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Chapter One.
Eyes closed.
Deep breath.
The smooth ballads from the one and only Sting played through the speakers in his kitchen. Directly in front of him was his wooden cutting board. To his left, were his professional sharpened knives and to his right were the fresh ingredients that he was planning to use.
After taking a minute to formulate a plan for his new recipe, Edward quickly tied a black apron to his waist and threw a lily white kitchen towel onto his shoulder.
With practiced ease and precision, he quickly filleted the cod fish and then placed the fillets onto a paper towel to dry off.
To Edward, cooking was an art and took great pleasure out of it.
At the age of thirty-five, he had a life many could only dream about. As one of the world's top chefs and the owner of several five-star restaurants, Edward had climbed to the top of the culinary through his own strength of will.
That was what he had built his empire from. He could still remember, in striking clarity, the day his father and mother turned him out of their home and their lives as his brother and their wives stood by, their gleeful smirks barely hidden.
As the eldest of their three sons, Marcus and Esme Masen placed all of their expectations onto Edward's shoulders, but try as they might, he would not conform to what they wanted. He, even at the age of eighteen, was who he was and he made no apologies for it.
It was his refusal to attend Harvard University that truly ignited his father's wrath. After all, all of the first sons born into the Masen family attended Harvard. It was what was expected of them and it was what was done.
After that, it seemed like all Edward did was rebel. He was supposed to be a lawyer and take up a partnership role in the family owned firm but he refused. He was supposed to be wed to the daughter of one of their close family friend but he refused, saying that he would only marry a woman he loved.
It was very easy for Esme to simply move on from her son's blatant disregard for the family's traditions but not her husband. Marcus hated it and at every possible moment he would berate Edward for his choices. "No man should want to cook for the rest of his life," Marcus would shout. "That's a woman's job."
Though, no matter the vitriol that Marcus would spew at his eldest, Edward never once yelled back or fought back in any way. Edward understood or at least he wanted to believe that his father's words came from a place of concern and that his anger came from his frustration to change his son's mind when it came to his path in life. As young as he was, Edward knew that he only way that he could bring comfort to his father was by being a success but it was a success that his father would never see.
A massive heart attack two days after his birthday took his father from this world leaving his mother a widow and him and his brothers fatherless.
Edward mourned. He missed meals and spent nights awake. The regret that his father would not see the success of his eldest crippled him but he placed one foot in front of the other and moved on because his mother needed him.
It was only at his father's will reading that Edward truly understood the saying that you could love someone but not like them. From his father all he got was ten thousand dollars but even so, he would have given it back to have his father with him.
His brothers and their wives inherited everything else from the house to law office and it took them only ten minutes after the will reading was done to tell Edward that he needed to grab his belongings and leave because he was no longer welcome in their family. After all, it was his stubbornness that placed so much stress on their father that led to his heart attack.
Foolishly, he had hoped that his mother would have put a stop to his disownment but grief makes people do things they never thought they would and her refusal to look him in his eyes was enough for him to know that he was no longer welcomed in their home and their family.
So at the age of twenty-three, all he had was ten thousand dollars, a dream and the determination to make something of himself.
Now, twelve years later, life was good. He was a success.
In those twelve years, however, he had to watch with a broken heart as the wealth his father had built up was reduced to nothing. From the sale of his family's law firm to the sale of his childhood house, Edward was powerless to stop it. Nothing of his father's legacy remained and his brothers had gone through all of their money and now lived paycheck to paycheck.
Though he was still the black sheep of the family, it did not prevent his siblings for asking him for money for his mother's health care. After her stroke, Edward willingly gave of himself and his money, sitting with her daily in the hospital even though she never said a word to him and for the past five years he had been paying for a home-care nurse to be with her daily.
Yes, much had happened to him in the last twelve years but now all he was focused on was the finished dish in front of him: Pecan crusted cod with roasted vegetables. It would be perfect for his new restaurant but just as he was able to place the first succulent bite into his mouth, his door bell rang.
With a furrowed brow, he carefully placed his fork down and made his way to the door. His confusion deepened as he spied a young woman outside through one of the windows.
"May I help you?" he asked just as he opened the door.
"Yes," the beautiful mystery brunette replied, "are you by chance Mr. Edward Masen?"
"I am," he responded, opening the door out more fully.
"Good day, I am Isabella Swan. I'm here to talk to you about your mother, Esme Masen," she smiled at him.
"My mother? Are you her home-care nurse?" he asked, slightly puzzled
"Nurse?" Isabella muttered, her own brow furrowing. "No, Mr. Masen. I think there has been some sort of misunderstanding. You mother has been in hospice care for the last five years."
"Hospice? Ms. Swan I think you may have the wrong person," he responded, folding his arms across his chest.
"No. I think I have the right person. Mr. Masen, I have just committed career suicide by searching you out but I had too. I got your information from the folder on your mother. I believe your brothers were responsible for her admittance to the facility." Isabella said softly.
"If what you are telling me is true, why are you here?" Edward questioned, his mind reeling.
"I'm here because your mother needs help and your brothers and their wife's seem to simply want her dead," Isabella said with ill-concealed rage.
"That is a dangerous claim," Edward said heatedly.
"I know but I have proof," Isabella muttered, reaching for a folder in her purse.
"Is that so? Then maybe you should come in," Edward muttered as he stepped aside and allowed the tiny brunette to enter.