Elena sat at the kitchen table while Elijah got her something to eat. There was much they needed to discuss, but he insisted that she have something to eat first.

Elijah soon walked over and put a plate, as well as a glass of water, in front of his wife. It wasn't much, just a grilled cheese and some vegetables.

"You didn't have to make me dinner. I'm not really hungry," Elena said. Her day had been long and agonizing, and it wasn't over yet. Food was the last thing on her mind.

"Please try, my dear. You have not eaten since I arrived this morning at least. You need to eat something."

Elena smiled at him before picking up her sandwich. She ate about half of it and most of the vegetables before pushing the plate said. "This is a long story, and not a very pleasant one."

"I can't deny that I would like to hear what happened, but I'm prepared to wait until you've the time to recover from all that happened today. In fact, I'd prefer it," Elijah said.

"I wouldn't. I need to get this out, and you should not have to live with the lies I have told you for another moment," Elena asked.

"Lies?" Elijah asked. He had to admit that that did not sit well with him. They had never lied to each other before. They both abhorred such practices. However, he meant what he said before. He could forgive his wife anything. He knew if she'd lied to him, it was because she didn't think she had another choice.

"Yes. I lied to you, and the lies I told you were extremely cruel, even if they weren't designed to be. I didn't feel I had another option. As I sit here with you, I'm still not certain I made the wrong choice. Given both our fates, I don't imagine it would've ended well if I made a different choice," Elena said.

"Tell me," Elijah said.

"It started when your mother tried to take Jarik's life," Elena said.

Elijah looked at his wife in complete horror. He was expecting almost anything, but not that. His mother was a terrible person. He knew that just from the fact that he'd killed Tatia. He would've liked to kill her himself for that. In fact, he wouldn't deny plotting it. His father had beaten him to it. However, Jarik was her grandson, her blood. Surely, she would not harm her own grandson, right? "What?!"

"Do you remember when he became ill? We thought we were going to lose him then," Elena said with a shudder. That had been one of the most terrifying moments of her life, maybe even the most terrifying.

"Of course I do. My mother couldn't' even figure out what was wrong with him, so you took him to see Ayana. She was able to help him, and we were able to determine that he got into one of my mother's potions," Elijah said.

Elena nodded. "That was what we all thought, but it never sat right with me. Jarik knew better. He may have been young, but we had told him over and over again that he was never allowed to touch his grandmother's things, and he never had before. We asked him afterwards if he'd drank any of her potions or touched any of them. He said no."

Elijah nodded. He remembered, of course. It was the first time his son had ever lied, at least Elijah thought so. "I scolded him for lying. You're saying he wasn't lying? You think my mother poisoned him? Are you sure?"

Elena nodded. "I can't prove it, but I'm certain. From the start, it never felt right. Then Finn approached me. He told me never to leave your mother alone with Jarik again."

"Finn?" Elijah asked in disbelief. His older brother was probably his mother's biggest champion. His loyalty to her was unwavering. It was unsettling to know that he believed their mother was a threat to his son.

"Yes. I'm sure you can appreciate the gravity of that," Elena said.

"Why? Why would my mother want to hurt our son?" Elijah asked.

"It was days later that I found out the answer to that. Finn was reluctant to tell me because your mother swore him to secrecy when she was even younger than Jarik was. Your older sister, Freya, didn't die of the plague. In fact, as far as I'm aware, she was still alive when all of this was explained to me."

"What? No, this was explained to all of us when we were young. It was why we moved to this town. The Plague was ravaging Europe," Elijah said.

"It may have been, but it didn't kill your sister. Freya was taken by your aunt as payment for helping your mother conceive," Elena told him.

"Aunt? I didn't know I had an aunt. Finn told you this?" Elijah asked.

Elena nodded. "Her name is Dahlia. She craved power. She wanted your sister for her magic."

