BPOV

I immediately jumped out of Edward's embrace. His unfinished sentence was left hanging in the awkward and tense silence that followed. Edward was maliciously glaring at the intruder.

I was also about to give our unwanted guest a death glare for interrupting the moment until I turned to see him.

It was an older man-probably in his forties-who looked like he had enough money to buy multiple countries or hell, even be actual motherfucking royalty. He had surprisingly long and sleek jet-black hair that contrasted nicely with his full-on white suit. Huge shiny rings adorned his hands and his right hand was clutched onto an impressive diamond bedazzled cane.

By his elegant and strong stance, I knew the cane was just an obnoxious accessory.

As I observed this man closely, I noticed that there wasn't even one speck of dirt or a single hair astray. Everything about him was perfectly white, crisp, and tidy down to his shoes.

I felt small and insignificant in comparison.

"At a loss for words, Edward?" His voice was light and almost papery, but there was a dangerous undertone.

"I've made it clear that I never want to see your jackass face again," Edward snarled.

The man laughed lightly. "Ah, can't we be mature about this? Why don't you act like a grown man for once instead of a little boy playing in daddy's chair?"

"Leave Carlisle out of this."

I started to back away and as if on cue, the man suddenly snapped his beady eyes to me. He leaned onto his cane, scrutinizing me, as if he had just noticed my presence.

"Well, who is this peculiar young lady?"

Before I could reply, Edward protectively placed his arm in front of me and pulled me behind his back. Normally I would object and defend myself instead, but this situation was on a whole different level. One I couldn't understand.

However, I didn't want to look like an inarticulate fool, so I said, "Isabella Swan, sir."

Recognition flicked in his eyes. "That's what I thought. Carlisle did mention there was a new girl around. And by the shock on your face, it seemed that he had never mentioned me. Aro Volturi, at your service."

He mockingly bowed.

Volturi...why does that name sound familiar to me? Oh shit. Volturi as in the biggest company in the world. Probably universe too.

Their industries included mainly included oil and gas, with retail as a side thing. And standing in front of us was the boss of it all.

I could tell this wasn't the first time Edward met Aro, which made me wonder just how notorious and distinguished the Cullen family was.

"Honestly," Edward began, "I don't know why Carlisle still bothers with you."

"Business. Perhaps you Cullen boys could learn a thing or two about it," Aro said calmly.

Edward, on the other hand, was red and fuming with anger. It was rare for him to get so furious and I knew we had to get out of here before he did something violent.

I was also starting to hate this stuck up prick. Talk about your typical rich guy.

Finally, Edward just grabbed my hand and said to Aro, "You aren't worth my time."

We walked a few steps until he called after us. "I didn't realize you were this protective of your new little play thing."

I winced at the comment and wanted to keep walking, but that stopped Edward dead in his tracks. "Excuse me?"

"Don't listen to him, Edward." I lightly tugged on his sleeve, but he wouldn't budge.

Aro smiled wickedly, satisfied that he finally got under Edward's skin. I couldn't believe this guy; he was basically the devil incarnate.

"Surely you aren't serious about Isabella. I've known you for quite some time now Edward, and I know you don't settle for less."

At those words, my heart dropped and I looked at Edward, confused and upset.

"Don't you dare, Aro," he warned.

"You haven't told her yet? Clearly, she's not that important to you then." Then Aro approached me and leaned down. "Edward has an impressive list of women he's been with, Miss Swan. Women that actually help him advance to the top of the social ladder." He flashed me a grin. "My own daughter, included."

Subconsciously, I let go of Edward's hand. I knew he had other women before me, just like I've had other men before him, but I never asked him about his past relationships because it wasn't my business to know and honestly, I didn't care to know.

After Mike cheated on me, I started to become more confident in myself and I learned to love and respect myself more. I didn't need men to make me feel wanted. So when I started dating Edward, it never bothered me how different we were in social standing. I knew I was good enough for him and he was good enough for me.

But now, standing in front of Aro, a seed of doubt was planted into my mind.

Yup, I was starting to feel extremely jealous.

Aro was trying to create a divide between Edward and I, and it was completely working. Hearing him say those words felt like a bullet through my heart. Hell, it felt more like an AK-47 through my whole fucking body.

I didn't care anymore that Aro was being an absolute asshole. It didn't change that fact that he was right about Edward. I knew he was right.

