Chapter 4 - The Family Backlash
While the party was in full swing, my phone buzzed incessantly in my pocket. I ignored it for the first twenty minutes, watching Emma laugh as she fed a carrot to a miniature goat from the relocated petting zoo.
Finally, I stepped away to answer. It was Mom.
"Jessica Marie Vance, you have gone too far!" Mom screamed into the receiver. "Vanessa is crying in her car! Her friends are mortified! How could you humiliate your own sister like that over a silly child's party?"
"A silly child's party?" I repeated, my voice dropping an octave. "Mom, I spent five thousand dollars that I earned working double shifts. Vanessa stole it. And you helped her."
"We just wanted to save money for Vanessa’s wedding!" Mom snapped without missing a beat. "You have no heart. You’re selfish, just like your father. Don't ever expect us to speak to you again."
"Consider it a mutual agreement," I said, and hung up. I didn't feel the crushing guilt I usually felt when defying my mother. Instead, a strange, liberating peace washed over me.
Rachel walked up beside me, holding a juice box and looking across the lawn at the bustling party.
"Your mother just tried to call me to get a legal opinion on whether she can sue you for 'emotional distress'," Rachel said, raising an eyebrow.
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I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "And what did you tell her?"
"I told her that interfering with a contract, trespassing, and coordinating an unauthorized facility takeover are criminal offenses, and if she calls my office again, I'll send her a cease-and-desist." Rachel smirked. "She hung up."
