[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Blows kisses to all her awesome readers out there! I'm so thrilled that I managed to get over 1000th reviews with my story. Your encouragement and support means so much to me. It's because of you that I keep writing, without you my thoughts would probably stay in a little corner of my mind...

This chapter is dedicated to rpattzluver4ever. Thanks for leaving so many awesome reviews. I'm happy that you like the story so much.

**Chapter 50**

"Bella, are you sure that you don't want to see a doctor? This is going to leave some ugly bruises." Zafrina asked me worriedly.

I shook my head and nipped on the cup of black coffee in front of me. My throat hurt when I gulped but I still managed to swallow at least a tiny bit of it.

Ali sat down next to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"You're okay?" she whispered into my ear and I nodded my head, thoughtlessly running my fingers over my throat.

"I'd still prefer it to have a doctor take a look at you." Zafrina stated before she turned to the police officer again.

"Can you try to explain to me, how this drunken asshole managed to get through the security system?"

"Ma'am, as far as we know right now, he must have known the code."

My heartbeat quickened instantly and I forced myself to keep breathing in and out very deeply to avoid a panic attack. He had the code. How the hell, could he have the freaking code of the alarm equipment?

"You don't have to worry about that right now, Ma'am. He's arrested and I don't think that he'll get out too soon. He broke the restraining order. That wasn't a smart move from his side."

"My parents will probably pay any bail money for him to get him out."

"No, they won't. Bail money is not an option. Your…brother is malicious and I don't want to risk him coming near any of you again."

I tasted something salty in my mouth and realized that I was crying.

"Are you in pain?" Ali asked me worriedly, pulling out a tissue to wipe away the tears from my cheeks.

"No…yes…I don't really know. I'm just so scared right now."

"I'm scared too. Thank god, the dog was there to protect you…us."

Slowly I stood up from the couch and walked over to the other corner of the room where Lilly had cuddled her tiny body against the huge russet colored dog.

"Sweetie, don't you want to go to sleep now? You must be tired."

She didn't look up; her eyes kept starring down on the ground.

"Lilly, honey, are you okay?" I asked her, putting a wisp of her copper hair behind her ear.

"The poor child is completely confused because of what happened here tonight." Zafrina stated crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Ma'am, the doctor and the shrink are here."

"You called a doctor? What for?"

"Bella, you might have a shock and the little one too. Please, just do me the favor and let him take a look at you."

I sighed deeply while the doctor checked my pulse and pulled out an injection.

"I don't want any pain killers. It's not that bad."

"It's not a pain killer, just something that will help you to calm down a little bit."

A few moments later a wave of numb insensibility spread through my body.

"Ali?"

Jasmine rushed into the living room and wrapped her arms around my quivering fiancée. Somehow I didn't feel the usual jealousy. I wasn't even sure what I was feeling right now.

"Are you alright? Your asshole of a brother didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Miss Whitlock, I assume you that Miss Cullen is pretty fine, concerning the circumstances."

Zafrina's voice was smooth like honey, when she spoke to Jasmine.

"I'd rather hear that from her, Miss Penthes."

"She's right, Jazz." Ali mumbled.

"But he hurt Bella. And he said some horrible things in front of Lilly."

"What kind of things?"

"See, that's why you're here. The police officer is not allowed to speak to the child unless there's shrink present." Zafrina explained while she continued writing down notes on a sheet of paper.

Jasmine cleared her throat and kneeled down next to Lilly on the ground.

"Hello, Lilly."

She didn't seem to react at all and if her tiny hand wouldn't have continued stroking over the fluffy fur of the dog, I would have assumed that she would have fallen asleep right now.

"So, you don't feel like talking now, I can understand that."

A dry sob left Lilly's throat and then she burst out into tears.

"The police took my Daddy away."

"That's right, Lilly. Do you know why they did that?"

"Because he was so angry at my Mommy,"

She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Lilly.

"Blow,"

"I hate it that he's always yelling so much."

"I know, Lilly. He shouldn't have done that."

"Fido bit him. Will Fido go to jail too?"

She suppressed a giggle.

"No, Lilly, you don't' have to worry about that."

"Good. I don't want him to go to jail. They wouldn't give him enough food there."

"Probably…"

"Look, Lilly. Can you tell me what your father said before the police came here?"

"I don't want to."

"I understand that you don't want to talk about what happened. It was pretty scary for you, wasn't it?"

She nodded her head and buried her face into the russet fur of the dog. Then she mumbled something that was too low to understand it.

"He said that he wanted to put a pillow on Auntie Ali's face when she was a baby…and that he wants to break Mommy's jaw."

Her tiny body started quivering slightly when she croaked out the last words.

"I think that's enough, Miss Whitlock." Zafrina stated, standing up from the couch.

"Don't tell me how to do my job, Miss Penthes."

"Zafrina, is Jasmine angry at you?"

"No, she isn't. Maybe her head is still hurting a little bit from last night. Some people do things they regret afterwards when they drink too much…"

XXXX

I didn't sleep well that night, although I even swallowed the sleeping pill the doctor gave me. So when the first orange-colored rays of sunlight shined through the curtains of our bedroom, I gave up and stood up again.

Carefully I pulled the blanket over Ali and my copper-haired daughter who had refused to go back to her own room after the cops finally left the house.

Poor little thing, I thought, already fighting the tears again. Your father turned into a complete lunatic.

