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Chapter 14

EPOV

"What are we going to do? We can't let his latest whore take everything away from us!" shouted Emmett, making me cringe.

Everyone had just settled into Carlisle's office and no one was happy about the situation.

"It doesn't seem like there's anything we can do, Emmett. And please stop referring to this girl as his whore. I really believe they had a platonic relationship, although I don't know why he kept her a secret." Esme said sounding puzzled.

"I'm sorry, Esme." said Emmett, looking sad for his step-mother, but obviously not believing the claim our father made about a platonic relationship.

"There has to be something we can do to get our money back!" demanded Rosalie.

"Rosalie, it was never your money so you need to calm down." I said, disgusted by her greed.

"We're part of this family too, Edward. We deserve our fair share." said Alice.

"You deserve a share only because you married my idiot brother, Alice! Let's not forget our places here." I calmly replied.

"That's it!" Emmett said excitedly. "Eddie here needs to seduce the wh… girl and marry her. Once enough time has passed, he can divorce her and get back our family's money. Piece of cake! She won't know what hit her!"

"Ok, I take that back. Rosalie is the one that married the idiot." I mumbled.

"Actually, it might not be such a bad idea, Edward." said Jasper. "You'll need a more solid plan, like a pre-nup and find a way to get the money when you divorce her, but it could work."

"I don't know about this, the letter Carlisle left me asked me to train her in running the business. He said that she was like a daughter to him and I believe him. I'm not just going to jump into marriage for money, although it's a better reason than love." Even though I now believe Carlisle was faithful to Esme, I still can't fully believe that love exists for everyone.

"Have any of you thought that maybe Carlisle had a reason for doing this the way he did?" Esme asked. "I know he loved me and I don't believe he was cheating on me. I know that he lived that way in the past, but he really did change."

"I'm sorry Esme, but with his history it's just easy to jump to that conclusion," Emmett said, hating to see her in so much pain.

"Well, I'm going to head back to my hotel. I'll be back after I've slept on all of this and let you know what I decide." I let them know before leaving for the evening.

"Good morning Edward, how did you sleep last night?" asked Esme as I entered the kitchen.

"Not that great. How are you doing today, Esme?"

"I still can't believe he's gone. And he left us to deal with his will… What was he thinking, Edward? Why would he do this? He had to know it would cause more discord in the family, on top of everything that has been going on for some time now. I know that you never did the things the girls accused you of. I don't know how your brothers could think you would do that, but they love the girls and are blinded by their greed. Now, he left you more money than he left them… this is like a gunpowder barrel waiting for a spark. It's just asking for trouble."

"I can't believe it either. I still expect him to walk through the door and crack a joke on our expense. You're right. It'll probably cause more problems than this family already had but he had a plan. We just need to figure out what it was." I said as I fix myself a cup of coffee. After a night of nothing more than tossing and turning, I was in dire need of some fuel to keep me awake.

"Can I get you any breakfast, dear?" Esme asked. She was always busy mothering us in whatever way she could and it hadn't changed even if we were no longer living with her.

"Thank you but no. I'm fine. Where is everyone else this morning?"

"Emmett and Rosalie are still in bed. Jasper and Alice have already gone out for a run and returned. They are upstairs showering."

"Well, I made a decision last night, but I don't want to have to repeat myself so I'll wait until everyone is in the same room and then we'll talk. I'll be in Carlisle's office. I need to see how things are going back in Chicago. Bring everyone in when they're ready to talk, okay?"

"I will, Edward."

"So what did you decide, Eddie?" Emmett asked as they all hurried into the office.

"Stop calling me Eddie!" He knew how much I hated that nickname, but kept on calling me that just to get on my nerves. "I decided that I'm going to give this some time. Esme is right, Carlisle had a reason for doing this and we just have to figure out what it is. I'm not going to marry the girl and trick her into giving back the money Carlisle left her." I'm not Rosalie and Alice, I added to myself.

"That's stupid, Edward! It will take too long. Why not do whatever you have to do to get the money back to us?" Alice shrieked and threw a glare in my direction.

"Alice, Carlisle left us all with a decent amount of money and the means to continue making more. Why the rush and need to get all of his money back?" Esme asked.

I suppressed a smirk. I knew exactly why and so did Esme. Unlike me, though, Esme wanted to believe that those two could still make my brothers happy. I had my doubts.

After pulling herself together, Alice looked at Esme with a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Esme. It just doesn't seem fair that he didn't leave you with everything. You were his wife, after all."

