VERA'S POV

It was a cool evening when she was laid to rest. I stood quietly beside her grave, not really sure how I felt. She hadn’t been the best mother, but she still said "bless you" when someone sneezed. That had to mean something. Still, I never understood how she could watch me suffer at the hands of her boyfriend. It made me doubt if I was ever truly her daughter. But even with all that, I never wished death on her. Not this soon.

We were slowly becoming friends, trying to fix things between us. She really cared about Jessica, even though she stayed distant. She hadn’t been...