At my grandmother’s funeral, I noticed my mother slipping a small package into the casket. Curiosity led me to retrieve it later, but I didn’t expect it to reveal heartbreaking secrets. My grandmother, Catherine, wasn’t just family—she was my best friend. At her funeral, I felt “untethered, like learning to breathe with only half a lung,” the weight of grief settling in.

While reminiscing, I saw my mother, Victoria, discreetly place something in the casket. Her actions unsettled me. After the service, I opened the mysterious package to discover letters from my grandmother to my mother. The letters detailed years of betrayal, revealing my mother’s gambling addiction and repeated thefts from my grandmother’s savings. Grandma’s words were a painful mixture of love, disappointment, and finality: “I cannot trust you.”

The final letter from Victoria to Grandma, written just two days after her passing, was chillingly defiant: “Your clever little plan won’t work… In the end, I still win.”

I confronted my mother in a quiet café, handing her two letters: one from Grandma, and one I’d written. My letter was clear: if she tried to manipulate me, the truth would come out. Walking away, I realized that some lies can’t stay buried forever.