Warning: Counting on each and every reader to keep the faith. HEAs are my forte, so hold on, and have faith. Thank you!

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Chapter 36 – Betrayal

I recognized her scent from my newly awakened memories of my early childhood. My vampire cells had cleared all the muck and damage that my father's mind-erasing injections had created. Hell, I even remembered the day I was born with pristine clarity, and the woman standing before me, was definitely my mother.

"Cousin," Arostali greeted her with a head tilt.

"That is all, Marcus. You may leave," she told him stiffly.

"She is a bit mouthy, but I think given the right motivation, she should serve the cause well."

"I said leave!" she demanded, so Arostali nodded once, before handing her the remote, and then making a quick retreat.

My dumbfounded gaze had followed him to the door, but then I slowly turned my eyes to my very alive mother, who was completely unchanged from the last time I saw her. Not a single strand of grey in her hair, or even an extra line or freckle on her perfect face. She hadn't aged a day; if anything, we would be more easily believed to be sisters, rather than mother and daughter.

"Hello, beautiful," she cooed at me. Memories flooded my mind of so many joyful mornings when I'd wake up in my bed to her smiling over me. She would always whisper, "Hello, beautiful," and in return, I'd grin so widely that my cheeks would hurt.

This time, however, I was not smiling. "So, you're alive," I said quietly, unsure if I should be grateful, or even more pissed than ever before. I had so many hows and whys running through my mind, that it was hard to focus on which one to voice first.

"I'm so sorry, my love, but my absence from your life was an unfortunate necessity."

"An unfortunate necessity," I repeated her words slowly, trying to let them sink in. For a reason I couldn't quite grasp just yet, her comment seemed almost hollow-hearted.

"Now that you've grown into a strong, intelligent, woman," she continued, "we can finally be together."

"Where have you been all this time?" I whispered, currently unable to find any more strength in my voice. I had an overwhelming desire to reach out and touch her face, just to make sure I wasn't conjuring her from my dreams. How long I ached for just one more moment with her, and now that it was here, it was being marred by my own wary lack of trust in anyone and anything at that place. Why was she there? Did she really just command Arostali to leave the room?

"Isabella, the thing you have to understand, is how much your father loved you. He was a powerful man, I couldn't just take you with me when I had to leave. He would never allow it. Besides, you were always his, from the moment you were born, I knew you belonged to him. His little mini."

I furrowed my brow. "Usually children belong to both parents."

She smiled. "Not in the world of rich owners. He had connections, I knew he would have never let you go, so I had to let you go. Sweetheart, I know you can't possibly understand right now, but if you open your mind and allow me to explain, I promise you, everything will become clear."

"You're a hybrid," I stated, not wanting her to go off topic on some sugarcoated tangent. "Did dad know?"

"Your father was a strong-minded, ambitious man, who…"

"Did he know?" I pressed.

She smiled again, and then sighed. "No. Not at first. He didn't know until right before I left. I always knew I couldn't stay with your father forever, but his discovery of my true self made me leave sooner than I would have preferred. The truth is, your father and I should have never been together in the first place. My pregnancy with you was a…. happy accident."

"A happy accident?" I repeated with a sigh.

"When I first went to Washington, I had only one goal in mind. My plan was to work for your grandfather, Charles Senior, and I interviewed for a job with him, as a secretary for his construction company. I knew I would have to earn his trust before he would allow me access into his underground dealings. But he was a terrible, rigid, untrusting man, and would never let a stranger close to his special possessions. I needed a different angle, and Charlie was it. He was so sweet, and had such innocent naïve ideologies about everything. Oh, and he was funny. That man knew how to make a knock-knock joke."

"What was your goal? Why did you really want to work with my grandfather?"

"I needed access to the Swan's monsters," she said evenly. "One, in particular."

My stomach twisted. "Edward."

She nodded. "The only other hybrid in existence… at the time. I was so upset when I found out the Higginbothams had sold him to the Swans. Edward and I were the same. We needed to be together."

"Together?"

