When it was time for gifts, I was as excited as a child. The first presents were pleasant and heartfelt. My parents gave me an envelope with money, saying it was for fulfilling any dream of mine. My husband’s sister gave me cosmetics, and my mother-in-law — always practical — gave me a towel.

And then came the moment when my husband handed me a small box. I opened it — and gasped. A gold ring with a diamond. Exactly the one I had dreamed of for years.