Chapter 145

"I had no idea she was an addict," he said. "I knew she drank, sometimes more than she should, but I thought that was all it was. I was just a kid, working two jobs to help pay our bills. I wasn't paying enough attention."

Elena found herself leaning forward, drawn into Stefan's story despite her own pain.

"She overdosed because she had finally figured out the truth about Jeremiah," Stefan said. "That he never had any intention of making her his wife. That she had wasted years of her life waiting for him to choose her over Annabelle. It was always going to be Annabelle. Always."

Stefan's...