"Charles Senior refused to allow anyone into the manor, but Charlie was so open and eager to be loved. It wasn't long before I found out I was pregnant, which was definitely a shock. I had only been on the all-human diet for a half-decade. I wasn't even sure if I could get pregnant. The possibility never entered my mind. But your father was so excited. He proposed right away, and even though his father didn't approve, he didn't care. We married at the courthouse, and everything was such a whirlwind. Most importantly, with that silly little legal document making me a Swan, I had access to their underground world."

"You used my father," I said slowly.

"I just didn't see any other way in," she admitted. "I needed to get to Edward."

"Why?"

She stared at me for a minute, before reaching for my neck. "Here, let me get that off of you," she said before removing my metal collar. If I didn't know better, I may have even felt one of her fingers linger on my mating bite mark. Before I had a chance to question her on it, she pulled back and placed the collar on the desk next to the remote, then reached for my hand. "Come. Let me show you something."

I was so desperate to believe in my mother, that I forced myself to ignore her odd behavior, as well as any doubts I had, and I took her hand… but not before slyly slipping that little remote into my corset. I wasn't sure what I thought I could do with it, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Hand in hand, my mother and I left the office, and she began showing me around the Higginbotham underground facility. It was much like the one back home, but bigger, and everything was more pristine and newer looking. Whoever was in charge there definitely liked the most modern finishes, whereas my father's facility looked like it needed a few upgrades.

"Where are all the Higginbothams?" I asked, worried someone would see us and be upset by our casual stroll around the premises.

"Gone," she replied dismissively.

"So, who's in charge?"

"Why, I am, of course."

My stomach just about leapt into my throat. "You? You're Arostali's partner?"

"No, no, not at all. Honey, I would never partner with such a slimy little creep. I know he is always up to no good, and that's the only reason why I keep him close."

"He has plans," I told her. "Extremely disturbing plans. And he has your father!"

"My father?" she asked confused.

"Garrett. He is locked in the cells. He thinks you're dead!" I said in a rush. "He said my dad told him you died. Why would Dad tell him that? He always told me you left, which I guess was true, but he told Garrett you died. And Edward, he showed me his memory of you dying. He was so sure that shifter killed you."

"I know it's all confusing right now, and I will explain everything, but first I must show you something," she said before leading me down a long hall, and then into the infamous Higginbotham Lab.

Unlike the Swan Lab, this lab was bustling with scientists and lab technicians, virtually all of whom bowed their heads to my mother as we walked past.

"They love their work so much," she said proudly.

Many of their faces were covered with medical masks, which only made their eyes stand out that much more. Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, amber eyes, and red eyes. Not all the scientists in there were human.

"What exactly are they working on?" I questioned.

"The future," she replied. She brought me to the back side of the lab, where there was a long row of rooms with viewing windows. Inside each window, was a man dressed in army fatigues. All of them were sitting on what looked like a hospital bed, and was hooked up to an IV.

"This is the future, my love. A future where no one has to die, and everyone can experience super strength and abilities."

"You're talking about the Immortal Humans?" I asked slowly, clinging to the tiniest shred of hope that I was misunderstanding her.

"The I.M.s will be the superior race; led by us, of course. The only natural hybrids. We will rule them all, Bella. The greatest monarchy this world has ever known."

My heart sank, and my anger boiled. "Mom, Arostali is playing you! He must have had Chelsea mess with your mind."

"Chelsea?" she asked confused. "Oh, honey, no. Chelsea is my vampire. I've had her for quite some time."

"You have? Well, Arostali must be using her against you somehow, without you knowing it," I said, still convinced that Arostali was the evil mastermind behind everything.

She shook her head no. "Come," she said before leading me to the opposite side of the lab. Through a back door was a dark room. She flipped on the lights, and I gasped at the sight of several smallish cages filled with various creatures. "Unfortunately, I have to keep these ones in here. They just don't get along well with the others."

The first creature I noticed was vaguely familiar. A shifter, but not just any shifter. It was the very same shifter from Edward's memory. The shifter that he believed killed my mother.

"You have this creature here?" I questioned.

"He's family… well, sort of. Before my mother had me, she would inject herself with various creature DNA. She didn't know it at the time, but she passed on some of that foreign DNA to me. This beast's particular DNA can be found in my own cells, so I like to keep him around for nostalgia. Perhaps one day I can tap into those dormant cells and learn to shift as well."

