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Ring of truth

Who was my engagement ring really meant for?!


Published by: Jessica Gibb and James Knock
Published on: 15 March 2012

As the sun blazed through the window, the light caught on my engagement ring. I sighed. It just wasn't me. A huge diamond seemed so... over the top. ‘But it's the man who gave it to you who's important,' I told myself.
And that was my wonderful husband William, 36. It didn't matter the ring wasn't what I'd have chosen. He'd chosen it with love...
‘He must be trying to show how much he loves me by the size of the diamond,' I'd thought when he'd proposed. William was a lawyer, had pots of money. I wasn't interested in that, but he thought the way to my heart was by flashing the cash.
Still, after four years together, we were blissfully happy. Even now, after a long day in the office, he was in the living room playing the Xbox with my sons Austin, eight, and Aiden, three.
He'd always been kind and caring, had been ever since we'd got chatting on the social networking site Myspace. ‘Can't believe you're as much of a geek about CSI as I am,' I'd teased him.
But on our first date at a bar, he'd dropped a bombshell. ‘I'm with someone. Her name's Becky. We've been together for four years, but I'm not happy. I need something more, and that's you. I'll break it off with her. Be with me.'
It wasn't how I'd planned things. But I'd not been able to resist. He was handsome, kind and willing to take on my kids. My oldest girl Ashley was 13, and Alyssa was one. ‘Yes,' I'd grinned. I felt sorry for Becky, but these things happened.
And I'd been right. Ever since then, we'd been inseparable, still were two years after tying the knot - he was home in time to set the table for dinner, couldn't stand to be away from me. That's why I'd never mentioned the ring. ‘How could I hurt him?' I smiled now.
The next week, William was at work, and the kids were at school, so I decided to go on Facebook. Logging on, I noticed a message from someone called Bobby-Jo. I used to be engaged to your husband, it read. So what?!
Yes, William told me. You were engaged four years before we met. So what do you want? I wrote.
I know things about your husband that would make your hair curl, she replied.
Well, that just got me angry - what a stirrer! Tell me something I don't know, I challenged.
I can't prove it, but I'll bet he's cheating on you. When we were together, he was having an affair with a woman called Becky.
Becky... The penny dropped. She was the woman he was seeing when we'd met! ‘No,' I murmured. ‘He wouldn't...' But she'd sown the seeds of doubt.
Bobby-Jo gave me Becky's full name and address. She lived two blocks from where William worked. I searched the internet for her number and, taking a deep breath, I called her. ‘Becky?'
‘Yes?' a woman said.
‘Do you know William Stevens? I asked.
‘Yes, he's my boyfriend. Why?'
My blood ran cold. ‘No, he's my husband,' I hissed.
‘You're lying,' she said. ‘How could you be married to him when he spends all his time with me?'
‘When was the last time he spent the night with you?' I yelled.
The line went quiet. ‘When was the last time you saw him?' I said.
‘Last Tuesday,' she said. I felt sick. William had worked late. He only stayed late one Tuesday every month because, he said, he couldn't stand to leave me alone more often. But all the time he was having sex with his ex, the woman he'd supposedly left for me.
I slammed down the phone - and my engagement ring sparkled against my wedding ring. Suddenly, I remembered...
Last month, I'd gone to the jewellers to have my ring resized.
‘I remember this ring,' the jeweller had smiled. But as he'd told me how William had spent ages choosing it, I'd frowned.
He'd claimed it was eight months before me and William had met. I'd thought he'd got the dates wrong. Now I realised the ring was bought for Becky.
That's why it'd never felt right - it wasn't mine to begin with!
I ripped it from my finger, stuffed it in a drawer... and had an idea.
I needed more info, so rifled through William's phone bills. Time and again, Becky's number came up. Only a month ago, he'd sent her 46 texts in one day!
What a busy boy he'd been. From the day he'd moved in, he always seemed to be at work, stripping floorboards and replacing old doors. Now I knew it was all a front to hide his cheating - because every time he'd nipped out for timber, it had taken him hours. ‘Had to go to three stores,' he'd groan. Pah! The lying cheat must have been using his tools round at Becky's instead!
But I couldn't confront him in front of the kids so, when he came home, I tried to act natural. The second the kids were in bed... ‘You'd better have a good excuse,' I spat, throwing my engagement ring and his phone bills at him.
‘W-what?' he stammered.
‘Why are you chatting to your ex-girlfriend?'
‘She's having legal problems.'
‘Where were you on Tuesday?' I asked. His face dropped.
‘Keeping Becky company?' I yelled. ‘Get out!'
He scuttled out like a frightened rabbit. But he was back the next day, peering out from behind a bunch of red roses. ‘I'm sorry,' he confessed. ‘I-I went to see her four times in four years.'
‘I'll never see her again,' he begged. The fact was, he'd married me, not her. He had to love me more than her. ‘Let me prove how much I love you!' he said. ‘Let's renew our vows.'
That was all the proof I needed that he wanted to put this nightmare behind us and start afresh. We flew to Jamaica, and William even had a smaller, simpler ‘engagement' ring made for me. But I couldn't shake this niggling feeling...
Two months later, I got a text from Becky. It's 3pm, do you know where your husband is?
That night, when William came home, I showed him the text. ‘I can explain...' he spluttered.
‘Save it!' I yelled. ‘Just get out!' He knew there was no squirming his way out of this one, packed his bags and left. Now we're divorcing, and I can't wait to get him out of my life for good. Our marriage just never had the ring of truth about it...

William Stevens, 40, said: ‘It wasn't a relationship. I saw Rebecca once every six months.'

Becky Hunt, 35, said: ‘I'd see him once a week, but we'd text every day. I was devastated when I found out, and haven't spoken to him since.'


Angela Alt, 33, Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania, USA