In the book "The Pact," by Jodi Picoult, Chris's and Emily's parents aren't speaking to each other anymore, now that Chris has been charged with Emily's murder. The two families used to be extremely close, but Emily's parents refuse to believe that Emily was suicidal, so they think that Chris killed her.

Melanie, Emily's mom, used to be best friends with Gus, Chris's mom. After Emily's death, Melanie stopped speaking to Gus. She probably felt that it was Gus's fault that Melanie's daughter was dead, and didn't want to talk to Gus because of it. "Melanie pulled away and turned her back... Melanie did not respond... When Melanie swung around, she looked completely unfamiliar. 'What I know about Chris,' she said, 'us that he's still alive." In this part of the book, Melanie was telling Gus that it couldn't have been a suicide pact, because then Chris would be dead as well. Melanie thinks that Chris killed Emily.

When Michael, Emily's dad, started having lunch with Gus after they visited Chris in jail, Melanie couldn't understand why Michael would want to talk to Gus. She was still so mad at Gus, and didn't know why her husband wouldn't be, as well. "Melanie shook her head. 'You're a fool. Don't you understand the lengths a mother will go to to protect her child?' She glanced up, her nostrils flared, her lips white. 'That's what Gus is doing, Michael. Which is more than I can say for you.'" Melanie was saying that Gus was trying to convince Michael that Chris was innocent, so Michael would be a defendant for Chris.

Although the Gold's and the Harte's were once extremely close family friends, Emily's death (which was possibly caused by Chris) caused the families to almost entirely stop speaking to each other.