UPDATE: My friend’s boyfriend gave me an inappropriately expensive birthday gift (turns out he stole it. From his MUM.)

A Redditor’s dilemma over an expensive birthday gift took an unexpected twist: the gift, worth a small fortune, was stolen—by her friend’s boyfriend—from his own mother. The shocking revelation unraveled an even more tangled web involving family heirlooms, cultural heritage, and a breakup. Read the full story below for all the wild details.

For those who want to read the previous part:

‘ UPDATE: My friend’s boyfriend gave me an inappropriately expensive birthday gift (turns out he stole it. From his MUM.)’

I ended up texting my friend and telling her that I had researched the gift and discovered it was worth a very inappropriate amount of money. She was VERY surprised by the entire situation, especially considering her boyfriend (now ex, but more on that later) is perpetually broke and makes her foot the bill for their shared lifestyle.

She came over to my place and together, we called him on speakerphone, where she demanded some answers. Long story short: He STOLE it. From his OWN MOTHER. He’s still being a bit shady about some details, but we managed to piece together the sequence of events to a satisfactory degree:

My friend was supposed to be coming to my birthday party straight from work. When she left her office, she realised she had forgotten the gift she had planned for me (a book) at home. Since she was already running late and her place is pretty far from both her work and my flat,

she chose to text her boyfriend, who was having dinner at his parent’s home at the time. She knew he was there, and knew his parents live close to me, so she asked him to just buy a copy of the same book at a bookshop on his way to my place so they’d have a gift.

For reasons known only to him, he did not choose this simple, reasonable solution to the ‘we forgot our gift’ issue. Instead of leaving five minutes early to pick up another copy of the book, he instead chose to just GRAB A RANDOM ITEM OFF HIS MOTHER’S LIVING ROOM SHELF. WITHOUT ASKING HER.

He had no idea what it was, just thought it looked pretty, took it, and stuffed it in a paper bag. He also did not text back my friend or react to her calls, so she (reasonably) assumed he hadn’t read her message and ended up going BACK to get the book, which was why they arrived separately and with separate gifts.

Meanwhile, the boyfriend had unknowingly gifted me not just any antique, no! This item had been passed down to his mother from her THREE-TIMES-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER. It had been in his family’s possession for literal centuries,

and was the ONLY tangible connection she (his mother) still had to her homecountry, which, incidentally, is also *my* mother’s homecountry – which he wasn’t aware of, meaning that what I thought was a thoughtful connection to my trip there was a total coincidence!

He had no idea of the item’s cultural significance. My friend immediately made him call his mum to fess up to the entire situation. His mother had been running herself ragged trying to figure out where this item disappeared to for DAYS.

Obviously, she never suspected thievery, and was blaming herself terribly for having lost something this important. The boyfriend ACTUALLY HAD THE GALL to try to convince her not to make her call his mum! He wanted to sweep the entire thing under the rug! Of course, we didn’t let that happen.

His mother came by my place this morning and I returned the item to her, along with some apologies for not starting investigations immediately and some nice chocolate. We had a lovely conversation about our shared cultural heritage,

I assured her that the item had been treated with dignity for the entire time it was in my possession, and we parted ways with a hug. She also told me that my initial estimate of the item’s value was incorrect- it’s actually worth EVEN MORE money.

**It would probably sell for a four-figure sum at auction.** I don’t know what she wants to do with her son, but I hope she whoops his ass. My friend, for obvious reasons, broke up with him.

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

crazycatlorde −  Firstly, good on you! Secondly, good on your friend for breaking up with this dope. Thirdly, I laugh at the implication that one should lock valuables away from people you’re not entirely sure about if that person is your own child 😅

bee102019 −  Yikes. What a turd. I’m glad she broke up with him!

MelJay0204 −  Well, bingo! I was right!

HatsAndTopcoats −  Great story. I think my favorite aspect, for how it really drives home what a dumb l**er this guy was, is that he didn’t even take the time to look for a trinket that he thought his mother might not miss or care much about.

He literally just took the first thing he saw, probably prominently displayed, and assumed that it would be fine. I expect that he had no idea what this item meant to her because he’d never bothered to care when she mentioned it.

He didn’t consider any of this stuff — including what you or your friend might think — because it would require putting himself in the mindset of other people and I bet that’s not something he ever does.

crazykitty123 −  I remember reading your first post. WHAT WAS THE GIFT??? Why not put us out of our misery and say what it was?

shawnael −  Oh my GOD that is wild. I’m so glad that everything cleared up so smoothly between you and the mother. And glad this was finally the last straw for your friend.

SunMoonTruth −  What I absolutely love about this is that all the women very clear saw who was in the wrong — the friend’s bf / bf/ son — and didn’t turn on each other to defend or excuse his ridiculousness.

rb3po −  now ex, but more on that later. Wait! Did I miss the part where they broke up!?

needsmorecoffee −  Holy f**k. I don’t have anything more than that. Just holy f**k.

BlackJeepW1 −  Mom needs to change the locks at her place.