Bride-to-be warns MIL that her engagement ring is 'cursed.' AITA? UPDATED

When this bride to be is fed up with her MIL, she asks the internet:

"AITA for telling my soon-to-be MIL that my engagement ring is cursed?"

I (F26) just got engaged. My soon to be MIL is a nightmare. We are currently renovating a part of our place and she has been lent a key in the meantime because she keeps coming over uninvited under the guise of “helping” clean up, but she really just likes to snoop and interfere.

I do a martial art and take my engagement ring off before class. I came home from an afternoon class one day and my engagement ring was not in the jewellery dish that I usually leave it in.

I asked her about it and she told me that she’d taken it to a jeweller to get it cleaned. She looked super smug about it and when I asked which jeweller, she pretended she couldn’t remember. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of having a reaction to it so I just let it slide for a couple of days.

A couple of days pass and I ask her about it again and she’s super vague, still pretending she can’t remember which jeweller and saying she’s too busy to go pick it up anytime soon. So I said, “wow, I really feel for that jeweller… hope nothing happens to her.”

She asked what I meant, and I told her that my superstitious Brazilian grandmother had performed some traditional ritual on it that’s usually known to curse anyone who takes or handles the ring other than the owner.

She looked uneasy and asked me a couple more questions about this ritual and I made some story up about how my mother’s ring had been taken by a burglar who was crushed by a pillar of cement on his way out of the house.

(I totally made this entire ritual up and I do have a Brazilian grandmother but obviously she did not do some ritual to my ring.)

The next day, my fiancée told me while I was out that she was there to clean up a bit… Lo and behold, I get home (she had already left) and find my ring where I had left it. It didn’t look any cleaner than it had before lol.

A week later, I receive an abusive call from her saying she’d been in a minor car accident and she was blaming me and my “witch doctor” grandmother, saying she was now cursed for having touched it.

I passed the phone to my fiancée who tried to calm her down, but she was hysterical. I told my fiancée what I had told her, and he scolded me a bit because we both know how she is and I should have known she’d react this sort of way.

It’s been a further week since then and she refuses to talk to me and keeps slandering me to my fiancée. Overall he sort of recognises how ridiculous she’s being, but the drama of the situation is making me wonder if the whole curse tale was taking it a bit too far. So, AITA?

Before we give you OP's update, let's take a look at some of the top responses:

creaaamq writes:

Nta. That’s hilarious. The nerve of her, taking your ring. She deserves the curse. I’m just sorry it’s causing trouble for you. I kind of think your fiancé earned it by tolerating her behaviour and not having changed the locks already.

Also, have you checked your ring? I don’t understand why she’d take it unless it was to keep it away from you. Does she disapprove of the engagement, or of you taking it off even if it’s for a good reason?

Was she going to swap stones or claim to have lost it? I’d really need to know her motivation for taking it.

You might want to come clean before she meets your grandmother at the wedding though.

waggeibaby writes:

HAhahahaha this is so good I really hope it is true. NTA, if she didn’t steal things from your home she would have no reason to be worried! I would continue to do this for everything she does that is out of line. Take things from your home?

Good thing you did a ritual to bring your house protection and curse those who take the items out of the bounds of the home without permission.

Try to cause drama at a family event? Good thing your ordinary necklace/perfume/makeup is enchanted to send famine and plague to those around you who bring I’ll intentions. Seriously tho, get a security camera, change your locks and never give her a copy again.

fleeek writes:

Nta She took your property while taking up your time and being petty to be petty. She deserved it and your husband needs to step up as this shit is what will burn out couples.

Partner with controlling overbearing mil/fil, partner that doesn't and gets shit on constantly by the mil/fil, all 3 partys getting fed up. abused partner usually just leaving bc theyre so fed up of someone who's supposed to be their partner not stand up for them from the person whos belittling them.

Which is their parent qho also belittles them and theyve conditioned their child whos now an adult that this is normal when it's VERY TOXIC.

Even if your ring was cursed, she wouldnt of been bothered had she left YOUR property alone. Id demand the copy of the key bc she shouldn't be allowed free access to your alls life without headsup regardless, mainly bc of her history of upsetting OP and spineless husband allowing it to continue.

jlp19923 writes:

Nta... but get that key back or change the locks. Do not give a mil that is snooping a key to your home.

My parents used to have a key to our home. They on more than one occasion thought it would be okay to visit us. Unannounced... on Sunday morning... by showing up in our living room... no matter how many times I told them it was inappropriate and not appreciated they kept showing up.

We moved houses because they lived right around the corner and were our landlords so changing the locks was not really an option. We were lucky enough to be able to buy a house roughly 45 minutes from their house.

Close enough the kids will be able to visit their grandparents. Far enough they won't be able to show up unannounced. They also do not have a key to our home anymore. Nor wil they ever get one.

Update 1:

I really did not expect this sort of response to this post. Thank you all so much for the awards. Fiancée and I have had a big chat, and he’s admitted he has to step up when it comes to his mother.

He retrieved her key an hour ago, and he told her not to worry about the curse because it would have no effect on anyone who touched it without malicious intent… big thank you to the commenters who suggested that absolutely gold approach.