Dear Prudence,
I have been with my boyfriend, “Alex” for two years. (We’re both men.) I moved into his condo shortly before lockdown, and while it’s been a weird time, things had been going really well. He seemed like the most perfect, lovely boyfriend, and I trusted him absolutely, even if he’s been a little possessive at times. Never anything that raised an alarm bell though, and he’s always seemed open to talking about any problems. I was sorting through drawers in the bedroom after he’d told me I was welcome to rearrange things and found an actual hidden compartment. Inside was an old cellphone of mine I thought had been lost or stolen over two years ago. It was fully charged and still logged in to all my social media accounts. I don’t know how, given that I had it deactivated way back when I realized it was gone. There was also a photo album that included a lot of snaps from my modelling portfolio back in college. This album had gone missing from my old apartment before I’d even met my current boyfriend.
I went into a state of shock, put them back, and said nothing to him when he came home. I’ve changed all my social media passwords, but that’s it. I have no idea how to discuss this with him. In normal circumstances, I would leave to stay with a friend and discuss it with someone else, but now I feel like I can’t talk to anyone. I don’t want to call someone when he is always in the apartment with me, and my devices no longer feel safe. He has noticed that I am acting off, but I’ve pretended it’s just general anxiety. But I can’t pretend nothing is wrong for much longer. Is there any possible reasonable explanation for what I found? Am I right to be as completely terrified by this as I am?
—Chilling Revelation