Chapter 6 - The Group Chat Explodes
I didn't look at my phone again until nearly nine o'clock that night. When I finally picked it up off the sofa, the screen was practically smoking with notifications.
There were fifty-two missed calls, eighty-four text messages, and dozens of comment pings.
The Portland Thanksgiving dinner had clearly ended, and the internet had done its work.
The first text from my sister Brinn had arrived at 5:15 PM:
""Wait, where are you? Whose house is that?? Is that a hotel?""
Ten minutes later:
""Jenna, pick up. Mom is asking who you're with.""
At 6:30 PM, Kyle had chimed in:
""Who paid for that? Is Derek back? Did you get an inheritance or something? That dining table is worth more than my car.""
And then, starting at 7:00 PM, came the barrage from my mother, Evelyn:
""Jenna Marie. Call me this instant.""
""What is the meaning of this? You told your sister you had plans, you didn't tell us you were at a private mansion!""
""Are you dating a millionaire? Why wasn't your family invited?""
""You left your mother alone on Thanksgiving to show off for strangers?!""
""Answer your phone! You are being unimaginably disrespectful!""
I stood in the quiet kitchen of the Vance Estate, holding a mug of warm spiced tea, reading the messages with a detached sense of amusement. Noticeable by its total absence was any question about how Maisie was doing. Not a single text asked, ""Did Maisie enjoy her first Thanksgiving?"" The only things that mattered to them were the money, the optics, and the sudden, disorienting realization that I had surpassed their wildest imaginations without their permission.
My phone suddenly buzzed in my hand. Evelyn's face flashed across the screen.
I took a slow breath, slid the green button, and brought the phone to my ear.
""Hello, Mom.""
""Where have you been?!"" Evelyn’s voice shrilled through the receiver, high-pitched and breathless with indignation. ""I have been calling you for three hours! Kyle and Brinn have been refreshing your page all evening! Where are you? Whose house is that?""
""I’m on Mercer Island, Mom. Spending Thanksgiving with Maisie.""
""Don't play dumb with me, Jenna!"" she snapped. ""I saw the food! I saw the private chef in the background of that video Clara posted! I saw the wine! Do you know how humiliating it was for me to have Kyle’s girlfriend Savannah ask why my daughter was dining on a private estate while we were eating a dry turkey at home?!""
""I don't see why my holiday dinner should humiliate you, Mom,"" I said calmly.
""Because you excluded your family!"" she shouted, completely rewriting history in a single breath. ""You went off to some luxury retreat and didn't even think to invite your own mother! After everything I sacrificed for you! Who paid for that, Jenna? Did Derek settle out of court? Did you get a settlement? Answer me!""
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""Nobody paid for me, Mom. I earned it. It’s part of a design commission.""
""A design commission?"" Evelyn scoffed, her tone instantly pivoting from fury to cold, calculating entitlement. ""Well, if you're pulling in that kind of money, then you and I need to have a very serious conversation. Tomorrow morning. First thing.""