"Don't listen to him, baby," Edward pleaded. "He's exaggerating."

Exaggerating...but not lying.

I felt tears threatening to fall at the corner of my eyes and it was so humiliating. I was shocked at how much this actually hurt. Stupid girl, how could I let my defenses down? How could I believe that I was the most important woman in Edward's life? He was a millionaire CEO and I was just an average girl with a shitty sad past.

Of course he's been with women much better than me. The idea had never bothered me until now.

Lost in thought, I had missed the argument between Edward and Aro.

"What your daughter and I had was nothing. I had no feelings for her; she was always pining after me."

"You know, I don't believe that. I think that deep down, you wanted her just as much," Aro said.

Edward barked out a harsh laugh. "Don't act like you know me. Using your daughter to get into my father's company is just low."

Until this point, I never realized how much dirty work and trickery was involved in business. At least, in my experience with the Cullens. Carlisle had always been a good man, honest with his work.

My jealously at Edward's past relationships slowly subsided as I saw how full of shit Aro was. He was a man that caused trouble and distress everywhere he went. It was like he lived to ruin peoples' happiness.

Yes, my jealously and anger almost vanished until Aro said, "Speaking of which, my beautiful daughter is walking towards us right now."

One look at his daughter was enough to reawaken the green envious monster inside me. And it was stronger than ever.

Strutting towards us like a model on the runway was the most gorgeous woman I had ever laid eyes on. Gorgeous as in I would go lesbian for her if she wasn't lusting after my Edward.

The museum's chandelier lights emphasized the strawberry tint in her long blonde curls. She wore an almost floor-length red dress that was strapless and wore long gloves to match. She towered over me in a pair of silver stilettos. Unlike her father, she had minimum amount of jewelry, but somehow, that only made her look more angelic and classy.

My jaw hit the floor, but I couldn't stop staring. There was not a single flaw about her. Her body was literally perfect.

Dare I say...she was probably more beautiful than Rosalie. And it was hard to top Rosalie. But here in front of me, was basically Aphrodite herself.

That meant Edward had to be her Adonis.

"Miss Swan, this is my daughter Tanya. Tanya, this is Isabella and of course you know Edward," Aro introduced.

Much to my disdain, she immediately hugged him. "What a pleasant surprise, Edward!"

Her voice was cheerful and silvery. My anger flared up even more. That bitch. How dare she be so damn flawless.

He lifted his hands up in a quick hug and dropped them, but she still hung onto him. Edward still looked annoyed, but not as much as he was with Aro. Apparently, she was more tolerable than her father.

"It's been a quite a while, hasn't it? A lot has changed during that time," he hinted, nodding at me.

She didn't noticed, but she perked up. "Oh really? Like your feelings for me, perhaps? Have you rethought my last offer?"

WHAT FUCKING OFFER?!

Aro smirked. "Well, the rest of the exhibit still needs to be looked at. Enjoy your happy reunion."

I glared at him as he walked off. Now that he was gone, we had to deal with his ridiculously annoying hot daughter.

Edward subtly pried her arms off him. "Sorry, but I don't recall any offer."

But I knew him and I knew he was lying.

"Are you sure? It was an offer no smart man can resist," she insisted.

"Well then, I'm not a smart man."

She giggled as if she couldn't feel the tension around us.

"That's a shame. I've always considered you a very close friend."

"I don't consider you at all," he replied harshly. Ha! Take that you blonde bimbo!

Much to my surprise, she shook it off. "You haven't changed at all, dear Edward. I like a strong resolved man."

At this point, I couldn't understand why he hadn't mentioned me yet and that was starting to irritate me too. Was I really that embarrassing and lowly that they were both ignoring me? But like the impulsive fool I was, I jumped into the conversation.

"Uh excuse me? Yeah hi there. I'm Bella, the girlfriend of the man you're hitting on right now. Could you like back the fuck off? Please?"

Nice Bella. Real smooth.

But it worked. Tanya did back off.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize he was dating again! I just thought you were his personal assistant or something," she apologized, surprising me yet again. I would've called bullshit on anyone else who said this, but I think she was being sincere.

For someone as high class as Tanya, it was easy to understand how I could be seen as some random helper. People like myself don't usually get involved with people like Edward.

