YOUR KISSES WERE PUNISHMENT.
SUMMARY: It was a marriage neither wanted but she stuck by her decision. She worked day in and day out to make it work but his family members made it impossible. Two years passes and when a secret surfaces that she hoped would remain hidden, she finally decides to leave but he wouldn't let her. After living in the background of the illustrious Cullen Family, Isabella must fight for the one thing she desires…FREEDOM.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
PREVIEW:
"Bella." Edward smirked as he spotted the tiny brunette who was desperately trying to make a hasty retreat through the now empty room.
"Edward." She acknowledged without turning her head.
"Come on, Cupcake. Don't be shy." He taunted pulling a chair over and unceremoniously dropping himself into the plush upholstering.
"What do you want, Edward?" She asked softly.
"You." He stated frankly before taking a gulp of his bourbon.
An incredulous chuckle escaped Bella's lips as she whirled around to face the man who had single-handedly ripped her world apart.
"Oh please, Edward. You don't want me. You just want a pretty face to parade in front of the press so that they don't ask too many questions."
"And pray tell why would I want that?" Edward scoffed as he loosened his tie that suddenly felt more like a noose.
"We wouldn't want the world to know how much of a man-whore you truly are, now would we?" Bella rebutted; her suppressed anger getting the better of her.
"Now, Love, we both know that that isn't true. You know you are my only one."
"Don't lie to me Edward. I gave you five years of my life. One thousand, eight hundred and twenty five days to be exact so please don't lie to me. I could read you like a book."
"Bella…" Edward started.
"Don't 'Bella' me, Edward. I was nineteen when I met you. I was there through thick and thin and all I asked was for you to stay faithful to me but you couldn't do that. Instead, when I confronted you about the numerous women who were living it large as 'models', you launched a smear campaign that destroyed everything in my life and all it took you was one day."
"Cupcake….." Edward smirked loving the reaction he was getting out of her. Her skin was flushed. A light pink hue now covered every inch of her unclothed skin. He wanted to pull her into his lap like he had done so many times before and nibble at the soft flesh just below her ear. He wanted to love her with his mouth as he placed wet, out-mouthed kisses along her collar bone and tease her with his caresses but he smartly chose to resist.
If Edward had learnt during the relationship he shared with Bella was that even though he thought that she was own personal demon sent from the seventh ring of hell with the sole purpose of bringing him to his knees, he knew that she had a very volatile temper and at this moment she was very angry.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she panted in an effort to control her anger. Edward gulped down some of his drink again as his throat went dry as he remembered her panting just like that when he pleasured her with his own body into the early hours of many a morning.
"No need to get worked up over little old me." Edward taunted causing Bella to take a step towards him.
"I'm trying not to kill you." Bella spat as her eyes slid close.
Edward waited till she reopened her eyes before pushing forward once again.
"How's that working for you?"
"I never deserved any of it Edward." She whispered so softly that he had to strain to her it. "I never deserved your anger. I didn't deserve your mother calling me at all hours of the night in her drunken stupor just to call me whore and above all else I certainly did not deserve to be thrown out of the house like I meant nothing."
"Bella," Edward murmured; his throat tightening painfully as the pain and guilt he had buried so long ago resurfaced and retaken their place on his shoulder.
"Don't." She spat. "If you are thinking about apologizing, don't bother. If you going to try and justify the hell you put me through, I don't want to hear it."
"Cup….."
"If you call me Cupcake one more time, I swear I will kill you." Bella seethed leaving Edward stunned.
"Let me ask you this Edward." Bella stated after a few tense minutes of silence. "Let's say hypothetically that I went to one of your clubs, say Ambrosia and I walked up to some random guy and straddled him, just like I am doing to you." Bella murmured softly, sounding very much like a seductress as she dropped her coat onto the floor and hiked up her already short dress to straddle Edward's lap. "And say I gave him a little lap dance while kissing his neck and nibbled on his lips." She teased him as she ran her own lips across his and touched his nose with her own. "Then I invited myself back to his place, fucked him long and hard and then came back to you the next day with love bites all over my body with no care for the repercussions of my actions; what would have happened to me?"
As Edward comprehended what Bella had just said, the glass of bourbon he held fell to the floor and shattered causing Bella to wince slightly as some of the crystal shards hit her legs. Edward's eyes had narrowed dangerous. His own breathing became laboured as white hot rage seared through him without restraint. Satisfied with the reaction she got, Bella removed herself from Edward's lap and bent to pick up her coat. When she had fixed herself she turned back to the still seething man.
"If that had been the scenario, you would have never forgiven me. So why the hell should I forgive you?"
PROLOUGE.
Two hours.
One hundred and twenty minutes.
Seven thousand, two hundred seconds.
That was all the time it took for the perfect world the Cullen Family had built to crumble all around them.
In the home office of Carlisle Cullen, Carlisle Cullen and the much detested Esme Cullen, the patriarch and matriarch that stood as the pillars of the multi-billion dollar family were locked in a battle of wills; neither willing to fold and admit to the wrong doings that had resulted in the downfall of their family.
In his childhood bedroom, their youngest son, Emmett Cullen, painfully gripped the hand of his wife, Rosalie Hale Cullen, forcing her to sign her shares in the family owned company back to him. His disgust in her and her actions were almost a tangible thing that left the blond beauty frightened for her life and the life of her unborn child.
Two doors away from them, Alice Cullen Whitlock fell to her knees as she begged her husband, Jasper Whitlock, to stay. Hearing Alice confess that the only reason she had decided to marry Jasper was because of the large wealth he had inherited, had left the Texan cowboy feeling cold and broken. His hands shook uncontrollably as he stuffed his carry-on bag with as much clothing as possible before all but running to the waiting cab at that corner of the street.
But while three marriages seemed to be in the precipice of utter failure, the eldest child and heir of the Cullen fortune, Edward Cullen, laid back against his seat swirling his glass of bourbon around as a sigh of utter contentment slipped through his lips.
He had done what he had always set out to do. He had utterly destroyed his family, ripping the very foundation that made the Cullens such a powerhouse out of the ground and it was all because of her.
Isabella felt the tension before she saw him. She had kept her distance for the past week because she knew he was planning something but never did she imagine that he would do this.
"Edward?" She called softly. "What did you do?"
"Destroyed them." He replied in a monotone voice.
"What? Why?" She asked shocked in a shaky voice.
"Because they destroyed you."