Chapter 31

Jasper sat in his father's study, waiting for him to show his old face. He would've thought that the death of his oldest son would be enough to bring him out of his office, but as Jasper had discovered in the past four hours was that he was wrong. Mr. Hale's businesses could not be left alone, not even when James had been found dead by the East River.

He finally decided he'd waited long enough and stood up to help himself to a glass of scotch. He wasn't a drinker, that was Royce's thing, but right now… he didn't care. Jasper had briefly fantasized that the police hadn't recovered James' body from the water, that it had been the body of some lookalike and James would awkwardly shuffle his feet as he made his way to the dining room. Jasper let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

Those kinds of miracles were not for the Hale family. No. Those things only happened to the Swans. Rosalie's rise from the grave had given Jasper unexpected hopes that he had to stuff down because those bizarre happenstances only occurred in dreams. Or if you were a blonde pregnant girl named Rosalie.

He was hoping against hope again, he realized, when he checked his cellphone to see if his father had called him back. With a quick flick of his wrist he downed the rest of the drink and then threw the glass against his father's – no, Mr. Hale's – chair.

"Do you remember how it's gonna roll?" Embry asked them. Lanote had brought him last night to help map out what they were going to do and Emmet thought he looked way too young to be working with the police.

"Yeah, we're here just to record this transaction." Edward answered, forever the nerd. "It'll be damning evidence against Renee and she'll be able to be put on trial."

"I still think we should pursue Rose's attempted murder to convict her." Emmet muttered angrily.

"We can't. Too much time has passed and the only evidence is the girl's testimonial." The detective told Emmet tiredly, they'd had the same conversation at least four times since the night before, when they'd originally come up with the plan. "The crime scene has been too contaminated and we have no idea how she ended up in the hospital. The lab results came out clean."

They staked out the pier for what felt like hours before Renee arrived. She'd put on a black colored wig, but she was still recognizable, she looked around carefully before nodding at someone inside a cargo boat. Not ten minutes later, another boat came up, Russian words painted on the side in red.

After setting up dock, a young man climbed down from it and greeted Renee – or Mallory Dubois. Before they could get started on whatever nefarious contract that they had, three black Cadillac's sped into the opening and Renee rolled her eyes. Emmet could see why her daughters did it so much now.

"So it is a learned behavio-" Emmet said, but was interrupted by a loud 'shh' from Lanote and Call. A man with sleek black hair stepped out of the first van and smiled wickedly.

"Prisca! How lovely to see you!"

The four men hidden behind the boxes looked at each other in bewilderment –how many names did this woman have? – And swiftly shrugged, it wasn't too important right now. Renee/Prisca/Mallory returned his grin with a tight lipped one and nodded.

"Now, you know how because my mother loved you so, I have given you a last chance to repay what you owed to my father. " the threat was implied by the way he subtly moved a hand to the inside of his jacket and Edward, Emmet, Embry and Paul all shared concerned glances with each other.

"Didyme was incredibly kind to allow me another chance at life and I will repay it to you, Aro."

"Good, now carry on." He smiled again, and waved dismissively at the man and Renee.

The men still hidden looked on as money and several crates were exchanged, after a long while of watching them all double check the contents inside each box Renee nodded and her entire demeanor changed. Her face lost all of anger and tiredness, she suddenly seemed ten years younger and they could all see the beautiful woman she was.

Renee turned towards Aro, a brilliant smile in place and extended a hand for him to shake. What happened next was as swift as it was unexpected: shots rang and hit everything on sight. His men quickly pulled Aro towards one of his SUV's, but Renee's people were not as loyal or as interested in offering her the same protection.

"No!" it was strangled and it was painful, her voice was a mixture of anguish and heart wrenching pain. The shooting stopped, apparently content at having hit their target. "No!" Renee fell to the ground, her hand coming to rest against her chest, where blood was rapidly welling and seeping through her clothes and fingers.

With a burst of strength she managed to stand up shakily and started coughing blood. "No, no, no. I-" she swallowed back some of the blood and looked around desperately to the men who had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and had started taking back all the crates, "h-help me." It was a stuttered plea, but one that finally spurred the four men into action and they all rushed towards the scene. By the time they made it to Renee, there were no boxes, no evidence of the exchange that had transpired there less than fifteen minutes before. Edward was already calling for medical help, Embry and Emmet looking around, trying to find some evidence but there was nothing except bullet casings littering the floor. Meanwhile, Paul had kneeled down in front of the now sitting Renee and was trying to apply pressure on the wound (trying being the operative word).