I wasn't exactly sure what to think about that. I really wanted to question her about the day Edward thought she was attacked by that shifter, but then the next cage's inhabitant caught my full attention…

"Esme," I whispered. She was just sitting on a chair, and staring blankly ahead of her. She was completely still to the point of catatonia. "What's wrong with her?"

"She just needs a little extra help being compliant," Renée said casually.

"This is Edward's mother!" I said appalled.

"Yes, and she was absolutely hysterical. She was detrimental to herself. Constantly banging her head into the electrical bars. It was horrible. Something had to be done or she wouldn't have survived."

"So, you keep her locked up in this tiny cage? You have to see how wrong this is?"

"Unfortunately, it's necessary," she said evenly. "Now, look here. See?" she said, pointing to the occupant of the cage next to her. "This is Chelsea. All locked up where she can't hurt anyone."

The vampire in the cage before me looked no older than twelve. She was small and meek, and only slightly resembled the horrifying vision I had of her and Edward. She too was sitting quietly, but she was not catatonic. She was huddled on the ground, playing with a variety of dolls.

"Isn't she lovely? She reminds me a bit of you when you were little."

"I… I had a dream about her. It was…" I couldn't even finish my sentence. The sheer memory of that vision made me quiver.

"Dreams can be terrifying," Renée said sympathetically. "But they're just that, dreams."

The vision I had experienced of Chelsea was definitely not a dream, and I knew my mother had to know something more about it. She wasn't telling me about a lot of things actually. Half-truths, undisclosed details, and blatant lies was all she had uttered since the moment she walked into that office and back into my life. Still, I was hoping she would give me something; anything at all that could convince me that she was at least being a little sincere. She was my mother, and if for no other reason, I was desperate to believe in her in some way, shape, or form.

"Mom, how can you be a part of all of this?" I asked quietly as I stared at the imprisoned girl. "You're half vampire. These creatures are just like you. How can you keep any of them in these conditions?"

"They're not like me," she disagreed. "I'm a hybrid. The best of both the natural and supernatural worlds. But I assure you, sweetheart, this is all just a means to an end. I have to play this role of monster owner, because it is the only way to strike against the other owners and ensure this despicable practice ends forever. I don't get joy from keeping them like this, but until we secure a better world for them, we have to resort to less than desirable means of containment."

"Where's Edward?" I asked, feeling more and more unnerved in my mother's presence. "Arostali said he was here. Where is he?"

"Marcus told you he was here?" she asked surprised. "Well, that's unfortunate. Edward is here, but I was hoping you wouldn't know that just yet."

"Why not?" I asked strongly.

"Because I didn't want to upset you."

"Why would I be upset?"

"Come, there is much to discuss."

She led me back through the lab, but I froze mid-step when I noticed one particular scientist, who's mask had been pulled down as he was seemingly testing something.

"Carlisle?" I asked, not completely certain it was him. I had only seen a few foggy visions of him through Edward's mind as he dreamed, but it certainly looked like the image I had of him.

The man looked up at me, and despite never seeing him in person, an immediate warmth of familiarity ran through me. I knew deep inside my gut that it had to be him. "You are Carlisle, aren't you?"

Having no idea who I was, he looked at my mother confused.

"My daughter is curious about the lab," she told him.

"No, I'm not!" I disagreed anxiously. I meant to keep my mouth shut, but for all I knew, this could be the one and only time I ever had a chance to speak to him. He deserved to know where his family was. "I'm Edward's mate, and he's somewhere here on this compound. Eleazar is imprisoned in Alaska, Esme is locked up over there, and Rosalie is in the cells," I told him in a rush.

Carlisle's eyes grew larger, and a moment of sheer hatred washed over his features as he glared at my mother, but she was quick to explain her actions.

"It is always darkest before the light. Everyone is where they are, so we can move ahead with our plan to finally be free of all this tyranny."

He looked back at me, and I surprised myself by reflexively shaking my head no in subtle disagreement with my mother. I was trying so hard to be open-minded with her, but I couldn't lie to Carlisle.

Without any more attempts at convincing him, I knew he believed me. I could see his fear and mistrust of my mother as clearly in his eyes as it would have been if he had spoken out against her. Shockingly, however, he took a deep breath, and then looked back at me. "Everything is fine, child. Soon the world will be as it should."

