Woman Who Dumped Fiancé After He Lied About $50,000 Ring Cheered: 'Cheap'

The internet has backed a woman who told her sister that her "expensive" diamond ring is "cheap" but her parents blamed her for breaking the engagement.

In a post shared on Reddit on Wednesday, the woman, under the username u/Cultural-Counter5605, wrote that her little sister, Lydia, just got engaged to a wealthy man, Seth, and since their engagement, they can't stop bragging about her $50,000 diamond ring.

One day, Lydia asked the poster's wife, Katie, who is a jeweler, if she could get her ring cleaned and polished as a favor, and while cleaning it, she found that it was not a diamond ring, but rather, made with cheap materials and worth less than $30.

According to marriage website The Knot, the average national cost of an engagement ring in the United States is $6,000, but prices vary from about $5,200 in the Midwest to around $7,900 in the Mid-Atlantic.

In a guide on how much to spend on an engagement ring, The Knot brands the "three months' salary" rule as "highly unrealistic," saying every person looking to purchase a band should create a budget first.

This should take into account factors such as your financial situation, to establish what you are realistically able to spend; your partner's expectations, to figure out what they really want; and the meaningfulness of the ring.

The couple decided to be honest with Lydia who, after learning the news, first thought her fiancé had been scammed, but after confronting Seth about it, he confessed and she called the engagement off.

Lydia stopped talking to Seth, and her parents are now furious at her sister and Katie, blaming them for "sabotaging" her relationship, saying they "should have minded their own business instead," and that they were "being very selfish."

The post, which was first shared on the r/AmItheA**hole subreddit, where people discuss their actions with impartial strangers, has been upvoted more than 5,500 times and received 1,200 comments.

The top comment, by Melmoth_Milton, which has been upvoted more than 11,900 times, reads: "The fact that Seth lied and said the ring was worth 50K and it was actually worth $30 is the key here - he lied when he didn't have to. Repeatedly, from the sounds of it. It's not about the ring, it's about dishonesty and trust. It's about character and honour. NTA, she needed to know that he was lying to her."

Another Redditor equimot commented: "it's not about the price of the ring it's the fact he lied repeatedly AND was happy to keep lying. I used to work in a jewellers and where I'm from $30 wouldn't even get you a sterling silver ring with large cubic zirconia in it.

"So if the ring was that cheap it was only a matter of time before the truth came out as the metal would start to discolour, or her hand would, then if it came out that Katie knew all along you guys would be the bad guy again so no win."

Key-Bit1208 wrote: "No one forced Seth to lie about the ring's value, let alone continue to brag about it. He CHOSE to do that and his deception would have been discovered whenever Lydia attempted to insure the ring.

"The person that everyone should be upset with is Seth, and no one else. You and your wife had ZERO obligation to maintain his lie and any actions that Lydia took after she was informed of the deception were her own."

Newsweek reached out to u/Cultural-Counter5605 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.