PART 3
I turned the screen around.
My security camera feed showed Chloe pounding on my door.
Eight people stood in the hallway.
Two children were sitting on top of their luggage.
Robert, Derek’s father, was looking around the hallway impatiently.
Susan was checking her phone.
And Chloe was repeatedly pressing a key against a lock that no longer had a keyhole.
Mom’s expression changed.
“You actually changed the lock?”
“Yes.”
“Without telling us?”
“Why would I need permission?”
Mom looked offended.
“Because we are your parents.”
“And I’m thirty-six.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Watch your tone.”
“I’m watching it.”
There was a moment of silence.
Then Chloe called Mom through another phone.
Mom immediately answered.
I could hear Chloe’s voice through the speaker.
“Mom, he changed the lock and won’t give me the code.”
Mom looked at me.
“Ethan, just give her the code.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I said no.”
Chloe shouted from the hallway.
“Ethan!”
I heard her through my phone because my camera microphone picked up the sound.
“You’re seriously doing this?”
I didn’t answer.
She knocked again.
Harder.
Derek looked embarrassed.
“Chloe, maybe we should just call him.”
“I am calling him!”
“No,” I said quietly. “You’re demanding access to my home after I explicitly told you no.”
Derek’s voice suddenly came through the hallway.
“Ethan, this is Derek.”
“I know.”
“Look, I understand you’re upset, but we’re already here. Can we please work something out?”
I almost laughed.
Work something out.
That was what people said when they wanted you to compromise on something they had already taken.
“You can work something out by going home.”
Chloe stared directly into the camera.
“You can’t do this to me.”
“I can.”
“You’re humiliating me in front of Derek’s parents.”
“You humiliated yourself when you invited eight people into an apartment that wasn’t yours.”
Her face turned red.
Mom immediately interrupted.
“Ethan, enough.”
“No, Mom. Not enough.”
I had spent years swallowing words because I didn’t want arguments.
I had stayed quiet when Chloe borrowed my car and returned it nearly empty.
I had stayed quiet when she opened packages addressed to me.
I had stayed quiet when she moved things in my apartment.
I had stayed quiet when Mom said, “That’s just how Chloe is.”
But something inside me had finally snapped.
“You all keep calling me selfish because I have boundaries,” I said. “But none of you have ever asked why I need those boundaries.”
Dad stared at me.
I continued.
“After my divorce, this apartment became the one place where Leo feels like he has a home with me. His drawings are on the refrigerator. His school projects are in the second bedroom. His favorite dinosaur blanket is on his bed. His medicine is in the bathroom cabinet. His things are here because this is his home too.”
My voice became quieter.
“And Chloe thinks she can turn it into a hotel.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Susan stepped closer to the camera.
“Ethan, I’m Derek’s mother.”
“I know.”
“I think this has become a misunderstanding.”
“No,” I said. “It hasn’t.”
She looked confused.
“Chloe told us your apartment was available.”
“Chloe was wrong.”
“She said you weren’t using it.”
“I am using it.”
“But you aren’t staying there this weekend.”
“That doesn’t make it available.”
Robert shook his head.
“This is ridiculous. We drove three hours.”
“I understand.”
“We have children.”
“I understand.”
“We have nowhere else to stay downtown.”
“That isn’t my responsibility.”
He stared at me as if I had just insulted him.
Perhaps I had.
But I wasn’t going to apologize.
Then Leo called.
Dad had been speaking when my phone buzzed.
“Dad, can I call you back?”
I ended the family call.
I answered Leo.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we still going to make pizza tonight?”
I smiled despite everything.
“Absolutely.”
“Can I make the dinosaur one?”
“Of course.”
“Mom said I can stay until Sunday.”
“That’s right.”
There was a pause.
“Is Aunt Chloe coming?”
I looked at the camera.
She was still standing outside my apartment.
“No,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because she has her own house.”
“Oh.”
Another pause.
Then Leo asked something that stopped me.
“Dad, did Aunt Chloe take our house?”
My chest tightened.
“No, buddy.”
“But she used to come inside without asking.”
I closed my eyes.
“You noticed?”
“Yeah.”
He sounded confused.
“She moved my dinosaur box.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said.
“It’s okay.”
Then he asked:
“Is she mad?”
“Probably.”
“Are you?”
I looked at the hallway camera again.
Chloe was still there.
“No,” I told him.
“I’m not mad.”
I was lying.
I was furious.
But not at Leo.
“Okay,” he said happily. “Can we make pizza now?”
“Absolutely.”
We hung up.
I returned to the camera feed.
The hallway had changed.
Derek had pulled Chloe aside.
His parents were whispering.
His brother, Mark, was looking uncomfortable.
Then Chloe turned toward the camera.
“Fine,” she said loudly.
“If you want to act like this, we’re leaving.”
I didn’t respond.
She grabbed one suitcase.
Derek grabbed another.
The children followed.
For a second, I thought it was over.
Then Chloe stopped.
She looked directly into the camera.
“You’re going to regret this.”
She walked toward the elevator.
I watched until all eight people disappeared.
Then the elevator doors closed.
I finally exhaled.
I thought that was the end.
It wasn’t.
Twenty minutes later, my phone rang again.
This time, it was my landlord.
“Mr. Vance?”
“Yes?”
“This is Martin.”
I sat down.
“Is there a problem?”
“There may be.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“Your sister contacted the building management.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“She claimed you had given her permission to access the apartment and that your new lock was preventing her from entering.”
I almost laughed.
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That we couldn’t grant access without your authorization.”
“Thank you.”
“But there is something else.”
“What?”
Martin hesitated.
“She said she was going to report you for violating your lease.”
I stared at the wall.
“For changing my own lock?”
“She claimed the lock was installed without approval.”
“My lease allows replacement locks.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because she sounded very serious.”
I stood up.
“Martin, I appreciate the warning.”
“No problem.”
He paused.
“And Ethan?”
“Yes?”
“You should probably keep records of everything.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Keep records.
I opened my laptop.
I created a folder.
CHLOE — APARTMENT INCIDENTS.
Then I started documenting.
I saved screenshots of every message.
I downloaded the security camera footage.
I saved the texts where Chloe admitted Mom gave her the key.
