Edward.
I felt off, uneasy. Something...something wasn't right. I knew Bella had been devastated over her father's declining health, but I never figured she would leave. Sure our engagement was nothing more than a beneficial arrangement between her family and mine, but I thought we had become more than that, in fact I was in love with her.
But this I could not accept, not believe even as I watched the security footage of her sneaking off the property undetected by any of the guards. I still could not bring myself to believe it was true. What motive could she have? What was her reasoning?
"Excuse me, Edward,"Jasper said. Jasper was my right hand. He was family. He was loyal. "One of the maids found this in Charlie's office," he said, holding out an envelope with my name on it.
"Any news?" I asked, taking the envelope from him.
"I would like to say yes, but so far nothing." There was no hiding the fear in his eyes as he spoke those words. Fair to say I wasn't in the best of moods.
"She has only been gone a few hours. She couldn't have gone far. Her passport is still here. She left her purse, all her cards, money." She even left her phone on the bedside.
"Maybe she just needs some time away from here to deal with Charlie's illness. It can't be easy for her Edward, he is her only family."
"And what the hell am I?" I yelled. "She couldn't have said she needed a break, told me where she was going? No, she had to sneak off the property like a thief."
I couldn't take my anger out on Jasper, this wasn't his fault, if anything it was mine. How could I have not heard her sneak out of our room? How could I have not seen this coming?
I stood by the window and stared ahead at the tall fence surrounding the property. How had Bella managed to climb that all by herself?
The envelope in my hand suddenly felt like it weighed a ton. What was a letter addressed to me doing in Charlie's home office?
I twirled it around my fingers a few times, looking at it suspiciously before opening it up.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I read on that note. It shook me to my core.
