Elena felt rage build inside her at the mere sight of Esther. She had wanted to see her. She wanted answers as to what she did and why. However, right now, all she wanted to do was scream and hurt her. This woman had upended her entire life. No, actually, she'd stolen her life. Who knew the life she would've had if Esther hadn't stolen it from her? Not that Elena would necessarily change the life she had, but that didn't mean she wasn't livid that Esther had played God with her life.

Esther turned to her granddaughter and took a step in her direction. "Elena. Lovely to see you again, dear."

Rebekah got in between her mother and her daughter. "Don't you dare take another step!"

Esther sighed. "Rebekah, I understand that you're upset, but there's no need for dramatics. I have no intention of hurting your daughter."

"You've harmed her enough to last an eternity!" Klaus snarled.

"One could argue that I saved her. You have no idea the danger she faces," Esther told him.

"We know about your sister, Mother," Elijah said.

Esther turned to Finn and leveled him with a small glare. "That information was not for you to divulge."

"I agree. You should've done it the moment you learned that Rebekah would bring a child into the world, instead of taking it upon yourself to decide for someone else's child," Finn said.

"When did you stop trusting me, Finn," Esther asked in a disappointed tone. She thought if she could trust anyone to have her back, it would be Finn. He'd always been loyal to her. It had been a shock to her when he'd refused to help her perform the ritual the other night, and now he'd gone behind her back and told the others about Dahlia.

"Around the time I learned that you'd told Rebekah that her child was dead and then attempted to use me to turn the girl into a magical weapon," Finn said.

"You know the threat Dahlia poses. Can you really not understand my motives?" Esther asked.

"It doesn't matter. It wasn't your choice to make! She wasn't your child!" Finn snapped.

"It was necessary," was all Esther said.

"Who the hell were you to decide that? You weren't my mother. You had no right to make that choice," Elena said.

"Do you truly wish you'd grown up a different way? That you weren't a part of the Gilbert family?" Esther asked the girl.

"That's not the point!" Elena yelled. Moments later, a couple of portraits fell from the walls and crashed to the floor.

Kol rushed to her side and put an arm around her. "Calm down, darling. It will be okay."

Elena took a couple of deep breaths to calm down before addressing Esther again. "You think the fact that I had a happy childhood justifies the choices you made? You played God with my life! You destroyed your own daughter's life!"

"I did what was necessary, child," Esther said.

Rebekah looked at her mother with anger and disgust. She didn't even recognize this woman. Had she ever known her mother at all? "You are a bigger monster than any of us could ever be! You told me my baby was dead and then gave her away! Then you held me and tried to empathize with me! You told me you understood my pain! How could you?!"

Caroline looked on in disgust. She suddenly had a newfound respect for her own mother. On her worst day, her mother wasn't even half as bad as this woman. Caroline felt bad for Rebekah. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her.

Esther sighed as she addressed her daughter. "Rebekah, I had no choice. You wouldn't have done what was necessary for the child. You would've insisted on keeping her, despite the fact that she would have a better life elsewhere."

"How could you possibly know what Rebekah would've done? You never gave her the chance to decide," Elijah said.

Esther nodded. "And I stand by that decision. I'm sorry for your sister's pain, but she wouldn't have made the right decision. She was rash and selfish at the time. She still is. Honestly, even without Dahlia, she wouldn't have been a good mother."

Rebekah flinched as though she'd been slapped. It shouldn't bother her after everything her mother had done, but it was crushing to hear what her mother thought of her.

Klaus laughed. "Oh, that's rich coming from you, Mother."

"Yeah, what the hell makes you qualified to decide that? You sold your own kid before she was even born. You are the whole reason for all of this!"

"Watch your tongue, dear," Esther said coldly.

"Don't you threaten my daughter! She's right. You can call me selfish all you want, but I didn't sell my own child! You did! You sold my child. You cursed your own son to appease your monster of a husband! You turned all of us into vampires against our will! You have no business questioning anyone's parenting," Rebekah said.

"Everything I've done was for the good of this family," Esther insister.

"No, it was for the good of you. You don't care about them," Elena said. God, it was no wonder some of them were the way they were. It wasn't because of what they were. It was because of the monsters that raised them.

"It's interesting that you would say such a thing, Elena. It wasn't too long ago that you were prepared to help me kill everyone in this room, aside from your vampire friend, of course," Esther said.

"No, I was prepared to help you kill Klaus, and only because I wanted to protect myself and my friends! I didn't even know about the others until you had my blood," Elena said. Not that that justified it. She knew it was wrong, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Yet you had time to stop it, but you didn't. Elijah asked you what my intentions were, and you lied to him," Esther said.

"That's enough! You will not manipulate her for another moment," Elijah said firmly.

"I'm merely stating a fact, darling. You may have forgiven her because she's family, but she was willing to let you all die," Esther said.

Elena felt both anger and guilt, because as much as she hated it, Esther was right. She'd tried to have members of her own family killed. Was she really any better than Esther was? Elena became overwhelmed, and soon, the banister caught on fire.

