Woman Ends Engagement After ‘Jealous’ Fiancé Got Fed Up with Her Wearing Wedding Ring from Late Husband and Secretly Hid It

A woman says she called off her engagement after learning her fiancé secretly took her late husband’s wedding ring.

In a Reddit post, she explained that she married her high school sweetheart at 20. He died five years later. Now 34, she had recently gotten engaged again to a man she called Matthew, 38.

From the start of their relationship, she says she was transparent about her past. She remains close to her late husband’s family, visits his grave at least twice a month, and continued wearing her wedding ring until Matthew proposed. Even after the engagement, she wasn’t ready to stop keeping the ring close — so when she mentioned that to her former mother-in-law, she bought a gold chain and began wearing the ring as a necklace instead.

“I was very happy with my new necklace, and when I got home, Mathew realized I only had his engagement ring on and was very happy. He said, ‘Finally decided to get rid of the other one?’ ” she wrote. “And I said, ‘Of course not,’ and showed him the necklace. He just changed the subject.”

A few days later, she says she took the necklace off before showering and left it on her nightstand. When she returned, Matthew wasn’t home. She assumed he’d stepped out, went to sleep, and only realized the next morning that the necklace was gone.

“I panicked and started crying. I made a mess everywhere trying to find it,” she wrote.

When she told Matthew the ring was missing, she says he helped her search and made her tea to calm her down.

Days later, Matthew’s mother called and asked to come by. According to the post, she arrived and said she needed to return something — then pulled the ring from her purse and handed it back, urging her not to tell her son.

“I started sobbing, holding my ring, and she just consoled me,” the woman wrote.

Matthew’s mother then explained that her son had visited a few days earlier and asked if he could store something at her house because it was “a surprise” for his fiancée. She agreed. But later, while looking for her reading glasses in a drawer, she found a small box. Curious, she opened it — and saw the ring, which she recognized immediately.

“She said she doesn’t understand why he did that or what he wanted to do with the ring, but she knew it was not right and [that] I’d be devastated,” the woman wrote.

After getting the ring back, she says she left without warning.

“I packed all my s— and went to my mom’s house. I blocked him everywhere, and although I thought about leaving a note or something, I didn’t think he deserved it after what he did,” she wrote.

Since then, she says Matthew has tried to reach her through anyone he can, “calling every single person he knows has my number, including my mom.” Her mother and brother, she added, support her decision to end the relationship — though she admitted she has moments of doubt about whether she handled it the right way.

In the comments, many readers didn’t hesitate to call Matthew’s behavior a serious warning sign.

“He’s jealous of your deceased husband. [That’s] insane,” one person wrote, urging her to seek support to heal.

Another added: “He STOLE your late husband’s ring, knowing just how much it would hurt you. Major red flags here. Move on.”

One commenter called his actions “unforgivable,” pointing not only to the theft but to what came after: pretending to help search and offering comfort while knowing exactly where the ring was.

“It’s the lying and helping you look for it that seals the deal for me — that’s just diabolical,” someone else wrote.