Cassiopeia Forbes has spent years distancing herself from Mystic Falls-a town steeped in memories of her younger sister, Caroline, and the mother she never truly connected with. Leaving at just nine year old to live with her father, Cassie vowed nev...
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The Salvatore house feels colder than usual. The echoes of everything that happened linger in my mind, wrapping around me like a suffocating blanket. My head throbs from where Kol hit me, but the pain is nothing compared to the ache in my heart. I’m still in shock, trying to piece together everything that just happened.
Jeremy, Bonnie, and Elena are all in the living room, but the silence between us is thick with tension. I can’t shake the feeling of dread that’s been gnawing at me since we left the Gilbert house. Everything that just happened—Kol’s death, Klaus’s rage—it’s all too much to process. I know I should be relieved that Jeremy is safe, but all I can feel is this sinking pit in my stomach.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “You planned it all, didn’t you?” My voice comes out harsher than I intended, but I don’t care. I need answers. “That’s why you invited him in.”
Elena avoids my gaze, her lips pressed into a thin line. She doesn’t answer.
“Elena,” I press, my frustration mounting. “Explain.”
Elena’s eyes flash with something—anger, guilt, I can’t tell. “I don’t know why you’re always defending the Originals,” she snaps back.
Before I can respond, Damon and Stefan walk into the room, sensing the tension.
“What’s happening here?” Damon asks, his tone casual but his eyes sharp, taking in the scene.
I turn to him, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and desperation. “Did you know they were planning to kill Kol?”
Damon’s brow furrows in confusion, but when I look at Stefan, he’s silent, just standing there with that stoic expression I’ve come to recognize all too well.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I ask Stefan directly, my voice rising. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
Stefan’s nod is barely perceptible, but it’s there. He knew. My heart sinks.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” I shout, feeling betrayed. This is Stefan—he’s supposed to be the one who understands me, who’s on my side.
Elena jumps in before Stefan can respond, her voice sharp. “If we had told you, you wouldn’t have let us kill him.”
“Because we didn’t have to kill him!” I retort, my voice cracking. “We could have just daggered him.”
Stefan finally speaks, his voice calm but detached. “We needed to complete the map.”
“The map,” I repeat, bitterness dripping from my words. “For Elena, you’re willing to kill everyone in your path. Isn’t that it?”
Elena glares at me, her patience clearly wearing thin. “Why are you always choosing the Originals over me?”
“I’m not choosing anyone,” I fire back. “I’m choosing what’s right. We’re killing and hurting people for our own benefit. It’s wrong, Elena.”
