Husband Sells His Wife's Antique Tea Set For $300, Justifying He Needed The Money For His Nephew, She Sells His Xbox To Buy It Back

Trust is an essential ingredient in building and maintaining a healthy marriage. Without it, the quality of a relationship deteriorates and problems start compounding fast.

So when Redditor u/__HeavenlyPeace399 learned that her husband went behind her back and secretly sold her family's antique tea set, she was very disappointed.

In the man's eyes, he did it for a noble cause — to reward his nephew for beating cancer with something the boy wanted for a long time. A gaming chair. But his wife didn't see it that way.

She felt like she'd lost her priceless heirloom over a promise she didn't even make. So the woman decided to buy it back with her husband's Xbox. But when everything was said and done, she started having doubts about whether or not that was appropriate.

Eventually, she turned to Reddit to tell her story and ask what other users think about it. Here's what she wrote.

Experts say that trust in an intimate relationship is rooted in feeling safe with another person. Infidelity, lies, and broken promises can severely damage the way partners see each other. That, however, does not necessarily mean that situations like this one can't be solved and a marriage can't be salvaged.

Although rebuilding trust can be challenging when there is a significant breach, it is, in fact, possible if both partners commit to the process.

Of course, it takes much time and effort to re-establish the sense of safety a person needs for a marriage to thrive and continue to grow. Recovery from the trauma caused by a break in trust is where many couples get stuck.

According to research, couples must address the following five points in order to effectively move forward:

Whether you were the offending partner or the betrayed, to rebuild the trust in your marriage, both of you must renew your commitment to your marriage and to one another. Visit Verywell Mind to read more on each of these steps.