The mansion loomed ahead like a dark, silent sentinel against the early evening sky. As the car rolled up the long, winding driveway, Valerie’s eyes never wavered from the view ahead. The towering stone structure, with its imposing gates and carefully manicured grounds, felt like a distant memory, something she had put behind her, though it had never truly left her. The weight of it pressed on her chest now, just as it always had, each turn of the tires on the gravel sounding louder than the last, as though it were trying to remind her of the life she had walked away from.
Inside the car, Laura sat beside her, her jaw set, her eyes fixed on the road. She had been quiet ever since they had left the house. They had said nothing to each other on the drive back, nothing that mattered anyway.
