Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No infringement of copyrights meant. Only the plot is mine©.
Chapter 1: 1987, The pact
Background: Author's POV
Born in a rich family, Dr. Carlisle Cullen has taken over his family business as the head of Cullen Corp, a multinational, drug target Research Company. He was a happy man. The business was doing well and they had just hit a major target molecule for cancer, which would block angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels to tumors, with out which the tumor cells would eventually die!) and was extremely excited, both as a medical professional and a businessman, as he entered the conference room. He laughed to himself at the thought of sitting in a conference room to beat out the details of the contract when it was just a meeting between two people, two friends!
His childhood friend Charlie Swan was now the president of his father's company SeizeIt Pharma which manufactured most of the drug targets developed by his company in a suitable dosage form. Once the drug candidate passed the phase 3 of the clinical trials, the pharma company took over and together they had made millions of dollars of profit over the past many years. Charlie's father and Carlisle's father had become business partners first and then good friends. Soon the families became friends and he had grown up next door to Charlie and hence ended up being best friends. Carlisle was married to Esme through an arranged marriage and now had 3 children, all boys. His eldest son Emmett was not 7 years old, the next one Jasper was 5 and the youngest one was 3 years old. Carlisle had always wanted a daughter but was quite happy with his wife and children and loved them dearly.
Charlie had married his high-school girlfriend Renee and now had a one year old daughter. Renee had died giving birth to the baby girl and Carlisle knew for a fact that Charlie was having a tough time bringing up his daughter, while trying to recover from the death of his lovely wife. The two families met quite frequently and Charlie left his dear daughter Bella with Esme whenever he had to go conferences. Esme and Carlisle loved Bella like their own daughter.
Charlie and Carlisle were meeting to discuss the scope and future plans about their new gold mine, the drug against cancer! Even though they were great friends, Carlisle wanted to nailed down the deal and make a pact that would bond them forever, in order to make sure that the selfish nature of people does not come into this deal at some point of time in the future. He had a proposal to make. Once Charlie arrived they discuss the project and how they would split the profit. In most cases, the profit was usually unequally divided, considering which company had to invest more money and time in the drug development process. But this was not just any drug but a gold mine for both of us. So it would be a 50:50 share.
Carlisle POV
He agreed and from his manner I realized that he was thinking the same thing that I was. We wanted to make a pact. Reading from his face, I was quite confident that he would agree to my proposition. "Charlie, I have a proposition to make. Esme and I love Bella like our own daughter and would love to have her as a real family. I request Bella's hand in marriage for my son Edward. You do not have to agree to this proposition for the sake of our business, that will remain unaffected but I could not just pass up on this thought. And you do not have to tell me your decision now. I have not asked Esme about this, but I am sure she will be more than happy to make Bella our daughter."
Charlie's face showed multiple emotions. First there was shock and confusion and then there was just clear happiness. "Carlisle, you have made my day. Not because of this new drug project deal but with your proposition. I could not think of a better match for my daughter. I think we should go ahead and announce the betrothal. I would suggest that we let them be friends till they are old enough and then inform them of their engagement. Also, we could have their wedding once Bella finishes her bachelor's degree at the age of 21-22. What do you think", he asked me excitement and happiness dripping in every word he said. I smiled and we gave each other a manly parting hug before he left. I was extremely happy for finding such a beautiful girl for my son and could not wait to get home, to share that with Esme.
Edward and Bella were meant to be...
