“Mom, we brought you the keys to your new apartment!”
The room fell silent.
Gleb smiled, expecting me to announce a wedding date or some pleasant surprise.
Instead, I folded my hands on the table.
“The first piece of news,” I said calmly, “is that those keys belong to me.”
Nina laughed.
“Oh, sweetheart, Gleb already explained everything.”
I looked at him.
“Really?”
He cleared his throat.
“I was going to tell you after the wedding…”
“Tell me what?”
“That… it would make more sense if Mom moved into your apartment.”
“My apartment?”
“It’s bigger,” he said. “And it’s close to the hospital.”
Nina nodded eagerly.
“I’ve earned some comfort after all these years.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“So your plan was to give away my apartment without even asking me?”
Gleb sighed dramatically.
“Don’t make this difficult.”
“We’re going to be married.”
“What’s yours will be ours.”
“And Mom shouldn’t have to live alone.”
I smiled again.
“That brings me to the second piece of news.”
They both looked relieved.
“I knew you’d understand,” Nina said.
“Oh, I understand perfectly.”
I reached into my handbag and placed a folder on the table.
Inside were copies of my property documents.
“My apartment was purchased five years before I met Gleb.”
“I own it outright.”
“No mortgage.”
“No joint ownership.”
“No legal claim by anyone else.”
Gleb’s smile disappeared.
“So?”
“So yesterday…”
“…after realizing my keys were missing…”
“…I replaced every lock.”
Silence.
I continued.
“I also installed security cameras.”
“And yesterday afternoon…”
“…the cameras recorded someone using my old keys to enter my apartment.”
Gleb’s face turned white.
Nina slowly lowered the keyring.
I slid another envelope across the table.
“Here are the screenshots.”
The photos clearly showed Gleb unlocking my front door while I was at work.
“I wanted to know why my keys had disappeared.”
“Now I do.”
Neither of them spoke.
“I’ve already filed a police report about the unauthorized entry.”
Gleb jumped to his feet.
“Emily, don’t be ridiculous!”
“You don’t report your fiancé!”
“I report anyone who enters my property without permission.”
Nina finally found her voice.
“We’re family!”
“No.”
“We almost were.”
I quietly removed my engagement ring.
Placed it on the table.
And stood up.
“The wedding is canceled.”
Gleb reached toward me.
“Please…”
“You’ve misunderstood.”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“No.”
“I finally understood.”
Without another word, I walked to the door.
Behind me, I heard Nina asking,
“What are we going to do now?”
I smiled without turning around.
“You can start by giving me back my keys.”
Then I walked away—
knowing I’d just escaped a marriage that would have cost me far more than an apartment.