My boyfriend posted a picture of my house with the caption: “Finally bought Mom a place. She deserves it.” I stared at it for a while. I bought that house two years before I met him. When I called, he laughed and said he was just trying to make his mother happy. She’d been worried about him lately. He’d take the post down after she saw it. “You could’ve posted your actual apartment,” I said. “Baby, she’s been there.” I told him to delete it. He said okay. An hour later, his mother commented under the picture: “I still can’t believe it. Thank you, son.” He liked her comment. I called him again. No answer. That evening she messaged me. We’d met once at dinner, so I thought she was going to ask if I’d seen the post. Instead she asked what time I’d be home on Friday. “I gave notice on my apartment,” she said. “He told me you’re helping with the keys.” I sat down right there in the kitchen. I asked her how long she’d known about the house. “Since June,” she said. “He wanted it to be a surprise.” It was September. We’d been dating since May. Then she thanked me for helping him with the paperwork. I had never helped him with paperwork. I asked if he’d requested any money from her. She didn’t reply for nearly ten minutes. When she did, she said, “He told me it was for the down payment.”