"Bloody hell," Klaus cursed before flashing away at vampire speed. He returned moments later with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out.

Rebekah ran to her daughter's side. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Do not let my mother get to you. You've done nothing wrong. I want you to go upstairs, okay? I don't want you listening to any more of this."

"Yeah, come on, Elena. You don't need to hear any more. Let's go back to your room," Caroline said before leading her up the stairs.

Elena didn't fight her. She let Caroline take her upstairs to the room she was sleeping in. She sat down on the bed. "I don't know why I even wanted to talk to that woman. She's awful."

"Yeah, I'd definitely say that's accurate. Just don't let her get to you, okay?" Caroline said before sitting next to her and rubbing her back.

"That's easier said than done. She was right. I did go along with her killing her kids, and it was for the dumbest reason in the world," Elena said.

"You were protecting yourself and your loved ones. That is not dumb," Caroline said.

"But a part of the reason I didn't come clean was because of Stefan and Damon. That was dumb and heartless. How could I let them have that kind of influence on me?" Elena asked.

Caroline couldn't deny that she was bothered by the influence Damon had on her friend. Now that she thought about it, Stefan had a lot of influence over her too. Elena never let anyone have that kind of influence over her before. Caroline could only guess that it was because they'd come along at such a vulnerable time. Her parents had died. There was no one around to help her. Jenna was a wonderful person, but she just wasn't a parent. There was no one there to help her make good choices. "Look, Esther was trying to manipulate you. Don't let her. She's only trying to take the heat off herself. Everything that has happened is her fault, including what happened the night of the ball."

"Thanks for coming today, Caroline. I really needed to see you. And thanks for being so supportive. I know you don't trust the Mikaelson's, but you haven't tried to get me to leave. Bonnie did, and no doubt Stefan and Damon would if I answered their calls," Elena said.

"Yeah, it's probably a good idea not to answer their calls for a while. All I want is for you to be okay. I can see that you are okay here. The Originals have made it clear that all they want is to protect you, even Klaus. I may not trust them, but I believe that," Caroline said. It was obvious by the way they all jumped to defend Elena from Esther. Elena was their priority. That was all that mattered to Caroline.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Elena said.

Elijah walked in moments later and smiled at his niece. "Hi. Are you okay?"

Elena nodded. "Is Esther gone?"

Elijah walked further into the room. "Yes. We made it clear that her remaining here would be… ill advised." Unfortunately, they couldn't' kill her because she was being sustained by magic from the Bennett line, but they could certainly make things painful for her if she remained there.

Elena chuckled a little. "Is Rebekah okay?"

"Yes. She's a little upset though. She didn't want you to see her that way, so she asked me to come check on you," Elijah explained.

"I'm going to go. I have the sudden urge to go hug my mother and thank her for being the opposite of Esther. Is it okay if I come back tomorrow?" Caroline asked Elijah.

"Certainly. However, you should know that you are currently the only one of your friends allowed. The Salvatores are not welcome, nor is your friend, Bonnie, after her last visit," Elijah said.

"I understand," Caroline said before hugging her friend. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And if you want to talk between now and then, call me."

Elena nodded. "Bye, Caroline. Thanks again for coming."

"Always," she said before getting up and heading out of the room.

Elijah took Caroline's seat on the bed once she left. "How are you doing, sweetheart."

"Okay, I guess. I get why you didn't want me to see Esther now," Elena said.

Elijah nodded. "It's true, I didn't think it was a good idea. It wasn't just that I worried that she might hurt you physically. I was afraid of what she might say to you. My mother can be very manipulative when she wants to be."

"Everything she said was true. I tried to hurt you. I lied to you," Elena said as she looked down at her hands.

Elijah gently took her by the chin and turned her towards him until she was looking him in the eyes. "Elena, you know how I feel about lies, but I think it can be overlooked this time. You were put in a bad position. It wasn't entirely your fault, or even mostly your fault."

"You're only saying that because you found out I was your niece," Elena said.

Elijah shook his head. "No. I hold my family responsible for their actions. I expect honesty from those in this house more than anyone else. I may have a different response towards family than outsiders, but I still expect responsibility and accountability. You've taken both, which I respect. I forgave you before I knew you were my niece because I understood the position you found yourself in and because you showed that you understood your mistakes."

"I shouldn't have done it. It was stupid. I lied to you because of what others would think of me. At least that was part of it. It was childish," Elena said.

"Yes, but you have only been an adult for a short time, and you've been influenced by others. You're still young. You're prone to foolish choices sometimes. You'll learn to do better. Please let this go, Elena. We've all forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself," Elijah said.

Elena reluctantly nodded. "Okay. I really am sorry for lying to you."

Elijah put an arm around her. "Let's just agree to no more lies, okay? We'll start over."

"Okay." Elena said.

"Excellent," Elijah said before pulling away and standing up "I'm going to go see how Rebekah is doing. You should rest for a while. Today has been another taxing day for you."

Elena nodded before stretching out on the bed and closing her eyes.