"I was adopted?" Elena's lips quivered as she tried to process what she just read in the diary.
Her hands trembled and she sank onto the floor. The diary lay before her like a weapon, its words cutting through her heart.
"So… the woman I have known all my life isn't my real mother?" She whispered, her voice breaking.
Anger began to rise within her.
"Why didn't she tell me? Why hide this from me?"
Her chest heaved as the betrayal threatened to consume her.
But then, a memory surfaced, forcing the anger to fade.
*FLASHBACK*
It was the middle of the night. Elena, just 14, lay burning with fever.
"Mom… I don't feel good…" She mumbled weakly.
Her mother was by her side in an instant, her hand pressing against Elena's forehead.
"Oh my God, Elena, you are burning up!" She discovered, her voice filled with panic.