Elena suppressed a small groan when she saw John Gilbert pacing in front of her office at Mystic Falls Hospital. He glanced impatiently at the expensive black watch on his wrist. When he looked up, he spotted her striding towards the office. His relief and impatience were plain on his face.

"I need to talk to you, Elena," John said. "It is important."

"Okay, give me a minute," she said as she opened the door of her office. "Come in."

"You are still going to marry Damon Salvatore, aren't you?" His jaw was tight. "You will have to tell me what you see in him." He paused deliberately. "Besides the Salvatore family money, that is."

"You know, insulting me and the man I'm currently dating is probably not the best way to start this conversation."

John grimaced. "I know. I shouldn't interfere with your relationship but I'm your father. I worry about you."

"If you care about me you won't ask your brother to adopt me." She took a seat at her table. John sat down across from her. "So, don't pretend you really care about me, John."

John reddened. "Isobel and I couldn't look after you at that time. We had no choice."

"You always have a choice, John."

"You won't forgive us, will you?"

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "Are you asking for my forgiveness?"

He sighed. "I really want us to become a family. You are my daughter. You will always be my daughter."

"Did Isobel feel the same too?"

"What's that supposed to mean? She is your mother. Of course she would feel the same."

"Funny. I don't think she likes me at all."

"That's nonsense. You are her daughter. Our daughter."

She shrugged casually. "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right. I could see flicker of hatred in her eyes every now and then."

His eyes widened. "That's nonsense. Isobel does look cold and distant but she does love you."

"You think so?"

There was a brief silence.

"Isobel has always wanted to be a successful actress but she wasn't lucky in her stardom," John said sadly. "She was the shadow of Katherine when Katherine was still alive."

"I have heard they were pretty close."

"Yes, the girls were inseparable. Isobel believes that she and Katherine could go very far in their careers eventually," he said. "Katherine had a chance. I managed to pull some strings in Hollywood and I can bet she would become famous. Thanks to Joseph Salvatore. Katherine was a completely different person after meeting him."

"She was in love with Joseph."

"She was silly to fall in love with that bastard," he growled. "He killed her!"

"No, he didn't!"

John narrowed his eyes. "You believe what Damon Salvatore said about someone trying to frame Joseph for killing Katherine?"

"I believe Damon because it is the truth."

"He stabbed Katherine to death before he killed himself," John snorted in disgust. "Everyone in town knew what happened."

Elena stood up. "No. Katherine was being stabbed by someone when Joseph came home. Someone pulled the trigger and killed Joseph."

"Why did you sound so sure about this?" John asked curiously. "Damon could be lying."

She shook her head. "There was a third party inside the house. There was a motorbike near the Salvatore Boarding house that night."

"A motorbike?"

"We suspected both Mason and you…"

John rose from his seat abruptly, looking outrage. "What? You suspected me? I was in Hollywood when Katherine died that night!"

"You could have sneak back and kill her."

"I didn't!"

"Then Mason committed suicide."

John went still. "Are you trying to tell me that it was Mason Lockwood who killed Katherine?"

"No, it wasn't Mason."

John rubbed the back of his neck. "Jesus! What the hell is going on?"

"Richard died not long after that."

"What had Richard to do with this?"

"Richard had an affair with Katherine."

"Jesus!"

"But neither of them killed her." She met him eye to eye. "Tell me the truth, John. Did you kill her?"

"No, I didn't!" he retorted. "I wanted to but I didn't."

She caught her breath. "Why?"

"Katherine played games, Elena. She liked to. She had power over the men – sexual power. She used it on all the men she knew."

Elena grimaced. She knew the truth would be ugly.

"There wasn't much I could do about it," John added. "It hurt so much to see her flirting with different men."

"Joseph didn't kill her. He loved her too much," she whispered.

John did not move for a long time. Then he looked at her. "If it wasn't Joseph or Mason, who was it? Richard?"

"Good question," Elena answered. "We need to find out who owned the bike. Neither Joseph or Katherine rode a bike…"

"Who said Katherine didn't ride a bike?"

When Elena was sure her ears hadn't deceived her, she couldn't hold back her gasp. "What?"

"Katherine knew how to ride a bike. Your mother was a bike champion in high school…"

"My mother?"

"Isobel. She taught Katherine how to ride a bike."

"Shit." Elena headed for the door.

"What's going on?" John followed behind.

"I need to find Damon." She grabbed her phone from her bag and punched in the number. "Come on, answer the phone."

"Isobel is going to talk to Damon this morning…"

Elena stiffened. "What?"

"She is worried about you, honey. We think your relationship with Damon…"

Elena's face paled. "Oh, my God! Isobel is going to kill Damon."