Chapter 4 - The Front Porch Meltdown
I watched the live video feed with my heart pounding in my ears.
Chris pounded his heavy fist against the wooden door.
"Emily, open up, it's freezing out here!" he yelled into the night.
My mother wrapped her expensive coat tighter around her shoulders, looking annoyed.
"I told you she was being dramatic," my mother complained loudly to the group.
Ashley pushed past Chris and glared directly into the camera lens.
"Emily, we know you are in there, this isn't funny anymore," Ashley snapped.
"Open the door right now, the kids are tired."
Michael leaned over my shoulder, watching the tiny screen with wide eyes.
"They really thought you were just going to surrender," he whispered in disbelief.
I felt a surge of empowerment as I watched them shiver in the cold.
"Call her phone," my mother ordered Chris.
A second later, my phone started vibrating violently on the cabin coffee table.
I let it ring until it went straight to voicemail.
On the screen, Chris threw his hands up in frustration.
"She's ignoring us," Chris announced angrily.
"This is completely unacceptable," my mother huffed, shivering.
"I am her mother, and I demand to be let into my daughter's house."
Ashley started walking around the side of the porch, disappearing from the camera's view.
"Where is she going?" I asked, a knot forming in my stomach.
A few seconds later, a loud, crashing sound echoed through the camera's audio feed.
My mother gasped and covered her mouth in shock.
Ashley reappeared on the screen, brushing dirt off her expensive designer jeans.
"I broke the laundry room window," Ashley said casually.
"I'm not sleeping in a car because Emily is having a childish temper tantrum."
My jaw dropped in absolute horror.
My sister had just broken into a house that I no longer owned.
She was trespassing on the property of a ruthless cash buyer.
"Michael, she broke in," I panicked, gripping his arm.
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Before Michael could answer, bright red and blue lights suddenly flashed across the screen.
A police cruiser pulled up right behind Chris's SUV.