"Well, Alice, that's very thoughtful of you, but Carlisle left me well provided for and considering I didn't marry him for his money; it was very generous of him." Esme said, looking a little confused by Alice's behavior. "I think Edward is doing the right thing. After all not everyone marries for money." I suppressed a smile when I heard Esme's dig at Alice and Rosalie.

"OK, so we're all just going home and back to work while you figure this out?" Jasper asked me.

"For now, that seems to be the smartest choice." I said. "I'm going to head back to my hotel and get everything together and go back to Chicago." I said as I got up and headed for the door.

"Oh, Edward! Please don't leave so soon." Esme said as she followed me to the door.

"I'm sorry, Esme, but I really have to get back. The company's not going to run itself."

"Of course… Please let me know when you get there and take care of yourself."

"I will, Esme. You take care too. And don't forget that you're more than welcome to visit anytime." I said before hugging her tight. To the rest, I threw a "Bye, everyone!" over my shoulder.

They all waved me off as I walked out of the house. I was more than happy to get away from the snake-pit that my father's home had become. I never really considered the estate my home, when I first moved in I was treated like the help by everyone except Carlisle, then once Alice moved in after marrying Jasper I had to leave, I was never comfortable here.

BPOV

What were you thinking, Ed? I don't know how to run a business! And the fact that your gorgeous son will have to be my mentor is so not helping issues. I thought to myself as I fixed some dinner. Knock, knock

"Now what?" I said as I walked to the door. I opened it without checking, which was a dumb idea.

"Hi, Jake." I said in a neutral tone even though he was the last person I wanted to see at the moment.

"Hi, Bells. How are you?" he asked as he pulled me into a hug and maneuvered his way into my house uninvited. God, how I hate it when he calls me that!

"I'm fine, Jake. Do you need something?" I know I was being rude, but I really didn't have the energy to deal with him at the moment.

"Look, Bells, I know you said you're fine and you want to be alone but I know that's not true. That guy Ed hurt you. He lied to you and I know you need a real friend right now."

"Jacob, what I need is to be left alone. You're right, I am hurt by the fact that Ed lied to me, but I get why he acted the way he did so I'll get over it, sooner or later."

"Bells…"

"No, wait, I'm not done! The thing is that even though he lied, he was a true friend. Jake, I don't need you coming over and putting him down. I really don't need you trying to comfort me when all you really want is to get into my pants." I said as boldly as I could. I knew his game plan and it was not going to work.

"Bella, that's not what I'm trying to do! I'm worried about you." He said as he tried to pull me into a hug. "I know you, Bells. I know what you need." he said softly while moving his mouth closer to mine.

"This, right here, is exactly what I'm talking about! I don't need anything you have to offer, nor do I want it! You need to leave. Now!" I said as I tried to pull away from him. I was this close to smacking some sense into him!

"God damn it, Bella! Why do you keep on fighting this? You know we belong together."

"And that's where you're completely wrong, Jacob! Let go of me! We do not belong together! I want you to leave and don't come back. A real friend wouldn't push himself on me every chance he gets." I said as I opened the door for him to leave.

"Fine, Bella. But sooner or later, you'll realize you love me." Jacob said as he walked out the door.

"I don't love you, Jacob." I yelled at him as he got into his car. Maybe if I scream the truth to his face, he'll finally get the picture. Then again, maybe not.

"Well, Ed, if you wanted me to learn from Edward, I guess going to Chicago would be my best option right now. It'll also get me away from Jake for a while so that's one good thing about this whole mess. And now, I'm going crazy talking to myself… great!"

MPOV?

"Great! What are we supposed to do now? The poison worked and he's out of the way but he changed his damn will! How do we get the money?" said the first woman sitting in the office.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. I can't believe they're buying his lies. He turned me down, which, is understandable if she's what he likes, I guess. God knows I'm more beautiful than she could even dream of being but I can't figure out what he planned." said the second woman sitting on a chair in the same office.

"We'll have to figure it out and also figure out a plan since Edward won't go along with marrying little Miss Swan. Maybe you can befriend her and get her to doubt her abilities so she'll sell us her shares. At least that way, we'll have control of the company." said the other person in the room.

"It's a good idea, but I don't think she'll fall for it if I try to befriend her. I was a little too outspoken at the reading. You were pretty quiet and seemed to be more on her side than the rest of us. Why don't you befriend her? You could even end up in her will. I still have some poison left…"