Chapter 5 - THE DESPERATE SUMMONS
Back in the quiet, stifling atmosphere of Jenna’s suburban neighborhood, the party had long since died. The expensive burgers sat charred and cold on the grill, the water guns lay abandoned on the lawn, and the few remaining guests had slipped away quietly, eager to distance themselves from the social disaster of the afternoon.
Jenna paced back and forth across her pristine kitchen floor, her wedge sandals clicking a frantic, angry rhythm against the tile. Her phone was pressed so hard against her ear that her knuckles had turned white.
"What do you mean, not accepting calls?" Jenna shrieked into the receiver, her voice echoing off the granite countertops. "She’s my sister! And that brat is my niece! They can't just vanish into thin air! Find out where Vale Manor's legal team filed the address change!"
On the other end of the line, her husband, Mark—who had wisely stayed at his office during the party—sighed heavily. "Jenna, listen to me very carefully. You messed with the wrong people. Vale Holdings isn't just some local business; they own half the commercial real estate in the state. If Helena Vale’s lawyers are involved, we are talking about federal-level corporate power. You need to apologize."
"Apologize?!" Jenna screamed, her face turning a violent shade of crimson. "Apologize to Sarah?! That broke nobody?! She’s lived in a two-bedroom dump for a decade! She owes me an apology for ruining my party and embarrassing me in front of the entire neighborhood!"
"Jenna, wake up!" Mark shouted back, his own temper finally snapping. "They didn't just leave—they left in a custom armored SUV with corporate security detail! Do you have any idea what kind of money we're talking about? If Sarah inherits even a fraction of the Vale estate, we are financially ruined if they decide to sue us for defamation and harassment!"
The phone went dead with a sharp click as Mark hung up on her.
Jenna stared at the glowing screen in sheer disbelief. Her hands shook as she tossed the phone onto the kitchen island. For years, she had defined her entire existence by her superiority over me. She was the successful sister with the big house, the wealthy husband, and the social standing. I was the cautionary tale, the single mother scraping by, the punching bag she used to feel good about herself.
The thought that I—and more importantly, Lara—was now living in a multi-million-dollar mansion under the direct protection of a billionaire matriarch felt like a personal insult from the universe itself.
"I won't let them win," Jenna hissed to the empty kitchen. "If Helena Vale thinks she can just buy them off and keep them away from the family... she doesn't know who she's dealing with."
She grabbed her designer handbag, stormed out the front door, and marched straight across the lawn to where my mother sat heavily on her front porch, staring blankly at the shattered pieces of wineglass still littering the patio.
"Mom," Jenna demanded, stopping in front of her. "We need a plan."
My mother looked up, her face pale, her usual haughty posture slumped in defeat. "A plan for what, Jenna? You heard the corporate lawyer. They have lawyers, money, power... what could we possibly do?"
"We go to the estate," Jenna said, her eyes narrowing with desperate malice. "We play the family card. We cry, we beg, we claim Sarah brainwashed the old lady against us. Public opinion is everything, Mom. If we show up at Vale Manor and make a scene, demanding to see our 'poor, manipulated' family members, the press will eat it up. Helena Vale hates bad publicity. She’ll have to let us in."
My mother hesitated, the lingering fear of the billionaire's wrath warring with her own deep-seated arrogance. But arrogance always won out in our family.
"You really think she'll talk to us?" my mother asked softly.
May you like
"She has to," Jenna smiled, a cold, calculating expression spreading across her face. "Family is family. And we're going to make sure everyone knows how ungrateful Sarah and her little brat really are."
Little did they know, Margot Ellis and the Vale legal team had anticipated every single move before Jenna even laced up her shoes.