"Mrs. Swan," detective Lanote started and Renee leered at him –albeit tiredly–, "an ambulance is on–"

"Save it sweetheart." She muttered breathlessly, but the rage on her tone was unmistakable. "This was my last c-chance at living. I am going to die here and you c-" she coughed and blood splattered all around her, she raised a hand to wipe it but at the last minute decided it wasn't worth it and just let her hand fall back down. "This is it for me." Her eyes brightened as inspiration struck her, if she was not going to get to live her life, the least she could was make sure her alleged daughters suffered too. They wouldn't be doing any of that 'ding-dong the witch is dead' act about her. "Tell the girls they'll never find their real family. That'll fuck them up nicely," she heaved, "don't you t-think?"

"What?" Edward asked, his face filled up with bewilderment.

"Renee, what do you mean?" Emmet asked as he leaned down, wanting to get answers out of the dying woman.

"I'm not their mother. Charles's not their father." Renee smiled, her red teeth adding to the image of evil monster nicely. She took in a rattling breath and gave her last blow with joy: "Nobody wanted them and I took them in." She closed her eyes after coughing up some more and she gasped for breath. Emmet sank down besides her and shook her awake, his movements frantic.

"Don't! Who are the girls' parents? Tell us!"

"Wouldn't you like to know. All you really need to know is that they're not-" she gasped desperately (she just needed one more minute), wanting to hurt the girls, she'd be dead and they'd have no way to find out the two people who'd love them unconditionally, "sisters." She found an odd sense of satisfaction at knowing the helplessness they'd be facing and laughed. "Stupid, awful girls."

A couple of days later Bella organized a small funeral for their mother. The only attendants were the three Swan sisters and the cremator. A sad and lonely ending, fitting for a woman who had lived a sad and lonely life. Despite Renee's shortcomings, Bella still considered her as her mother and thus she was often found with a far off look on her face. Then, remembering what she'd done she'd harden her heart and started mumbling curses to Renee. That's how Esme found her one particularly long night, she'd just returned from the hospital and Bella was sitting outside of the Cullen's house (where the sisters were now living in because going back to the brownstone they'd once shared with Renee hurt too much).

"It's okay to miss her, dear." Esme greeted with a sad sigh and sat down next to her. "She was your mom for all intents and purposes."

Bella gave a bitter laugh, "was she though? I mean, she was there for me, every single memory of a school thing, an award ceremony, and my first visit to the gyno. But she tried to kill Rose, she terrorized Alice throughout her whole life…"

"Those things that you just found out. She was your mother and she loved you. No matter how twisted her view of love was, but she did. Maybe she loved you more than your sisters-"

"That's another thing!" Bella exclaimed. "They're not even my sisters."

"Bella." Esme shot her a disapproving glance and Bella blushed, "you grew up with them, you cried with them, you love them. They are your sisters. Even if you do not share the same blood, you are sisters. Remember, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. And that's specially true for you girls, don't let a woman's bitterness stop you from loving your family."

The girl looked around, trying to come to terms with the fact that maybe her life wasn't as different as it used to be. She remembered late nights laughing, teasing Rosalie's prudish perspective on dating, and mocking Alice's sewing glasses. She also remembered being on the receiving end of the laughter, blushing as she recounted her encounters with the law. Pizza and wine nights spent watching sappy movies. Singing loudly and badly to Taylor Swift's newest songs. Crying over boys (for Bella), or lack thereof (for Rose) in their lives. "You're right. It's just that… maybe we all have sisters or brothers out there… and they don't know what happened to us, maybe they think we died… And what happens if we find our real-" Esme clicked her tongue "our biological family and they're not- or we're not- what we-" Bella hid her face in her hands and exhaled loudly.

"Don't worry about that just yet. We'll deal with it when we have to."

"Yeah" Bella answered in a small voice, "would you, I mean, can I -" Esme smiled encouragingly and Bella took a deep breath before asking: "can I hug you?"

"Of course."

