Original Post

Wow, I did not expect this to blow up the way it did. Thanks to everyone who commented—whether you sided with me or not, I appreciate the perspectives. So, here’s what’s happened since my original post: A few days after the argument, my parents invited me over for dinner, saying they wanted to “talk things through.” I was skeptical but went anyway. Surprise, surprise—it was a setup. My brother and his girlfriend were both there, and the whole thing turned into an ambush. His girlfriend (who, by the way, had no idea about the drama) was super sweet and kept saying things like, “Oh, I don’t want to take anything from you! I just loved the idea of something sentimental.” So now I was the bad guy for making a big deal out of it. My parents kept pushing, my brother was sulking, and I was basically being guilt-tripped into handing over something that was willed to me. I stood my ground and told them all that the conversation was over. My brother then tried to compromise by saying, “Well, what if I borrow it just for the proposal and the wedding, and then you can have it back?” Nope. Not happening. Then, the real kicker: I found out from my aunt (my dad’s sister) that my grandmother explicitly left the ring to me because she knew my parents would pressure me to give it to my brother. Apparently, she saw this whole mess coming and wanted to make sure I got something special of hers. When I told my parents this, my mom got really quiet, and my dad just said something like, “Well, she probably didn’t mean to cause this kind of divide.” At this point, I’m done with the whole conversation. My brother is still barely speaking to me, my parents are acting like I’ve personally ruined their lives, but honestly? I don’t care anymore. I have the ring, it was left to me, and I’m keeping it. Thanks again for all the advice. Definitely don’t feel like the AH anymore.