Author's Note: I'm sure you're all dying to read about how Edward's been coping. So…enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 38

Edward's Point of View

"…have to say that the case is in favor of the victim," the judge said with finality. He tapped his little hammer thrice. "Court case adjourned."

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and started packing as the jury started talking and moving out of the room.

"Mr. Cullen?"

I looked up at my client. She looked frightened, as if she did not know what was going on.

"Yes, Ms. Gray?" I asked kindly.

"Did…did I win?" she asked.

I smiled. "You sure did. Congratulations. You did it."

Her face relaxed into a relieved smile. "No, you did it. Thank you, Mr. Cullen, thank you. Thank you so much for helping me win the case."

"It's what I'm here for, Ms. Gray," I said, closing the briefcase. "It's no problem at all. It was my pleasure to help you."

She looked extremely happy. She was almost skipping to the door. "Just mail the bill to me. I'll be glad to pay you any sum for all your hard work."

"Goodbye, Ms. Gray," I called, but she was already out the door.

Shaking my head and smiling amusedly, I heaved my briefcase off the desk. I started walking out the door, taking out my phone to see if I'd missed any calls.

Emmett had called me about thirty minutes ago. Curious to see what he wanted, I called him back as I walked back to my car. I dialed his number and sat patiently in the car before turning on the engine.

"Hello?"

"What's up, Em?"

"Oh, hey," Emmett said. "How'd the case go? Did you win?"

I grinned. "What do you think?"

He chuckled. "That's my little bro. Always winning, never losing!"

"How'd your case go?" I asked.

"Dude," Emmett said proudly. "I wouldn't be the Emmett Cullen if I hadn't won! This one was a piece of cake!"

I rolled my eyes at his lack of modesty. "Whatever."

"So Alice wanted me to call you and inform you about dinner tonight," he said.

"What dinner?"

"Oh, maybe we didn't tell you… Rosalie wanted to see all of us tonight. She's been complaining about how all of my siblings are so busy and she couldn't see us… Jasper's coming too. You up to it?"

"Well, that depends," I said slyly.

"On what?"

"On what Esme is making for dessert, of course."

Emmett started laughing. "Okay, okay. I'll tell her to make an extra dessert cake for her favorite son."

I laughed silently. "You sound a bit bitter, man. You okay?"

"I'm-I'm going to be fine," Emmett said, playing along. He was mockingly heartbroken right now. "I'll just sit here…oldest son…with his fiancée… When I get married, I'll still be all alone…"

I laughed again. "What time is dinner?"

"In an hour," he replied. "Oh, hey, Alice and Jazz are here already. You'd better hurry home, man."

"See you in a bit."

I started the car and pulled out of the parking space. I drove quickly as usual to our family mansion instead of going straight to my own penthouse. I hadn't visited my parents and siblings in a few weeks, and I was rather looking forward to seeing them again.

I parked behind Alice's Porsche and got out. As soon as I walked into the house, I could smell the aroma of a delicious roast beef.

"Smells good," I said, grinning widely as I entered the kitchen.

Everyone was already there. Esme, Rosalie, and Alice were cooking, while Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper were leaning against the counter, talking.

"Edward!" Alice squealed, and she ran towards me.

"Hiya, pixie," I said, kissing her forehead and hugging her back. "How are you?"

It was rhetorical question, as I already knew she was thriving in her business right now, but she answered it anyway.

"Thrilled!" she gushed. "Today, I had the most wonderful customer ever! She never bought anything in all those years of my fashion career, but she finally came through! She's so thoughtful as always! That hasn't changed at all! Guess how many outfits she bought?"

Alice skipped back over to the girl and resumed her job of mixing the eggs.

Emmett shrugged. "Three?"

"No," Alice said, throwing him a disgusted look. "At first, she was looking at tops and jackets, and then, she started shopping for pants too! And she also bought tons of purses and hats and accessories…! She bought over one hundred outfits. That's over one million dollars right there."

"Rich chick," Emmett snorted.

Esme frowned. "That's great news, but… Who is it, dear? Some friend of yours?"

Alice started to answer, but then she glanced at me suddenly, as if she'd just realized that I was there. "Um. No one."

I frowned as I drank a glass of water. "Go ahead, Alice. You can't just tell everyone about it and then just shut up. Who was it?"

"Well…"

"What, is it one of your friends that we all hate?" Jasper asked.

"No, no," Alice said, biting her lip. "Just…never mind. Just forget I ever said anything. Just pretend that I was babbling nonsense as usual."

"Alice," Rosalie nudged her playfully. "How bad can it be? Who is it?"

"Well, she's not bad…" Alice said, glancing at me nervously again. "It's just that I'm afraid everything is going to get tense, especially with him around." She gestured towards me with her chin.

"Me?" I asked in surprise, lowering my cup slightly. "What…" I trailed off. I knew that look on her face. She wore that expression whenever she was talking about her.

I knew who had bought so many clothes at one time after all. It was so…her. She was always thinking of others.

