Lake:
I thanked Mrs. Lockwood and rose from the chair, holding the wooden box firmly in my right hand. Coming to terms with the fact that I had been lied to all my life was not the easiest thing to do, but it was something I knew I had to do. I had spent all my life hating my mother, despising her for leaving and hoping she was dead. I had even looked her in the eyes and told her to her face that she was indeed dead to me. How did one ever come back from that?
I dragged myself out of Mrs. Lockwood's library, out of the Lockwood mansion and into my car. I placed the box on the passenger's seat beside me. My heart squeezed in my chest as I stared at it. I quickly tore my gaze away from the box. I could not help the guilt that struck me whenever I looked at it.
My drive back home was sl
