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A Lifetime of Lies
A Lifetime of Lies
Author: Not Drunk

Chapter 1

Author: Not Drunk
I stood in the arrivals hall as crowds streamed past me. Some people embraced. Others kissed. Some ran laughing straight into their mothers' arms.

My mother Emily West's words kept replaying in my head. "You shouldn't have come. They don't know I have another daughter."

It was as if I were a stain on her life, something she had to keep carefully hidden.

I thought about how this was the first time I'd ever flown on a plane.

The moment the plane took off, my heart raced like crazy.

When I was two, my mom left me with Grandma Eleanor to escape my abusive father, then fled the country illegally. I hadn't seen her once since.

I had asked her, "Mom, could you send me a picture of yourself? Just one."

I didn't know whether she hadn't seen my request or simply hadn't had the time.

She sent back all kinds of unusual things no one around me had ever seen, but never a single picture of herself.

Thinking about it, it had been sixteen years.

Sixteen whole years since I'd seen my mom.

I'd imagined our reunion countless times. Would she be thinner or heavier? Would her hair be red or brunette? Would her hands be covered in calluses from years of hard labor?

She would be waiting for me at the airport, holding up a sign with my name on it. When she saw me, she'd pull me into a big hug.

I spent eight hours on the plane without sleeping a single minute.

The woman sitting beside me smiled and asked, "You're so young. Are you traveling abroad?"

I smiled so widely my eyes nearly disappeared. "My mom's waiting for me abroad."

"That's wonderful." She gently patted my head. "A mother and daughter reunited. There's nothing happier than that."

I smiled and clutched the homemade cookies in my hand. They were the flavor my mom had once told me over the phone she missed so much.

The scent of baked cookies still lingered beneath my nose, and suddenly, I felt lost.

Yes, I'd been looking forward to this so much.

How had everything turned out like this?

I sent her my location. [Mom, can we just meet once? I promise I won't disturb your life. Please.]

She didn't reply.

I waited in the arrivals hall for an hour, then another. Every time someone walked past, I'd look up. Not one of them was her.

My phone was almost dead. I gripped it tightly in my hand.

Finally, my mom replied: [Sue, go back, okay? Please listen to me.]

[It's Sofia's birthday today. Our whole family is celebrating with her, and your being here would make things awkward.]

[Maybe next time?]

Next time?

For sixteen years, my mom had promised me next time countless times. Next time she'd come back. Next time we'd meet. Next time she'd bring me something delicious.

For the sake of that so-called next time, I'd traveled thousands of miles.

And it had all been for nothing.

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  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 8

    Time flew by. Three years later, I founded my own investment firm.The people I'd once looked up to were now my peers. That included Graham, my mom's husband.I ran into him again at an industry gathering.A beautiful blonde with blue eyes stood beside him and greeted me, "Sue, long time no see."As my reputation in the industry grew, more and more people began paying attention to the markets I worked in. Before long, keeping up with my work and investment strategies had become a favorite pastime among finance professionals."Long time no see." I raised my champagne glass in greeting from across the room.Something seemed to occur to him, and he hurried over to me."Sue, I had no idea your childhood was so..." He struggled to find the right word before finally managing, "Miserable."I shrugged and let him continue."You have to understand that where we're from, abandoning a child can land you in prison. And that's especially true when the child grows up to be an investment man

  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 7

    Another winter came.Ever since that day, I hadn't gone back to my hometown for the holidays in a long time.There was no doubt about it. I hated Grandma. I hated her for keeping the truth about my mom from me for so many years, and I hated myself for being so blind, for spending more than a decade waiting and hoping she would come back.Yet, for reasons I couldn't explain, I went home that year.By the time I'd finished work, there were no more train tickets available. I stood at the station for a long time before finally deciding to drive.The journey was several hundred miles, and I drove through the entire night. By the time I reached my hometown, the sky was just beginning to lighten.I stood outside the front door, unable to bring myself to go in.After I started working, I'd tried to bring Grandma to Crestholm to live with me, but she'd refused.With no other choice, I'd paid to have the entire old house renovated.Everyone envied Grandma for being so blessed. Who would

  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 6

    I straightened my back and looked her in the eye."Tell me, what possible reason could keep you from coming home to see your daughter for more than a decade? What possible reason could make you keep pretending to be a good mother who scrimped and saved every penny?"You bought Sofia a piano and an expensive car, but you sent me the things she didn't want."You went with Sofia to summer camp, but you couldn't even be bothered to call me when I was taking my college entrance exams."Where were you when I cried? Where were you when I had a fever? Where were you when people bullied me? Where were you when I got my college acceptance letter?"You weren't there. You were never there. Because I'm not your daughter. I'm just the one you threw away."I thought I'd forgotten it all. But the moment I saw her in person, I realized how clearly I remembered everything—every incident, every heartbreak, and every time I'd cried myself awake calling for my mom. It was as if an invisible diary h

  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 5

    I didn't say much.At an event like this, talking too much about my miserable childhood would make it seem as though I were fishing for sympathy.So I glossed over it in a few casual sentences, each one weighing a thousand pounds in my mother's heart.But I wasn't about to let her off the hook. As I looked out at the packed audience, I made one final remark at the end of my speech."Earlier, a woman accused me of stealing her necklace. Her daughter slapped me across the face without bothering to find out what had actually happened."I suppose this says everything about the character of Larkspur's students."After I stepped offstage, Graham was waiting for me with Sofia. My mom stood to one side, her fingers clenched tightly around the hem of her dress. He grabbed the girl and made her apologize to me.That was the real world. People respected the strong, and only the strong.That's why I'd never expected my mom to turn around and look at me. As long as I became powerful enough,

  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 4

    I remembered the last thing my mom had said to me that day."I've remarried. My husband's a fund manager on Wall Street. Our daughter is smart and sweet, the apple of our whole family's eye."I checked the summit's attendee list, and sure enough, I saw my mom's name and Sofia's. They were attending with Graham O'Neill.I looked him up. He was around forty, held the same position as I did, and wasn't even as accomplished as me.For the past five years, I'd slept no more than five hours a night.I'd memorized every bit of professional knowledge so thoroughly that no matter which page my boss opened, I could recite its contents word for word.I knew every client's likes and dislikes. They all spoke highly of me, and some had even promised that wherever I went, their money would follow.I supposed that was why, at just twenty-three, I was able to stand among these people.On the third day of the summit, a business gala was held at Larkspur University. I learned Sophia is also study

  • A Lifetime of Lies   Chapter 3

    When I returned home, I went to see Grandma first.When I walked in, she was on the phone with my mom.I looked at the old phone, the one that usually rang only during the holidays, and couldn't quite put my feelings into words.The red phone was ancient, and the sound even leaked through its casing."Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop letting Sue come looking for me! I finally managed to get rid of that burden. What exactly are you trying to do?"I told you to abandon her back then. Why didn't you? And now look at all the trouble she's causing!"Grandma glanced at me cautiously before speaking in a low voice to the person on the other end, "All right, stop talking about it.""I don't care! If you're going to raise that burden, then you need to keep her under control! If she ruins the life I've built for myself, then we'll all go down together!"Grandma hurriedly hung up. "Sue, your mom didn't mean it."I managed a strained smile and tossed my backpack onto the so

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