The Night I Locked My Son’s Fiancée in the Basement When my son Jason called and said, “Mom, I’m engaged!” I nearly dropped the phone. Jason, 22, introverted, laser-focused on finishing college, had never so much as brought a serious girlfriend home. So to hear he was not only dating someone but engaged—it felt like skipping chapters in a book I hadn’t finished reading. “We’ll be there Friday night,” he said. “You’ll love her, Mom. Her name’s Sophie. I was excited. Nervous. Maybe a little hurt I hadn’t known sooner. But I figured, He’s an adult. Maybe she’s the one. Friday came, and my husband Mark and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I cooked Jason’s favorite—chicken parmesan with garlic bread—and set the table like it was Thanksgiving. Then the doorbell rang. Jason stood there with his arm around a young woman. Sophie was pretty, soft-spoken, polite—the kind of girl any mother would be thrilled to see her son with. But the moment I laid eyes on her, my stomach flipped. There was something unsettlingly familiar about her. A face I couldn’t quite place—until it hit me like ice water down my back. Two months earlier, my friend Rachel’s son had been conned by a woman he met online. She’d stolen thousands, vanished, and left him humiliated and heartbroken. Rachel had shown me photos. And this girl—Sophie—was the spitting image. I told myself to calm down. That it was impossible. But through dinner, I couldn’t focus on anything but the resemblance. Her smile, her voice—it all felt too close for comfort. My pulse thundered in my ears with every polite laugh she gave. I tried to shake it off. Tried to listen as they talked about their plans, how Jason proposed in a bookstore café, how Sophie wanted to go into nonprofit work. But my mind spiraled. Finally, in a panic I couldn’t explain, I asked Sophie to help me grab a bottle of wine from the basement. She followed me without hesitation. Once we were down there, I turned quickly, shut the door behind her—and locked it. My heart pounded as I ran upstairs. “Call the police,” I told Mark, my voice shaking. “It’s her. That’s the scammer. Rachel’s son’s scammer. I’m sure of it.” Mark stared at me. “What are you talking about?” Jason jumped up. “What do you mean you locked her in the basement?!” Chaos erupted. Jason demanded I open the door. Mark looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I held the phone with trembling hands, waiting for the police.
