My boyfriend and I have been dating and in a serious relationship for the past four years. We’re both in our early 30s, and things have been going amazingly well for us ever since we met in line at a grocery store. I’ve been getting the feeling that he’s going to propose, and last Friday my hunch became a reality.
I was eating lunch in my office which is on the third floor of my building when I happened to look down and saw my now fiancé standing there holding up a sign that said, ‘Will you marry me?’ I was elated.
I ran down the stairs to the main entrance and burst through the doors, jumping into his arms. When he got down on one knee in front of me, the waterworks were beyond my control. I began to cry until he opened the ring box and I saw the smallest diamond I had ever seen.
Immediately, my tears dried up, and I was standing there mortified but pretending not to be. He slipped the ring onto my finger and at that moment, I began to live a lie.
My fiancé makes really good money, and it was always my understanding that a man is supposed to spend at least three months’ salary on the engagement ring. Well, the ring I received might be one-half carat, and that’s being generous. Not only that, it’s a round diamond, but he knew I wanted a princess cut.
I know my fiancé is capable of buying expensive things because just recently I was with him when he bought his mother a huge pair of diamond earrings.
My sister came to visit me last weekend, and before she could get into my apartment and drop her bags, she asked to see my ring. I burst into tears and told her everything, spilling the beans about how I felt and how I was thinking of telling him how I really felt. My sister consoled me to the best of her ability, and we came up with a plan to ‘ring shame’ my fiancé.
While out at dinner with my sister and fiancé, my sister pointed out that my diamond wasn’t princess cut and that for as long as she could remember, it’s all she’s ever heard me talk about with respect to the ring of my dreams. My fiancé looked bewildered. My sister then went straight for the gusto and mentioned the fact that she would have thought that my diamond would have been at least a carat. My fiancé sulked in silence.
Later that night, I was forthcoming with my fiancé about my true feelings regarding the ring, but nothing changed. I saw a ring at my very jeweler that would be more aligned with my taste and style.
Should I go through with the actual wedding if this ring signifies what he feels I’m actually worth, or should I buy my own ring and have him foot the bill?
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