The Secret Door in the Master Bedroom

I had just landed at 2:00 a.m. when my smart mattress app sent an alert. [Privacy Mode updated.] [Dual-occupancy weight detected.] [Sleep report upload paused.] I froze. Neither I nor my wife, Chloe, was home, and our housekeeper, Martha, was off for the week. Who was sleeping in my bed in the middle of the night? I checked the app again to confirm. Then I dialed Chloe. "Chloe, you came back home? Why didn't you tell me?" She sounded utterly confused. "Babe, do you miss me? But this project is huge. The earliest I can get back is tomorrow night." I pressed a hand to my forehead and sighed. "Sorry, I must be exhausted and mixed up the days. See you tomorrow night." Right after hanging up, another smart-home app pinged. [Master Bathroom Aromatherapy Bath Mode: Activated] I quickly shot Martha a text, then drove straight home. Thinking about news stories of housekeeping thefts, I pulled up Martha's number. My thumb slipped and hit the call button, but I hung up immediately. She had worked for my family for over ten years. She treated me like her own son. She would never do something like this. Reaching the gated community's entrance, I rolled down my window and looked at the security guard. "Hey, a friend said he was coming over to see me. Did you guys let anyone in?" The guard shook his head, puzzled. "Mr. Hayes, no guests have checked in today. Are you sure you didn't mix up the date?" I gave a slight nod and forced a smile. "Maybe he decided it was too far. Thanks anyway." Just then, Martha called back on FaceTime. She was sitting with her grandkids, having a peaceful family dinner. "Martha, I'm adding a bonus to your check this month. Take a few extra days off and enjoy your family." "Oh, thank you, sweet boy!" I hung up, and my smile vanished. Martha definitely wasn't there. Was there really an intruder in my house? But why would an intruder be sleeping in my bed? I pulled up to the driveway. Looking up at the master bedroom's glowing window, my stomach dropped. Someone was in there. But who? I unlocked the front door quietly. Before flipping the lights, moonlight caught Chloe's slippers. They had been moved. I distinctly remembered that she had left for her business trip a day before me. When I stepped out, I had deliberately aligned our shoes side by side. Could this be one of those squatters from the news, sneaking into empty houses because they couldn't afford rent? Afraid an intruder might get violent, I grabbed the baseball bat hidden behind the front door. I started creeping upstairs. Suddenly, Chloe appeared at the top of the landing wrapped in a bath towel and flicked on the foyer light. "Ryan, what are you doing back?" She dried her hair with a small towel, looking at the bat in my hand with an amused smirk. "And what's with the weapon?" I let out a massive sigh of relief. "I just got back from work and saw your slippers moved. I thought we had an intruder." "Chloe, you didn't tell me you were home. You scared the hell out of me." Then, reality hit me, and I stared at her. "Wait. Didn't you say the earliest you could get back was tomorrow night?" Chloe hurried down the stairs and wrapped her arms around my neck. "That was the plan, but you called sounding like you missed me. I caught the earliest flight out." "I wanted to surprise you." Her expression of joyful surprise was flawless. Her words were dripping with sweetness. Yet, as I breathed in the scent on her skin, my heart turned to ice. The bathroom lights had been turned on hours ago. She claimed she had just gotten home. She was lying. The aromatherapy bath setting infused the skin with a very specific, heavy scent. But she only smelled like her everyday body wash. Chloe was lying to cover for someone who was stealing my tub. She was cheating on me. I pulled out my phone and checked when the bath cycle had finished. It was right when I pulled up to the front gate. My house had only one front entrance, which meant whoever used my bathtub was still inside! I forced a smile, gently peeling her off me, and headed upstairs. "Thanks, Chloe. I'm dead tired. I need to wash up." Chloe pushed open the master bedroom door, looking like a puppy waiting for praise. "The second I heard your car, I knew it was you. Look, I even drew you a bath." I walked into the bathroom and glanced at the wall panel—Bath Mode. She used the aroma mode occasionally, but never this particular sandalwood-scented oil. Right then, a dull thud echoed from the bedroom. I rushed back in and glared at the large walk-in closet, my brows furrowing. Behind me, Chloe spotted a collectible action figure on the nightstand and let out a quiet, barely audible breath of relief. I didn't care about the toy. My eyes were glued to the custom walk-in closet. It was massive. A grown adult could easily hide inside. Just as my fingers touched the handle, Chloe grabbed my wrist. "Wait.""Ryan, look what I brought you. Over there." She pointed toward the desk. My eyes widened. "Is that... the limited-edition figure I've been hunting for years?!" With the closet consuming my thoughts, I absentmindedly turned the toy in my hands. Then, while Chloe turned away, I yanked the closet doors wide open. I scanned every single section from left to right. Nothing. No one was there. Looking at the open doors, Chloe smoothly