There was no way that I would agree to have joint custody with Edward after the tantrum he had thrown last night.

Slowly, I walked into the bathroom. When I saw the red and purple bruises around my neck, I cringed slightly.

He wouldn't really have killed me, would he? Try not to think about it, Bella.

I splashed some cold water on my face and twisted my hair into a messy knot at the back of my head. Then I wrapped a light blue silk scarf around my neck to hide the ugly bruises. Lilly would be scared if I let her see them…

The dog started whimpering in front of the bathroom door.

"Hey there…" I whispered hoarsely, noticing that my throat still hurt like crap, when I tried to speak.

He followed me down into the kitchen and munched down the food I gave him within seconds. Jeez, when he continued eating like that, I would have to get a second job to afford keeping him.

At least he's able to protect us, I thought. Unlike this crappy alarm equipment, Edward made Emmett install when we moved into the house.

How the hell had my ex figured out the new code? Well, it didn't matter. I would change it again. Maybe I should change it every single day just to make sure. Jeez, I was started to develop persecution mania.

I used the spray the doctor had given me for my sore throat and it left an unpleasant numb feeling on my tongue. At least I would lose a little bit of weight now…

Ali walked into the kitchen, carrying my sleepy daughter on her right hip. I should probably tell her to stop carrying Lilly around that much, although it really looked cute to me.

"Morning, Bella." She greeted me, while my daughter immediately started feeding the dog with a piece of toast.

"Honey, I just fed him…like five seconds ago."

"Mommy, why are you wearing a scarf? Are you cold?"

"Hmm, yes, sweetie, kind of…"

The doorbell rang and Ali went to open it.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" she called out, her voice raising two octaves, making it almost sound hysterical.

When she and Esme walked back into the kitchen I realized that Esme looked horrible, like she hadn't slept at all in weeks.

"Grandma!"

Lilly wrapped her arms around her and twisted her hands into Esme's copper curls that equaled her own so much.

"Are you here to visit me?"

"Kind of, Lilly, but mostly I'm here to talk to your mother and your aunt."

She pulled a pink box with a silver colored bow out of her handbag.

"That's for your Barbie house, sweetie." She told her as she handed it to Lilly.

"Thank you, Grandma."

"I'm happy that you like it, Lilly."

"Can I go and play with Fido now?" She asked me and I nodded my head, trying to avoid too speak much.

"She really seems to like the dog a great deal." Esme mumbled, while she started biting her fingernails nervously.

"Mom, I hate to repeat myself, but why are you here?"

"Mary Alice, don't be like that. I was so worried when I found out that your brother has been arrested again."

"Yes, he was and I hope that they won't let him out anytime soon."

"Mary Alice, you can't say things like that. He's still your brother. You can't honestly want him to stay in jail. Don't you know what they do to guys like him in there?"

"Don't you know what your asshole of a son did to Bella last night?"

She pulled the scarf down my shoulders.

"Just look at her? He almost strangled her. Your perfect little smartass of a son is not as perfect as you and Dad think he his!"

"Look, I'm really sorry about that. If you want, I'll call your father and let him take a look at her. It really looks bad, but I'm sure that Edward didn't mean…"

"Why are you still defending him? After all the crap he came up with! You're still defending him."

"And just for the record, Esme, he meant it. Do you want to know about the horrible things he threatened me with last night; in front of our little daughter, on top of it!"

"I assure you that he didn't know what he was doing. He was just so desperate because your lawyer sent him some papers saying that you want full custody for Lilly. How can you do that to him? She's his only child."

"She's my only child too and you can't expect me to let my daughter stay with a father, who's about to lose it completely." My voice was barely audible at the end.

"You think that it's my fault, don't you? Because Bella and I are together now…"

"I didn't say that, Mary Alice."

"But it's what you think, isn't it."

"Yes, no…well, I'm not sure."

"Well, maybe you should better go now. I love you and Dad, but both of you need to start accepting the relationship between me and Bella."

"How can I accept something that makes your brother so miserable? He has some serious problems…"

"Edward's only problem is that he's a narcissistic filthy pig who had no scruples to…"

"Your brother is sick." She whispered towards the floor.

"What do you mean, he's sick? Don't tell me that the dog bite got infected or something like that. It can't be that worse."

"No, not the dog bite…they gave him some antibiotics for that."

"Look, this lawyer that you hired, she insists that Edward gets a psychological report about his mental status."

"Let me guess, he doesn't want to talk to Jasmine, does he?"

"Not really. It doesn't matter to which shrink he would talk. The fact is that he doesn't want to do that."

"And why is that? Is he too fine to do that?"

"Don't be like that, Mary Alice. Your brother is just scared that the shrink might find out that he's sick."

"You mean sick, like…like sick in the head? Are you searching for some kind of excuse for his behavior?"

"No, I'm not. Look, do you remember how we sent Edward to boarding school when he was fourteen?"

"Let me guess, he felt neglected because of that and never got over it."

Esme cleared her throat nervously before she spoke up again.

"We didn't send him to boarding school. That was just the official version we told everyone, even Rose…"

"I don't think I understand? Where the hell did you send him? He was gone…for months."

"To a place that was supposed to help him deal with his…problems…"

"What kind of problems?"

"He thinks that he hears voices in his head."

XOXOXOXO

[A/N] You didn't honestly think that Edward was right in the head, did you?

I hope you liked the update. Reviews are love.

Until next time, take care.