"Um..." What should I say? Thanks for not hopping on my boyfriend's dick?

Tanya's perfectly manicured hands grabbed mine. "Really, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean for you to hear any of that."

Stunned at this sudden change of character, I said, "Uh...it's okay. It wasn't that big of a deal." Actually, it was.

"Good! No hard feelings then."

Dammit...she was actually kinda nice.

She turned her attention to Edward. "You should've mentioned that you had a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, he should've," I mumbled.

Edward looked extremely guilty. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Well," Tanya said, "Best of luck to you both! But if you're ever back on the market Edward, you know where to find me." She winked.

She shouted out, "You're a lucky girl, Bella!" before leaving.

The tension that she caused, however, still remained between Edward and I.

There was so much to say, but neither of us didn't knew how to begin. So I angrily marched away from him.

He grabbed my arm. "Bella, wait! We need to talk."

I whipped around. "I think I've heard enough talking today."

"Please let me explain," he begged. His green eyes lost all signs of harshness.

"That's what Mike said before we broke up."

Pain and hurt struck across his face, and I immediately regretted saying that.

"Bella. Please. You deserve at least an explanation then."

"Fine. But not here. I don't wanna cause a scene."

Because I can get really hot tempered.

During the silent car ride, I told myself repeatedly not to be a total bitch about the situation. But the second we entered his house, I turned into crazy angry girlfriend mode.

"Care to explain all the women you're fucking behind my back?"

Okay, definitely not a good way to approach this...but the jealous monster inside me just didn't care anymore.

Edward took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for this fight.

"First of all, I just need you to calm down, Bella. I can explain."

Those familiar cliche words struck me like lighting.

"I'm not gonna calm down! I've been calm the whole evening in front of Aro and Tanya! I have a goddamn right to be pissed off!"

"Ugh, yes I know. But they were embellishing everything! Tanya and I don't have a thing!"

I rolled my eyes. "Then why was she all over you?"

"Her father wants her to get closer to me. He thinks our companies will merge and be the most powerful in the business world," Edward said.

"Sounds a lot like an arranged marriage back in the medieval days," I said bitterly.

"Except I've never allowed it to go anywhere. Aro's company is too corrupt and I'm honestly not interested in Tanya. Believe me."

I really wanted to believe him, but...

"Well, why aren't you? Tanya's fucking gorgeous! She has shiny blonde hair and big breasts and long legs and a perfect face. She is literally an angel on Earth!"

Edward laughed and that made me even more furious.

"You're so absurd. She's not my type, although she sounds like she's yours," he teased.

"Not funny. Seeing her made me want to crawl under a rock and hide forever. She's the whole package deal! And she'll offer you so much more," I admitted sadly.

Now Edward wasn't smiling anymore.

"What do you mean 'offer me so much more'?" He fumed.

"What Aro said back that. He was right. Women like Tanya will help you advance and get farther in life."

His jaw clenched. "You think I actually care about any of that crap? Wealth, power, fame?"

"Why wouldn't you? People like you always do!"

"After all this time you've known me and my family, you think we're like the Volturi?"

"All I know is that sketchy things happen in the real world of business and I don't like how you are caught up right in the middle of it! And this is something you've never mentioned to me before! Am I really not that important enough to know?" I fumed.

Edward sat down and ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "Ugh! Why can't you just understand?!"

"Understand what?!" I screamed.

"That I want to keep the business side of my life away from you! You're right. It's a mess; it's horrible, complicated, sketchy, and downright wrong. There are so many secrets behind closed doors...and...and you're just so pure! You're a literal ray of sunshine and I can't let you be tainted."

I swear I could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

The idiot had a point. I really shouldn't get involved in this.

But I wanted to. Why?

Because he was involved in it. It's a part of his life and who he is. Whatever he experienced, whether it be good or bad, I wanted to experience it too.

And now I finally realized I'd follow Edward anywhere he went. I would never leave his side.

I was in love with him.

Fuck.

I started to feel vulnerable after this epiphany. After months of keeping my feelings in check and not letting my guard down, I didn't like the way Edward now had control of my heart.

Stay cool, Bella. Push those feelings back. Don't let yourself get hurt.

Too late. Tears quickly formed in my eyes and I turned my back to him before he had the chance to see them fall. I tried to hold back the chokes in my throat.

