Chapter 6 - Fifteen Hours Later
The sun rose slowly on Sunday morning, casting long, golden fingers across the hardwood floors of the house. Fifteen hours had passed since Robert’s dismissive text message had detonated their lives.
Jenna was standing at the kitchen sink, rinsing out the last of the heavy copper mixing bowls, listening to the birds chirp outside the window. The house was quiet, wrapped in the comfortable aftermath of chaos. Ava was still dead asleep on the couch, her face relaxed, the heavy chef’s apron draped neatly over a nearby chair like a soldier’s resting armor.
Suddenly, the peaceful morning silence was shattered.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
It wasn't a polite knock. It was a furious, frantic pounding—so hard and aggressive that the entire front door rattled in its frame and the walls of the hallway visibly shook.
Jenna froze, her hands wet with soapy water. The banging came again, louder this time, accompanied by muffled, angry shouting from the porch.
Wiping her hands hastily on a dish towel, Jenna walked down the hallway, her heart ticking upward in a steady, controlled rhythm. She didn't feel fear. She felt an icy, crystalline calm.
She reached the front door and looked through the small glass windowpane.
There they were.
Standing on the porch, bathed in the harsh morning sunlight, were her parents, Robert and Miriam. Directly behind them stood her sister, Chloe, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her face twisted into a mask of pure panic and fury. Judging by the dark circles under their eyes and the frantic way Robert was clutching his smartphone, they hadn't slept a wink.
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They had finally seen what the rest of the town was reading.
Jenna took a slow, deep breath, unlocked the deadbolt with a sharp click, and pulled the door wide open.
