other.
Nope. He refused, insisted I was crazy, and dragged everything out, including lying in counseling which was my last pre-marital resort at conflict resolution. The day I found allll the evidence on his phone was the day I kicked him out, to his great protests, denials, and apologies. When he asked for the ring back I laughed in his face. He whined, "it was a conditional gift!".
"Yes it was", I said. "Yes, it was".
This man took almost three years of my life (between dating, engagement, and ending). I was willing to work it out or walk away like a normal human, and he couldn't do either. He can make that money back. I don't get those three years back. It's now in a drawer, can be made into other jewelry, can be donated to charity, or can get thrown into the Potomac. I haven't decided. And I don't have to.
I had enough. You play, you pay.