I Returned My Fiancée’s Engagement Ring

But her feet stayed rooted to the ground.

She waved dismissively. “So what? He’ll come crawling back in less than three days.”

Her careless words stabbed into my chest like knives.

Lily and I had been together for eight years, since freshman year of college. After graduation, I gave up a high-paying job in New York City to move back with her to a small town and start a business.

Family and friends all warned me not to be a fool for love. I didn’t listen.

Now, karma had come.

The love I thought was so noble dealt me the most crushing blow.

When I got home, a string of credit card statements popped up.

Maybe to provoke me into surrender, Lily had maxed out the secondary credit card I’d given her.

One charge for $800, another for $1,200, and yet another for $300—venue after venue.

After her failed business venture earlier this year, Lily hadn’t looked for work.

But with marriage approaching, I had used all my savings to make the down payment on a house.

For convenience, I had given unemployed Lily a secondary card. Meanwhile, I cooked every meal, packed my lunch, and never dared to spend a cent on myself—just to save for our wedding.

But she had blown through more than a thousand dollars in one night.

Grinding my teeth, I immediately called the bank to freeze her card.

Moments later, Lily called me, her voice sharp with fury.

“Ethan, are you insane? The money in that account—isn’t it all the money I earned over the years?”

I laughed bitterly.

The past few years, she’d been busy with one failed project after another. Half the time, I was even the one buying her meals.

Four years in business, she had lost $75,000, and I had chipped in an extra ten.

She never earned a cent.

“Lily, if something’s wrong with your brain, you’d better get it checked.”

“In these past four years, have you ever made a single dollar?”

I hung up and blocked her number.

That day, I packed all her belongings and left them outside the door.

After that, Lily disappeared for several days.

But Jason’s social media posts kept changing locations, and in every photo, I could spot Lily’s figure.

I couldn’t help wondering—where was she getting the money to spend like this?

Her friends left comments below:

Jason and Lily are the perfect match. No other man compares!

That’s right—congratulations to Jason and Lily on their wedding in advance!

Lily, will you be handing out wedding favors soon?

Though Lily didn’t reply, she posted one photo herself—a shot of Jason’s back.

I pretended not to see it. When I checked again, the post had already been deleted.

The next day, when I arrived at the Miller Group lobby, I found a crowd gathered.

The sound of loud weeping stopped me in my tracks.

Pushing through the people, I froze when I saw her.

“Mrs. Miller? What are you doing here?”

The woman who had been crying on the floor suddenly stood up and pointed at me.

“It’s him! He made my daughter buy him a $28,000 diamond ring, then broke up with her!”

Her accusation drew every eye to me.

I was stunned.

“Isn’t this guy the secretary to the CEO of Miller Group? He looks so proper—how could he do something like that?”

“In this economy, what kind of man refuses to buy jewelry, then forces a woman to buy him such an expensive ring? Vicious!”

“What a gold-digger!”

The crowd, ignorant of the truth, piled on with accusations.

The next second, it felt like they were about to drag me out and drown me.

“Ethan, Mrs. Miller isn’t here to make a scene. She just wants you to return the money and the ring.”