Family history can sometimes follow people in unexpected ways.

When her mother gave her a ring connected to a painful history, one woman found herself at odds with her husband over what to do with it.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for not allowing my husband to use my mom’s ring

My mom had an affair for YEARS with a good family friend.

After my parents divorced over it, she stayed with him, and my sister and I lived with them because it made more sense to be with our mom.

While the relationship didn’t pan out, it still left a heavy mark on her childhood.

I was 15 at the time, and my sister was 19.

They got engaged, but it didn’t end up working out. It was a weird time in my life, and I have very negative feelings toward him.

Fast forward almost 25 years. I’m married with kids and have a gorgeous wedding band/engagement ring that I love.

But then, life happened.

I break my ring finger this past fall, and in the ER, they had to cut my rings in pieces.

Very sad, but the rings are salvageable.

After the surgery, my mom calls me and tells me that she still has the engagement ring from that man and that, since my ring is in pieces, I was welcome to have it.

This was a bit of a surprise. It’s easily a $35K ring — gorgeous 2+ carat diamond platinum with an incredible setting and wedding band.

It’s admittedly beautiful.

Her husband was excited, but she was hesitant.

When I told my husband about it, he was very excited and encouraged me to jump on the opportunity.

He loves jewelry.

But I explained to him how I felt about it, and we argued a bit because he couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t take it, etc. He felt like it was owed to me after everything I’ve gone through.

They ended up taking the ring, but that’s when the real trouble began.

In the end, we ended up taking it after our visit over Thanksgiving because my mom was just keeping it in her bathroom drawer. We have a large safe, so I figured it was best to keep it locked up.

Then, without my knowledge, my husband took it to a jeweler to get it appraised and has approached me with some ideas for redesigning my ring using my mom’s.

He is trying to make it sound like he did me a favor and that this is beneficial for everyone.

But this is the exact opposite of what she wanted.

I have been very clear — feel free to redesign my ring and use any other jewelry I have, but do not touch my mom’s ring.

It belongs to me, my sister, and my mom, and we will decide what to do with it.

Furthermore, I don’t want that man’s diamond on my finger. My stomach turns at the thought of him.

My husband thinks I’m being unreasonable and is angry about the fact that I can’t see that he’s trying to do a “good” thing and I don’t appreciate it.

AITA?

Even the best intentions can’t always erase old wounds. Her husband should understand that.

What did Reddit have to say?

This predicament could be bringing out her husband’s true character — and it’s not flattering.

Maybe this ring just isn’t safe around her husband.

Perhaps she could pawn it off on someone else for the time being.

It’s clear the ring means two very different things for this couple.

No matter how beautiful, this stone may be too heavy to bear.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.