The evening air in Mystic Falls feels heavy, pressing down as you step into the Salvatore Mansion. Once a sanctuary, its walls now suffocate, burdened with memories of betrayal and loss. Weeks have passed since the ritual—weeks since Elijah Mikaelson's choices shattered your world. His actions had led to Jenna's death and Elena's temporary loss, leaving scars that even Bonnie’s spell couldn’t heal. The damage was done, and the ache of betrayal lingers like a wound refusing to close.

Now, Elijah stands in your room, the very room where you'd once spent hours planning and sharing moments that had made you believe he was more than a centuries-old vampire with a rigid code of honor. Tonight, that belief is in ruins. You stand with your back to him, unwilling to meet his gaze. Your eyes fixate on the empty spot where the ring he gave you once rested—a ring now tucked away in a drawer, a painful relic of what you’ve lost.

“I didn’t expect this to be easy,” Elijah says, his voice steady yet strained. “But I had hoped you’d allow me a chance to explain.” His words hang in the thick silence. “What I did—leaving with Klaus, taking Stefan—it wasn’t a choice I made lightly. I thought I was doing what was right, but I see now I hurt you in ways I never intended.”

Each word cuts like a blade, reopening wounds you’ve tried to ignore. “You trusted me,” he continues, his voice softening. “And I broke that trust. But know this—I didn’t betray you out of malice. My actions were driven by the need to save my family, to end Klaus’s madness. But in doing so, I hurt the one person I never wanted to harm—you.”