My chest tightened from his comment, and I knew in that instant, without a shadow of a doubt, my mother was pure evil. Whatever she had hanging over Carlisle was big. He was clearly not under anyone's mind-control the way Esme was; he was of sound mind, but he was being threatened, and I had a horrible feeling it had everything to do with Edward.

"Where is Edward?" I asked my mother yet again. It took everything I had in me to soften my tone, because I knew if she thought I was as upset as I was, she wouldn't tell me anything more. I still needed answers, and I absolutely had to find Edward.

"Come, let's go talk," she said, with a subtle sharpness to her voice that I hadn't heard from her before.

She brought me back to the office, and that empty water tank in the back of the room was screaming at me. She more than knew what had happened to him; I was confident that she was actually the one who did it, and she did it of her own free will and quest for ultimate power. It was sickening.

"Bella, I want you to know, everything I have ever done, has been to make this world a better place. From the time I was born, I knew I was destined for greatness. All of my grandfather's hopes and dreams rested on me, and I swore to him on his deathbed that I would accomplish them."

"Why did you put Edward in the tank?" I asked her gently, somehow managing to contain the rage and grief I had inside of me so she would keep talking.

"The reason I showed you the lab and those men, was so you could see the bigger picture," Renée said, ignoring my previous question. "All that I have, I want to share with you. You and I can do this together."

"Together?" I asked her incredulously. I bit my bottom lip and mentally begged myself to keep my mouth shut, but my emotions became too strong. "You abandoned me," I said with a hot tear escaping down my cheek. "You left me and never looked back, and now you want me to rule the world with you?"

"I told you why I had to leave you. Your father would have never let you go. He hated me for what I was, and he hated what you were too, which is why he kept drugging you to make you forget."

"How do you know about that?"

"Do you honestly think I never checked in on you? I know everything he did to you."

"Then why did you allow it?" I asked as more tears rolled down my face. "Taking away memories is one of the cruelest things anyone could do."

"You needed time to grow up. You needed to know what it means to be human before you could rule them. Doctor Amun always had your best interests in mind when he gave you those injections."

"Wait… the doctor who worked for my dad ended up betraying him. He told the committee about me, and that my dad was hiding me."

"As I said, he had your best interests in mind. It was time for you to come take your place with me."

"He was working for you all along," I said as my heartbroken tears turned into angry ones. "He probably convinced my dad to give me the shots, didn't he?"

"He did convince him that it was for the best, because it was, Bella. Your father hated doing it, but he understood the necessity of it."

"Have you been in contact with my dad all this time? Or were you just controlling him through the doctor?"

"Your father is a headstrong man. He would have never knowingly worked with me on anything after I left. He thought he was doing the right thing by giving you a human life. And he was doing the right thing, but you're old enough to handle the truth now, so your father is no longer needed."

"No longer needed? He is my father. You had him arrested. Have you seen him since then? He looks horrible."

"As I already told you," she said through gritted teeth. "Your father would never allow me to take you like this. He would get in the way. He would tell the other owners of my plans, and they would gang up against me. They all must die in order for us to create this better world."

"So, dad is just expendable too? He will be at that fight. They're making him be there. You know that, don't you? If all the owners are taken out, he will be killed too."

"Charlie was a sweet man, Bella, but now we both have outgrown him. His use is done; it's time to move on."

"He's my dad!" I snapped at her. "Other than the injections, I have nothing but fond memories of him. He was all I had for over sixteen years."

"And I'm grateful you had a nice upbringing, but that's in the past now. We must only look to the future. The future of I.M.s, ruled by us."

"If you wanted me to rule with you, why was I sent to Arostali's compound? Why didn't you just bring me straight here?"

"You only knew of your human life, you needed to learn about vampires too. You needed to learn to fight, and Marcus has told me that you have been doing extremely well in the training ring."

"Why do I need to know how to fight?" I pressed. "Why am I being put into that arena at all?"

"All worthy leaders must first be skilled warriors," she replied evenly. "They won't follow you if they don't respect you."

"And what battles have you won?" I retorted bitterly.

