Four years ago

Isabella Swan placed her right hand on her huge belly and tried to feel her baby kicking.

But there were no more kicks.

In the morning her baby was so agitated, she was getting even more anxious kick after kick. But fortunately her child decided to give her a break and to rest for the rest of the day.

Maybe that was the plan.

She smiled despite everything, caressing her belly.

The baby would be her world.

Her world alone, because she would live just for him.

Yeah, him.

She learned the day before she was having a son. Curiosity was almost killing her, and after her daily call to Charlie, she decided to open the envelope doctor Eleazar Santos gave her weeks ago, which it contained the gender's information about her child.

And for the next few weeks she would have to think about a name for him.

She thought on naming him after her grandpa Geoffrey Swan.

It would suit him.

Yeah, she thought. Just perfect.

As the World turns

Chapter 1

Esme Platt sighed heavily as she was getting out of her car.

The reason of her sudden weariness was coming right in her direction – Dr. Isabella Swan.

Just the sight of the young doctor worried her. Every single day there was a problem caused by her for Esme to solve.

She tried to hide. Maybe there was a chance to escape. But Isabella had already seen her. And damn her, she came straight in her direction. Esme hadn't any time to think or run.

Dr. Swan flashed her a bright but also a cynical smile, which hit another nerve in Esme. She wasn't in the mood for Isabella's strange sense of humor and sarcasm.

"Good morning, sunshine", Isabella said as she noticed her boss' apprehension, so upset she was. With her, no less. "How are you today?"

Esme ignored her and headed to her office with Isabella right behind her, as if she was her shadow.

"What happened? Did Carlisle last only two seconds last night?" Dr. Swan teased her.

"How do you…?" Esme paled and her eyes widened as she heard the remark. Then she saw Isabella's grin and rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

"Do you really think nobody knows about you and him?" Dr. Swan asked as she plopped into one of the chairs of Esme's office.

"I don't care if someone else knows," Esme snapped. "Just if you keep making remarks about my personal life because of the lack of yours."

"Oh, come on," Isabella pursed her lips. "I worry about your dates, you know. Remember Charles?" She saw her boss cringing as she heard the name. "He was a douche. You really should thank me after I proved he was screwing his secretary."

Esme was silent. She knew Isabella was right. She was human and therefore made many mistakes, and Charles Evenson was one of them.

"Did you hire two doctors for your team?" she decided to ask, changing the subject. Charles was still off limits in her mind and interactions. Just with Carlisle she could talk about him, and just for five minutes.

That just made Isabella to grin again. Esme suddenly wanted to shove a tack of medical files into her mouth. She would love to make that smug expression disappear.

"Tanya is taking care of everything. By the end of the day you'll receive the names," she finally answered.

Esme opened her mouth to speak, shut it, opened it again.

"You gave her all that resumes?" she blurted out, visibly shocked.

"Yep," Dr. Swan answered, popping the last letter.

"It was more than three hundred resumes!" she half-screamed in exasperation. Isabella could pull some reactions just like hers from others. "Are you trying to make Tanya quit too? Because I think she totally should."

Isabella's face suddenly was somewhat dark.

"She should, but she won't," she said. "She volunteered to do that herself, since I would hire the first two candidates without interviewing them. Her words, not mine."

Esme sighed audibly and tried to look serene. "You wouldn't have so much trouble if you hadn't fired Peter and Charlotte. Their relationship wasn't interfering in their work."

"They both knew about my rules," Isabella told her simply. "No relationships under my supervision. Casual or serious, whatever. It's not allowed."

Esme looked into her brown eyes and couldn't read her. Why was she so damn difficult to read? "I wish someday you could tell me everything that happened to you."

Isabella didn't blink as she slowly get off of the chair and leaned on her boss' desk. "Don't ask for what you don't want to hear, Esme."

"I want to help you," she told her in a whisper. "To know what happened to you after medical school. To know why you pretend life is not important anymore, why you're so upset with everything, why you're so against with everybody's relationships."

"I'm not against you and Carlisle, I think you're… cute together, but you're not working for me," Isabella backed off and stood in front of Esme's desk, taking some invisible dust of her shoulder. The word cute sounded too sarcastic for Esme's ears. "Tanya will give you two names until six o'clock. Don't worry; they will control me just as you want them to do, but they will never know how to answer your questions. I know you tried the same once with Peter," she smiled sweetly after seeing Esme's dark features.

She knew it.

She knew Peter was spying on her.

"I ignored that for months and just waited for him to start an affair with Charlotte to have a reason to fire him. She was just… collateral damage in the process."

Esme looked away, avoiding Isabella's smug look, because she knew deep in Peter and Charlotte were both fired because of her.

"Don't try to control me, Esme," Isabella warned, heading to the door.

After she was gone, Esme sighed and shook her head.