Theodore Bane had spent forty years believing that keeping peace in his family meant allowing people to take advantage of him. Divorced and raising his eight-year-old son Felix, he valued the modest Portland apartment they shared. But one evening, his sister Colette sent him a message that made his stomach tighten: she needed his apartment for the weekend because her husband’s family was visiting. Theodore could stay at a hotel.

There was no request—only an assumption. Worse, Colette soon revealed that their mother had given her a copy of Theodore’s emergency key. Theodore suddenly understood the unexplained missing groceries, moved furniture, and open drawers he had noticed for months. His family had been entering his home whenever they wanted. Six days earlier, however, Theodore had quietly replaced the lock with a smart keypad. When Colette announced that eight people were already on their way, he simply told her she could not enter. Minutes later, his phone alerted him: motion detected at the front door.