Ten years have passed. Rick rolls out of bed, his once trim and athletic frame gone, thanks to the amount of food he's been tempted with while being married to Betsy. He looks back at his wife in disgust, her mounds of fat moving around with every breath she takes.
Rick makes his way to the bathroom to relieve himself, then goes downstairs to make some coffee and hope his wife sleeps in, so he'd be spared her constant belittling and humiliation, at least for a little while.
His life didn't use to be this way, he thought to himself, as he slowly sipped from his coffee cup. He practically had the world at his fingertips, thanks to the ring he received from the kind old lady several years earlier. He could have had anything: money, fame, the world's most beautiful ladies as girlfrinds.
Instead, Rick had to settle for a life so far below that: being married to a woman who constantly humiliated him in front of their kids, a woman who ruled over her large mansion with an iron fist. If anyone stepped out of line, including the children, Betsy was not afraid to punish them. She was a tyrant and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Well, Rick could do something, if he could ever find the ring again...
Later that day, Rick and Betsy's two children, Hannah, 12 and Sam, 8, were playing upstairs in the house's considerable attic. They were going through a couple of boxes, trying to find something fun to play with.
As Hannah opens one box, she sees something that looks like a ring. She takes it out and turns it over, inspecting it. It just looked like an ordinary ring; nothing special.
Still, Hannah thought she should tell someone. After all, she didn't want to get in trouble, especially if her mom found out.