There were also photographs of the deed.
Jenna claimed she had taken them only because Alex wanted to estimate the apartment’s value.
David asked how she found the blue folder.
She denied ever seeing it.
Then he showed her one photograph in which the edge of the folder was visible beneath the deed.
Jenna stopped talking.
Alex sat heavily on the sofa.
“I never asked her to do this,” he said.
I believed that part.
But he had given her the key.
He had told her I would not object.
He had discussed my home as a future asset and my health as a planning problem.
He had created the opening, then acted surprised when someone walked through it.
David explained the consequences clearly.
The unauthorized entry could be documented as trespass.
The removal and photographing of private medical records could support additional complaints.
Any attempt to use the deed or health information in a financial application would be reported immediately.
Jenna became angry again.
“You’re destroying our wedding over a misunderstanding.”
I looked at her across the dining table.
“I am protecting my home.
What happens to your wedding depends on what you and Alex do next.”
She turned to him.
“Tell her this is insane.”
Alex stared at his father’s watch inside the evidence bag.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low.
“Give her the key.”
“What?”
“The copy you made.
Give it back.”
Jenna’s expression hardened.
“You gave it to me.”
“I gave you one key.
Security found two copies in the luggage.”
The officer placed both keys on the table.
Alex looked sick.
Jenna had copied the emergency key twice.
One copy was for her parents.
The other, she eventually admitted, was intended for a contractor who was supposed to measure the rooms after the wedding.
“Measure them for what?” I asked.
She hesitated.
Mia answered.
“The nursery.”
Jenna and Alex had planned to move into my apartment after their wedding while their house purchase remained uncertain.
They intended to present it as a temporary arrangement, then pressure me to stay in the smaller guest room.
Jenna had already selected my bedroom as theirs because it had an attached bathroom.
My study would become a nursery whenever they had a child.
No one had discussed the plan with me.
They had simply begun implementing it.
Alex insisted he had never agreed to take my bedroom, but he admitted he had suggested that I might eventually prefer a smaller place.
I asked whether he had ever heard me say that.
He could not answer.
By nine that evening, every suitcase was gone.
Lorraine apologized at the door, though I could not tell whether she was sorry for entering my home or sorry that the plan had failed.
Carl said nothing.