"Honey, I have been fighting this ultimate battle for a century and a half. You are just a child. This is how you become a woman worthy of being the world's princess. After we have won, you will birth the regional leaders, and our family will span the world."

"I'll do what now?" I asked disturbed.

"From the moment I learned that a second hybrid existed, a male hybrid, I knew my descendants would rule with me. I went to Swan Manor looking for my mate so we could start our family, but by the time I was able to gain access to him, I already had you. And Edward… he was just so childlike. Charlie had always convinced his father not to fight him. He was so sheltered, and so pathetically unskilled at anything, I knew he wasn't ready. Selling The Terminator, and forcing Charlie and his associates to fight Edward in the tournaments, was the only way to toughen him up. Unfortunately, The Terminator just kept winning. He was too good, so I needed to find him a stronger opponent. Then, finally we had everything set up. A certain defeat of The Terminator, and I knew it was time for Edward to finally step out of his shadow and become the vicious beast he was always meant to become."

"So you faked your death?"

"Edward loved me. I made sure he did. Always giving him the same kindness his previous coven had. I knew he was my mate, but I also knew he was a long way away from being ready to father my future children."

"Wait! Just stop right there. Edward is my mate. You can go off on your crazy-train all you want, but he is mine, and he always will be. He even showed me a memory he had of you telling him that we were destined to be together."

"It is true that I have always had precognitive dreams. But the future is always changing, and I have seen a wide variety of possible futures. However, the one thing that has always been consistent, is that Edward is my mate."

I laughed once humorlessly. "Uh, hate to break it to you, but Edward and I are far more than a little friendly. We are mates, in every sense of the word."

"He loves you, of course, because I made sure that he did. I always brought you to him, and saw to it that you were close, so that one day, I could use you to better control him if he didn't immediately agree with my vision of the world."

"If he was really your mate, you wouldn't have to control him," I argued.

"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't already tainted him!" she spat at me. I wish I could've said I was shocked by her outburst, but at that point, nothing was really shocking when it came to my evil mother. "He was supposed to be mine!" she continued to rage. "I wanted him to love you, but not be in love with you. And having him bite you was completely unacceptable!"

"But he did bite me, so he is my mate!" I argued. "I have his mark."

"The mating bond of vampires is more than just some bite mark," she replied angrily. "You don't get to choose it, and just because he thought you were his mate, doesn't make it true. Besides, he does not have your mark on him… he has mine."

"You're lying," I snapped back.

"I'm afraid not. He is my mate. He was always meant to be mine. We are the same. Identical souls. You're only a quarter vampire. I was willing to just leave you alone to have a normal human life with your father, but you had to go exploring the manor. You had to find Edward and confuse him. His affections for you have always been misplaced. I wanted him to love you as the father he should have been to you. Everything about you was a mistake."

Her words literally made my skin crawl. It was like a swift punch in the gut, followed by a million knifes stabbing me in the heart. My non-venomous bites on Edward had always healed and disappeared, which had upset me from the first time I bit him. Learning my venomous mother had bitten him in a way that would surely make a permanent mark, was excruciating. How could she do that to him? How could she do that to me?

"You're fucking disgusting," I told her, hoping to scream it out, but I ended up choking on my emotions.

Her angry expression suddenly relaxed into a tense, but calm one.

"Bella, you are my daughter, and that is the only reason why you're still alive. I will not have you threatening me in any way, or the world I plan to create. Edward is my mate, but I have no interest in a sexual relationship with him anymore. Since you ruined that, you will now birth his children."

I shook my head with incredulity. "Wow, and here I thought you couldn't get any more despicable," I mumbled through my angry tears. "You want your daughter to breed with your mate? That doesn't sound even a little disturbing to you?"

"The mating bond isn't sexual. I had hopes it would be, but only because I wanted full-bred hybrid children to help me reign."

"Full-bred hybrids? That shit doesn't even make sense!" I yelled.

"Loyal children," she added. "Powerful children. Not ones raised by an inferior mundane human."

"You mean not ones you abandoned to be raised motherless?" I corrected her. "Edward thought you were dead. You have a funny way of showing your affections to your so-called mate."