Turns out that because the girls didn't know who their biological family was, there was a small – but probable- chance that they might be related to anyone they'd ever encountered. And so, because they are the most unpractical girls (but their concern was legit), they had DNA tests against anyone that they could find and was willing.

Funnily (or disturbingly) enough, the ones that ended up being related were Jasper and Rosalie, resulting in a very heavily traumatized blonde girl and a super grossed out Royce. After a couple of days, Mr. Hale's EA found Royce Sr.'s body rotting in his penthouse. He'd killed himself hours after finding out that Renee had been killed. Though all went to Royce and Jasper, they decided to give Rose equal shares in the business. This fact left three Hale children with a lot of money and a whole lot of future therapy sessions. Royce left the country and eventually married an Italian girl with ties to the Volturi. When her relatives in the states found out about him he was promptly asked to leave Alessa and their kids. He traveled the world until he turned forty and then proceeded to contact his siblings to say his goodbyes, he'd decided to fight for Alessa and he thought he'd probably die trying to get back to his family. Rose and Jasper never heard from him again.

Rose went on to take over Hale Industries as VP and Jasper as CEO. The business thrived and they went on to become some of the Fortune 500 youngest and prettiest (much to Emmet's amusement). As for Emmet and Rosalie, they started dating when Bella and Edward announced their wedding. Rosalie was very reluctant to get more serious, knowing that she shouldn't be with Emmet when he wanted marriage and kids and she, well, she wasn't sure that's what she deserved and couldn't have any.

But, after two months of dating and her almost breaking up with him when he talked of their future, they hashed things out. Rosalie still wanted a family and though all her previous experiences had left some scars, she wanted that family to start with Emmet. They decided to adopt two dogs, and after a year they got married. And several years later, they fostered and then proceeded to adopt Stephen, a rowdy fifteen year old and his six year old sister, Nell. And when Nell developed a love for all sorts of creatures that lead her to take in two previously stray cats and somehow a lost parakeet, well, let's just say they had a full house.

Also related were Esme and Carlisle to one Bella Swan. Her first instinct had been to get Edward double checked, because even if they weren't quite dating yet, she definitely wanted to. Turns out that she'd forgotten that him and Emmet had been adopted, but once they were reassured of their non-siblingness, well, they got married. I'm not gonna lie, Bella was the most surprised when a couple of months before her twenty-second birthday came round that Edward asked her to marry him and she said yes. They were married in March and had a beautiful baby boy that they named Tommy in November and a year and a half later another boy whom they named John. Esme never did get Bella to call her mom until Bella was about to give birth to Tommy, there were a lot of tears that day.

Perhaps saddest and most disappointing was Alice's family. She eventually found out who her mother had been (through sheer persistence and a big amount of hunches that everyone was still surprised had managed to turn out accurate). A very free-spirited woman that had gotten pregnant when she was sixteen, she'd given her to Renee because she felt she would not be able to properly care for a kid, she had lived to regret her decision later in her life. Alice found out that she'd had a sister Cynthia Brandon who'd been driving with her mom – their mom- and a drunk driver had crashed into them. Their mother didn't make it. But Cynthia knew about Alice because her mother – Sara – was always talking about her: "you have a sister, y'know?" , "She's turning twenty four next week" and "We'll find her, sweetie, I think I have a lead on where Prisca is and she can arrange a meeting for us three." Cynthia became a sister to Alice, Rose and Bella. She and her partner Flynn became somewhat of a fixed point on their lives and the girls were not complaining.

Alice and Jasper got back together after they spent four years in therapy thanks to their families. They got a Pinterest wedding; Alice designed the dresses for her sisters and for herself. They got married on June, Tommy and John as their ring bearers and Rosalie and Emmet's pets as their guards and Kateri as the flower girl. Leah and Seth were in charge of making sure so many animals didn't escape. It was adorable, according to Bella and Sue. And so the Swan girls found out their real parentage and they stayed together for many years to come.

Charlie's death remained known as an accident, but by this point, they'd all moved on with their lives. Renee had probably been the one to arrange for his death, but she'd already died. What was the point in giving blame to a dead woman?

A/N: And that's it. Thanks so much for sticking with this story and I truly apologize for finishing this after so long. Hope you enjoyed the ending! Please feel free to leave your thoughts about the ending in a review. Again, than y'all so much for reading!