COLE

I felt rage course through my body at the mention of Lorretta. I had been sitting with the journal, feeling myself consumed by rage and guilt and planning the best way forward when he stomped in.

“Did you know?” I asked, and he stared at me in confusion.

“Know what?”

“That she wasn’t my mother,” I answered, and he had a blank expression for a moment, then his eyes widened in shock.

“What are you talking about?! What do you mean she’s not your mother?”

“Lorretta is not my mother. She had my real mother antagonized for a crime she didn’t commit. This entire time, she’s been lying to...