But of course, Edward was always observant of my emotions. He stood up abruptly and spun me around to look at him.

He held my face in his hands gently, peering at me. His expression was pained.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Out of habit, I channeled my love into anger as a defense.

"How could you be so stupid?! I've handled a lot of shit in my life, so what makes you think I can't handle the Volturi? Am I not powerful and rich enough?"

"You've got it all wrong. It's not that I don't think you can't handle yourself, but it's that you shouldn't have to! You shouldn't get yourself mixed in with this...you should be living a normal life!"

"What if I don't want to? You don't make decisions for me. I do."

Edward laughed humorlessly, his eyes closed. "Trust me, Bella, I know."

"Then why? Why couldn't you let me everything? Why did you shield me away from Aro and Tanya? Why didn't you introduce me as your girlfriend to them? That really hurt," I said.

He stepped back, trying to compose himself. "Because I wanted to protect you. I didn't want them to know your name or who you are or your affiliation with me. Anonymity was your best bet."

"My heart broke a little back there," I admitted quietly. "You wouldn't like it if I tried to keep our relationship a secret. It seemed more like you were embarrassed of me than trying to protect me."

For the first time, I saw a tear roll down his cheek.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice loud and firm.

"You're right. You didn't deserve that."

"Honestly Edward, I don't even know how you feel about me. I don't even get why you chose to be with me instead of Tanya. She could give you the whole world and more. I have nothing! Tell me, why are you even here? I was just random crazy girl who kissed you by chance so I wouldn't look bad in front of my ex."

Edward's eyes held onto mine, and I could see fury creeping back in.

"How can you think so low of yourself? Bella, stop making social status a part of it!"

"Because IT IS a part of it! You can't ignore these differences between us. Everywhere we go, people stare and whisper because they know something's not right. People like me don't belong with people like you."

His hands suddenly gripped my shoulders firmly.

"Why do you care about what people say?" He hissed. "This never bothered you before tonight!"

"It was Aro! He was right. He was right about everything."

"Bella, he's a manipulative bastard! He is the last person you should ever listen to."

"Look, I don't want to hurt your public image, okay?! I don't want your family company to go down in flames because you're hanging around some low-class chick who can't help you advance anywhere!" I shouted, fists clenched tightly.

"Dammit woman, how many times do I have to say that I don't care about that bullshit?"

"That's the thing! You should care! You used to before you met me! So why don't you now?!"

"BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!"

Once those words left his mouth, my heart froze.

Silence.

He sighed.

"I'm madly, hopelessly, and truly in love with you. I've been trying to tell you all night and this is definitely not how I planned on confessing. But here goes..."

"Edward, don't..." I began.

"Just hear me out, Bella."

"I've loved you for the longest time. Possibly since the moment I first met you. But at the time, I didn't realize that...all I know is that I have cared for you since the very beginning and I want nothing, but your happiness. It took me a while to come to terms with my feelings for you because I didn't want to mess up. I know you've been hurt horribly in the past and I'm doing my best to make sure that never happens again."

Blood rushed to my face and I probably looked like a hot mess right now. And not the good kind of hot mess. Suddenly, I felt lightheaded.

I always sucked at these emotional things.

"I don't know what you mean," I whispered.

"You are the most stubborn woman-actually scratch that-you are the most stubborn person I've ever met and you drive me all sorts of crazy. Before you, my life was monotonous and mechanical. It was the same old thing everyday, but then you stumbled into my heart and changed everything. Life has been one wild roller coaster after the other... And I wouldn't have it any other way. You've made me into a better man, Bella. I love you."

Edward stared at me expectantly, waiting for an reply.

Shit shit shit. What do I say?

The room felt like it was spinning. I was getting dizzy now.

Should I tell him I love him too?

Or should I take the easy route and lie? But what good would that do me? I had told myself I would never open my heart up to any man ever again...but it was too late now; I've fallen way too hard for Edward without realizing it.

I've always been good at putting walls up. But somehow, Edward kept knocking them down, over and over.

No matter how difficult and insane I was, he kept coming back to me. I thought about all the time we've spent together and how he was always by my side, even when I pushed him away. Because he really does love me.

And I loved him.

I couldn't make him wait anymore. Come on, Bella, you know what you have to do.

I opened my mouth.

I took a deep breath.

And then I fainted.