smoothed down a couple of hanging shirts, her tone perfectly casual. "What pajamas do you want tonight, Ryan?" The closet was the only spot in the master bedroom capable of hiding a human being. Maybe I had lost my mind. Maybe there really wasn't anyone here. I pointed to my usual set and let out a long breath. It had to be a glitch in the smart home network, triggering routines on its own. For security, I had installed facial recognition cameras at the front door, plus a hidden spy camera tucked across the foyer aiming inward. If anyone other than Chloe and me appeared at the door, an alert would ping my phone. The hidden camera would capture the living room whenever the front door swung open. The next day, right after lunch at the office, my smart assistant popped up with another alert. [Master Bathroom Light: ON.] [Master Bathroom Aromatherapy Bath Mode: Activated. Enjoy your soak~] I opened the security feed, which hadn't triggered any alerts. I scrubbed through the footage at 10x speed from the moment I left the house. Not a single soul had crossed the threshold. I sighed. It really was just a bug in the newly installed smart home system. I called my assistant, told him to schedule an update for the firmware, and dismissed the notification. That evening, I caught up with my best friend over dinner. Reminiscing about our childhood dreams, I grinned and pulled out a picture on my phone. "Check this out. Chloe tracked down this collectible on her trip!" My buddy leaned in, squinting, then clicked his tongue. "Damn, an ultra-rare piece! Shame about the lipstick smudge on the collar, though. Ruined the mint condition." His words hit me like a slap. Chloe would never put lipstick on a display model. And it hadn't come in a mint box. Did she buy a cheap bootleg to appease me? Suspicious, I dialed Chloe on FaceTime. The moment I brought it up, she apologized profusely. "Oh god, Ryan, I'm so sorry! The lips on the figure looked a little faded, so I tried touching it up with a lipstick from my vanity." "I don't know anything about collectibles. I'm sorry, babe. I'll hunt down another one for you." This specific release was an extremely limited run from years ago, nearly impossible to find. The fact that she had pulled strings to secure one was touching enough. I smiled, brushed it off, and ended the call. Suddenly, my phone buzzed again. The master bathtub had initiated aroma mode, running for over an hour before shutting down. I shook my head. Chloe never took baths that fast. The smart home hub was definitely defective. A week later, I was standing on the platform waiting for the commuter train for an out-of-town business trip. The security guard from our complex suddenly called. "Mr. Hayes, your friend is here. He just gave your house number and checked through the gate." My earlier question had been a trap to see if anyone was visiting. I never imagined that days later, the guard would deliver such critical intel. I stepped out of the boarding line and opened the live camera feed. Three minutes later, Chloe walked up to the front porch. She was completely alone. Yet she knocked first before using her key. Then, she paused for several seconds before stepping inside. With a sinking feeling in my chest, I pulled up the hidden camera pointing at the interior entryway. Sure enough, as the door opened, the footage caught a shirtless man standing inside, welcoming her with wide-open arms.I sprinted out of the train station, hailed a cab, and threw a stack of bills at the driver to speed as fast as legally possible. Watching the speedometer push the limit, my chest tightened with a sharp, suffocating pain. What if I burst through the door and caught them red-handed? Would this tear us apart and end in divorce? We had been together for ten years. High school sweethearts, through college, straight into marriage. Aside from her insisting on building our careers before having kids, our relationship had been seamless. She had even taken the brunt of the pressure from both sets of parents demanding grandchildren, claiming she wanted me to enjoy our youth a little longer. Now, pure dread washed over me. Did she not want kids with me, or did she already have one with someone else? Traffic ground to a dead halt just two miles from our neighborhood. I stared in agony at the endless sea of red brake lights. Right then, another alert popped up on my screen: [Master Bathroom Aromatherapy Bath Mode: Activated. Enjoy your soak~] Rage blinded me. I kicked the cab door open, unlocked a city rental bike with trembling fingers, and pedaled furiously toward home. When I ditched the bike at the gate, I froze for a second, staring at my front door. My mind was a complete storm. I unlocked the door and bolted straight upstairs. As my feet hit the steps, I forced myself to slow down, biting my lower lip until it almost bled. Were they in my bed right now? What if she denied it? If she confessed, would we divorce? How would I tell our families? My hand hovered over the bedroom knob for two seconds. I started video recording on my phone and threw the door open. "Chloe, what the hell are you doing?!" Chloe set down her phone, sitting up in bed to look at me. "I just laid down to call you. Ryan, aren't you supposed to be out of town?" Looking at the thick, bundled duvet, I clenched my teeth. "The