"This is awful. The fact that my mother would actually do something like this to her own child is horrifying, but what does it have to do with our son?" Elijah asked. It was not that he didn't care. He did. It was sickening, although, if he was honest, not all that surprising after what his mother did to Niklaus and after she killed Tatia. However, he didn't understand what that had to do with his

Elena's jaw clenched just thinking about it. She wished she could bring Esther back from the dead just to kill the old witch herself. Dahlia was evil and vile, but Esther was worse. "Your mother didn't just sell her child. She sold every firstborn child in her family line! She sold our son before he even existed. That evil bitch was going to come for our child. She was going to use him the way she used Freya. There is no telling what she would've done to him!"

"Why?" Elijah asked with both horror and disbelief etched on his face.

"The way Finn explained it, every firstborn witch in your family is extremely powerful. We've seen it. Jarik was more powerful than both Finn and Kol were at his age, and he was still very young. Finn said that Freya was the same way. Dahlia wanted that power," Elena told him.

Elijah found himself horrified speechless. His mother had essentially sold his child long before he even existed. He didn't even want to think about the fate his little boy would've received had he lived. Now Elijah understood why his mother didn't seem happy when he told her Tatia was pregnant. She knew that her sister would be after the child, and she had said nothing. She didn't even prepare them for the horrors they might have faced. "She is lucky she is dead."

"Yeah," Elena said.

"There's more," Elijah said. It wasn't a question. Tatia… Elena told him that she had done something that she didn't think he could forgive. This obviously wasn't it. So far, the only person who had done something unforgivable was his mother.

Elena nodded. 'I realized right away that our child was in extreme danger. Finn described your aunt as the Devil, and he assured me that she would find out about Jarik eventually. She'd sense his power. Ayana put a cloaking spell on him, but it wouldn't be able to withstand his power for long. Dahlia would find him, and she couldn't be fought. She was more powerful than any other witch in existence. But I couldn't do nothing. I could not just allow her to take my child."

"What did you do?" Elijah asked.

"It was Ayana's idea. She said that the only way Dahlia wouldn't come for Jarik was if she believed that he was dead," Elena said.

"What? Are… Are you telling me that our son didn't die? No. Finn was caring for him. He took by the water. He fell in. Are you telling me that that didn't happen?' Elijah asked in disbelief. He had never forgiven Finn for that. In his mind, Finn had neglected his responsibilities. He'd neglected Jarik, which resulted in his death.

"No, it didn't. It killed me to let you think that. I didn't have another option that wouldn't' result in our son being subjected to that evil woman. Finn brought Jarik to Ayana. She performed a spell that would send Jarik into his reincarnated future life. When I died, I would join him," Elena explained.

Elijah stood up and started pacing. He was completely dumbfounded. He was trying to wrap his mind around all of it. His child didn't die, not then anyway.

Elena watched as her husband paced and took in what she'd told him. Neither spoke for a long time. In fact, it was almost a half hour before Elena couldn't take the silence anymore. Please say something, Elijah, even if it's that you hate me."

Elijah stopped pacing and stared at her. "Why? Why didn't you come to me? I thought we were better than this. Even during a time when husbands and wives were not equal, we were. We didn't make choices without consulting one another, especially regarding our children. We didn't hide things from each other. How could you not tell me about a threat to my own son?"

Elena felt the tears fall from her eyes. "Because I knew you'd want to fight, and you would lose. I would lose both of you to that vile woman, maybe the rest of our family as well. I couldn't stand the thought of that. I hated the pain I caused you. I hated everything about what I did, but I couldn't see another option. At least this way, Jarik would be safe, and I could look after him, make sure he knew how much his Papa loved him, even if he couldn't be with him. But then that busy body old woman erased our memories."

Realization hit Elijah with his wife's last statement. It hadn't hit him until now. He blamed the shock of everything he'd just been told. Elena had told him before Jonas even arrived that she was not the only one whose memories were manipulated. Jeremy's had been too. And the way she spoke to him earlier was not that of a sister. She spoke to him the way a mother spoke to her child. "Jeremy?"

Elena nodded, realizing that Elijah had figured it out. "Yeah."

Elijah wasted no time in rushing towards the stairs. He needed to see his son.