"He thought I was dead because it was necessary to harden him. To anger him into wanting to fight. Our bond was so strong, I knew he would never stop fighting for me. And he didn't. My death made him who he is today, and I would do it all again the same exact way. All of it, that is, except for allowing that pitiful human to fuck me. Sleeping with Charlie will always be my greatest mistake. I wasted my superior DNA on that human's subpar offspring, and now look where we are? You had the audacity to grow up to adulterate my mate! Because you defiled him, I'll have to settle with Swan's tainted bloodline making my heirs only a shadow of what they should have been… But I don't need your support, dear child. It would have been much easier if you were willing to cooperate, but now I see that isn't going to be possible."

She walked over to her desk and pressed a on the phone. When someone responded, she told them, "I'm finished with Cigno Nera. Have the guards come bring her back to her cell."

"Yes, Ma'am," the voice responded.

My mother turned back to me. "I hope you survive the big battle tomorrow night," she said emotionlessly. "As soon as it's over, we will begin your breeding. I can see you're going to be a problem, so you'll have to stay in the lab cells for the duration of your time here. When I have all the children I want out of you, I'll show you mercy by sending you to retire at Marcus's compound."

All of my affections for my mother had exploded into the stratosphere, and I was beyond hurt at that point - I was enraged. I was appalled. I was more hateful than I ever could have been towards my father – towards anyone for that matter. She took everything from me, and I had no idea where to go from there.

When my super hearing sensed the guards approaching, I knew I was almost out of time, but I needed to ask my mother one last time…

"Where. Is. Edward?" I demanded. "You clearly had to torture him," I said, pointing at the empty tank. "Where is he now? He must still be here if I'm to breed with him after the battle. Where is he?"

Renée smirked evilly at me. "Edward loved you. That was clear from the beginning. It did take a little… persuasion for him to understand. He thought you were his mate, but I set him straight. He is now loyal to me, and only me. My venom is locked in his neck forever, and because of that intense connection, he will never betray me. It's more than emotional, and even more spiritual; it's physical. He is mine, forever and always, and there is nothing you can do to change that. He was not happy about my order to breed with you, but… he understands it's for the greater good."

"You should never have to order your mate to do anything," I told her, once again being betrayed by my emotions. I meant for it to sound so much harsher than it did, but I felt like I was dying inside, and it was incredibly difficult to control my tone as more tears escaped down my face.

That woman - that woman who was supposed to love and protect me - had every single person I cared for as her prisoner. She was ripping me to shreds from the inside out, and I was powerless to stop her.

When the guards arrived, and grabbed my arms to restrain me, I felt completely defeated, but she just had to kick me one more time.

"Oh, and Cigno," she said coldly. "Tell your little monster friends that your plan to escape and overthrow me, will never work. I will have a team of I.M.s there at all time. You can't beat them, especially with the weapons they will be equipped with… Come to think of it, don't tell them anything. It's best if they don't know that I plan on burning them after they've taken out all the owners and the diplomats."

"Your father is in there," I said brokenly. "You don't even care about him?"

"Vampires are inferior creatures, Bella. That's something Edward had to learn too. They are slaves to their monstrous instincts, whereas hybrids are slaves to no one…. Well, I'm not a slave, I should say. I wish we could have been friends, Cigno, but you just have far too much of your father in you. It truly is a shame."

"If I die tomorrow, you won't get your heirs," I told her, knowing she didn't really care either way.

And she didn't care. She simply shrugged, and waved her hand in front of her face. "I will live forever, so I don't really need heirs. I want the children, and I will have them if you survive, but your death would only sever the few ties Edward still feels for you. His venom in your neck calls to him, but because it was a mistake, and you aren't his true mate, it isn't anywhere close to as strong as my bite on him is. Still, it would only be a win to cut that tie once and for all. See? No matter the result tomorrow, I win."

I wanted to lash out and attack her. I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me, but I knew that wasn't even possible. She was utterly heartless, and with diabolical egomaniacal monsters like her, there was nothing that anyone could do to hurt them… nothing, except to thwart her plans. My mother would not succeed in her disturbing world domination scheme. One way or another, she would be stopped, and I would be the one to stop her, no matter the cost….

…

***A/N: Again, please have faith. Edward is returning in the next chapter, and an HEA is around the corner. Hate it? Love it? Disturbed by it? All of the above? Let me know in the reviews. Thank you!