My face hardened and I looked away. Alice realized that I had caught onto it and quickly tried to change the subject.

"Edward, why don't you go change or something?" she asked hastily. "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. Go shower."

I nodded stiffly and set down my glass. I walked out of the kitchen, and as soon the door shut behind me, I heard Jasper ask, "Why is he acting like that?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Alice snapped. "I was talking about your sister. She's the one that bought all those clothes, and I got so excited that I totally forgot how Edward usually reacts when we talk about her." She sighed. "It's my mistake, and I shouldn't have said anything, but…well, he caught on."

"Oh…" Emmett said, understanding. "Well, did she leave her phone number? She cut off all contact from us four years ago; I want to know how she's doing."

"No," Alice said regretfully. "That's the first thing I checked because that's required information when you're filling out the bill online. I did see a number, and I dialed it, but it was just the hospital's number. I asked to talk to her, but as usual, the nurse refused to, making the excuse that 'Dr. Swan was in surgery'." I could hear the quotes in her tone.

She sighed. "If you ask me, she told everyone not to transfer the calls. I mean, it happened eight years ago, and she claimed to have forgotten the incident after two years, but I don't know why she's avoiding us."

Without meaning to, my hands tightened into fists like they usually did when the subject came up.

I had never gotten over what happened eight years ago. It still haunted me, and I could never forgive myself for the foolish mistakes that I'd made. In such a short amount of time, I had made so many mistakes.

I had cheated on her and caused her to lose our child. I had also made the mistake of signing those divorce papers without putting up much of a fight, and I had let her slip through my fingers when I'd had the chance to stop her.

So many mistakes in such a short amount of time, and I could never forgive or forget. And I never will.

I missed her like crazy. I missed the sound of her voice and laughter, and I missed seeing her beautiful face.

I hadn't heard from her for four years, and I was growing slightly paranoid from the lack of news. I knew that she had successfully become a gynecologist, but beyond that, I didn't know.

She hadn't even come to Alice and Jasper's wedding four years ago, which I'd found both surprising and disappointing. I'd been looking forward to seeing her again.

"I miss her," Esme murmured. "She was always like a second daughter to me, and when she finally got to be my daughter, the whole thing lasted for only about six months. We probably shouldn't have let her go to California. If I'd known that she would neglect to keep in touch, I would have gotten down on my knees and begged her not to go. I would have pleaded her to give Edward a second chance."

"Esme, please," Carlisle cautioned.

"Oh, what's the point?" Alice asked impatiently. "We all know that he hasn't moved on. He's still hanging onto her like a pathetic moron."

"It's pathetic, but at least we understand why he can't move on," Emmett said wisely. "And we don't blame him at all, do we?"

Jasper was quiet. He and I had gradually built up our relationship again strictly as friends, and we both avoided talking about the incident. It was like the punching and crying never happened.

But nothing we did could change the fact that we both did remember. Nothing could change that fact.

I walked to our bedroom that was still there. Esme couldn't bear to remove all our belongings that we'd bought together, so I was using it as my own room whenever I visited the family mansion.

I plopped my briefcase down on an armchair and loosened my tie. Being a criminal lawyer was difficult, but I enjoyed it. It had been my dream, and I had studied hard after she'd left to achieve it. It was the only thing I'd had left to look forward to in my life.

Exhausted, I draped my tie on the armchair and lay down on the huge, king-sized bed. I lay sprawled on the bed for a few minutes, feeling extremely comfortable.

But of course, my thoughts wandered, yet again, to her. I reached in my pocket and pulled out something that I always carried with me.

I stared at the double rings that had been on her finger for six months. It was a silly souvenir from our horrid past, but funnily enough, I couldn't throw it away. It reminded me of her. I felt like if I threw it away, I was giving up on her. Forgetting her.

I stared at my own wedding ring that I still wore on my left hand after all these years. I had never once taken it off. It was pretty obvious that I never got over my ex-wife once you looked at my hand, but hardly anyone ever noticed anymore. They always assumed that I took it off.

What was she doing right now? Did she even think about me at all anymore? Did she truly move on from our past? Did she have a boyfriend?

There were so many questions that I wanted to ask her. I wanted to run to her, hug her, and kiss her. I wanted to smell her, touch her, and tell her that I still loved her.

But how could I? She wasn't eager to keep in touch with us. She obviously still thought of me as the ex-husband who'd cheated on her and made her lose her baby.

She probably wasn't even thinking about me right now. It had been me who had cheated on her all those years ago, yet, ironically enough, it was also me who was thinking about her constantly now.

I supposed it was karma. Some invisible being was punishing me for ruining her life.

Karma.

AN: So…our handsome hero hasn't gotten over his ex-wife yet! He still keeps her ring, and still keeps his on his finger! That's pretty romantic, you have to admit. I wish a gorgeous boy like Edward would magically appear in my life and love me forever. Ugh, I sound like such a girly girl right now. This is what I get when I write about love story fanfiction too much. Should I stop? Heh. Then you'll probably never find out the ending for all my stories ever again. ;) Reviews, please!