Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

Prologue

"Bella!" Alice called out. "There's a package for you in the mail!"

Strange, the girl in question thought to herself. I don't remember ordering anything lately. "Coming!" she quickly replied, leaving the seat next to her daughter.

She had a theory about who the package was from — but she hoped herself to be wrong.

Insecurily she waved off her worries. Maybe Charlie sent some toys for Renesmee again, she calmed herself.

But as hard as she tried, she had difficulties in fooling herself.

"Hi Alice," the girl greeted her sister-in-law once she had successfully located her near the doorway. "How was your hunting trip?"

"Satisfactory," the little pixie dodged her question. "Who is this from?" she demanded, pointing at the medium-sized package in her hands.

Bella sighed. "I don't know," she answered, praying that she seemed honestly surprised. "I'm guessing it's Charlie or Renée."

"It's not," Alice said. "It's not their handwriting, I checked. Plus there's no return address," she added gravely. "Bella, you know that your parents wouldn't do that. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she stuttered. "Really."

Alice gave the shaking girl before her one glance and immediately knew she was hiding something.

"If you say so," she suspiciously agreed, flashing a forced smile. "Tell me what it was later, will you?"

Bella hastily nodded her agreement.

As she realized that Alice wasn't going to ask any more questions, Bella ran away as quickly as her legs could carry her, stopping only once she had reached the safety of Carlisle's study.

Apart from Alice and Rosalie, everyone was still out hunting. She was afraid of opening the package in her own room despite that fact though; afraid that Edward would recognize his scent if her conclusions were indeed correct.

Instinctively checking once more if there was somebody watching her, she tore open the package, noticing her jaw drop as she found yet another box inside. But this box wasn't an ordinary one — quite the opposite. It was covered in diamonds and gemstones of all shapes and sizes, and it sparkled brilliantly in the direct sunlight.

Bella smiled in realization. Just like its previous owner.

Carefully, she opened the box, hoping not to break anything. Her eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets in pure shock of what she found inside.

There, in the exact middle of the box, lying on the finest of black velvet, lay a pure gold necklace decorated with a round white diamond the size of a golfball.

Oh my God.

But as quickly as there was awe, there was panic. How was she supposed to explain this to her family? Who but him even possessed such priceless treasures?

This was bad. Really bad.

This could not be all. He must have left her a letter, a fake one, to explain this sudden generosity. Not so that she would understand, but so that the Cullens would. And more importantly, that they would believe her.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she found not only one but two letters, hidden behind the thick layer of velvet.

My dearest, one read.

Hide this letter after reading immediately. I have enclosed yet another letter for your family, for your convenience. Show it to them as quickly as possible, and try to act shocked.

Please accept my gifts. The necklace and its package were lying around in my quarters, gathering dust, and haunted me in their beauty as I was forced to think of you. I imagine the necklace should suit you rather beautifully.

Do visit me in Volterra as soon as you can. I have presented you with a reason in my other letter.

A.V.

The brown-haired girl smiled in appreciation for a second, then forced herself to mentally return to reality. Looking around her surroundings once more, she hastily stuffed the real letter in her pocket, only to fold open the official one.

"Alice," she whispered, doing her best to sound horrified.

Within minutes, the entire Cullen family was assembled in Carlisle's study, forming a perfect circle around Bella and the gift. Their gazes were fixed upon the horrendously expensive necklace and its packaging, and they all stood in complete silence while Bella's family took turns reading the letter and consoling her.

It remained a mystery to her why they insisted upon believing her staged fear. Bella had always been a terrible actress, especially in situations of anxiety or panic.

Maybe they wanted to believe the lie, she realized.

Quickly, Bella's eyes scanned the faked letter. He addressed her formally this time, as Mrs. Cullen, and talked about the importance of maintaining the law and the necessity of an upcoming visit. It took all her willpower not to grin at the blatant denial of any acquaintance.

"Oh, Bella, my sweetheart" Esme finally broke the silence. "Don't be afraid. We'll book you the plane tickets for your journey right this instance, and you can be there and back here by tomorrow evening."

"Bella, I'm so so sorry for sending them a wedding invitation!" Alice chimed in guiltily. "I thought it was for the best!"

"She's not going anywhere," Edward demanded. "It's much too dangerous."

"I'll go," Bella said. "But I'll need to go by myself. They'll know about Renesmee if you come with me. We need to keep her safe. It's the only way."

There was a deep frown on her flawless face, but on the inside, she was laughing madly at the irony. He had been one of the first to even know of her pregnancy. In reality, there was not even the slightest reasons to try and hide her daughter's existence — except of meeting him again for the first time in a year.

And as her eyes rested upon Aro's last sentence, the supposed threat, she could not help but smile.

I so look forward to meeting the new Mrs. Cullen in person.

Author's Note: hello there, my dear readers! I hope you enjoyed this. In case you did, please leave me a review. Your opinion is valued a lot and would be very much appreciated.

And yes, The Dreams We Dream and Close Your Eyes will be updated shortly. But this idea was occupying my mind, and I couldn't start anything else before this was finished.

Other than that: as you may or may not have noticed, this will be an Aro/Bella fanfic, only that in this, Bella is already a vampire and had Renesmee with Edward. Also it will be slightly alike SLovingLecter's 'Yours Eternally' in some ways. Be sure to check out that story. It's very entertaining.