client canceled last minute. I'm exhausted." Chloe let out a soft, doting laugh, pulling back the covers. "Well, Mr. Hayes, care to join me? I missed you today." The bed was completely empty. Whoever had been there was already hidden. I pulled Chloe into an embrace and smelled her neck. The scent was faint. I spun around and marched into the master bathroom. A wall of rich sandalwood hit my senses. Someone had just showered in here minutes ago! I pressed my lips together, dropped to my knees to check under the bed, and yanked open the closet doors. I tore through every corner of the bedroom. Nothing. I spun around to face Chloe. "Where's the man?" She stood up, wrapped her arms around my neck, and rested her chin on my chest, sounding thoroughly confused. "What man? It's just you and me. Martha's on vacation, remember?" I pushed her aside and searched the house, room by room, ensuring no closet or corner was left unchecked. By the time I finished scouring the entire property, I had zero energy left. Chloe pulled me down onto the living room sofa, her brows pinched. "You're suspecting me." Then, her tone melted into gentle concern, and she slid onto my lap. "I'm sorry. I haven't made you feel secure enough. How about we stay with my parents for a few days to decompress?" The concern in her eyes looked utterly genuine. I faked an exhausted sigh and rubbed my temples. "I'm just stressed. Maybe I'm losing my mind." Chloe cupped my cheeks, forcing me to look into her eyes. "You're not, Ryan." "You're the most amazing man in the world. Stop worrying. Go take a shower and let's sleep. I'll hold you tight all night, total reassurance." I didn't buy a single word. I just smiled weakly and nodded. "Alright." Passing the nightstand, I secretly checked the box of condoms. Two were missing. Needing to check the security feeds, I grabbed my bathrobe and slipped into the bathroom. I scrubbed the tub three times before my skin stopped crawling enough for me to sit down and review the app. No one had left through the front door. The side windows were untouched. Scrubbing back to days before the first alert popped up, I noticed something shocking. Even though there was no record of them entering together, Chloe and that same man had walked out of the front door side-by-side. Which meant— He had another way into my house.After a shower drenched in dark thoughts, I pulled on my bathrobe to head out. Catching my reflection in the mirror, I noticed a bright, vivid smear of lipstick on the collar. I practiced my facial expressions in the mirror, fighting the urge to tear the robe off and throw it in the trash. He came into my home, slept with my wife, and wore my clothes. To use my belongings this casually, Chloe's affair wasn't recent. I had just been too blind to notice before the smart-home app exposed them. The second I stepped into the hallway, Chloe handed me a warm mug of milk. "Drink this so you sleep better. You work too hard, Ryan." I gave her a weary smile and wrapped her in a brief hug. "Sorry, Chloe. I'm exhausted and getting paranoid." "I'll probably wake up multiple times tonight. I'll sleep in the guest room so I don't disturb you." Chloe gently helped me lay down in the guest bed, then excused herself without asking another question. I left the nightstand lamp on, staring at the ceiling until dawn. The next morning, staring at the vanity mirror, a plan clicked into place... Leaving the house, I went to a specialty shop and bought a bottle of harmless, industrial-grade UV fluorescent dye, dumping it directly into the body wash and bath aroma dispenser. Whichever mode he picked next time, he would be coated in it. This specific dye was impossible to wash off without a dedicated solvent. Let's see where he hid after this. To avoid raising suspicion, I waited until 8:00 p.m. before heading home. The moment the system pinged that Bath Mode had started, I called Chloe and told her I was craving her cooking. On the screen, Chloe instinctively glanced toward the bathroom, a strained smile on her face. "Why don't we eat when you get back? If I cook now and drive it over, it'll get cold." I sighed, about to drag the conversation out, when a man's scream tore through the speaker: "Ah! God, it burns! Chloe, help me!" I paused, playing dumb. "Was that a man's voice? Are you watching TV?" Chloe nodded frantically, her eyes darting around. "Oh, yeah! Look, an urgent Zoom meeting just started. I have to go!" Watching her panic, I let out a cold smirk. This time, I was bringing both of our families to catch them in the act. Let's see her squirm out of this! I led a furious group right up the stairs and threw the bedroom door open. Music was blasting from a phone inside the brightly lit bathroom. My father-in-law, Mark, grabbed my arm. "Ryan!" "Don't open the door. Just tell them to come out. Save us a shred of dignity. Once Chloe steps out, whatever you want to do to her, we won't stop you." I hesitated, but looking at Mark and my mother-in-law, Susan, I gave a solemn nod. Yet after several shouts, the bathroom remained completely silent. Finally, Mark gritted his teeth and shoved the bathroom door open. The moment it swung wide, I froze. My parents and in-laws gasped in shock. The light was on, but the room was empty— Nothing was there except a pink phone blaring a pop track.