What have I done? I sighed, throwing my papers on the desk leisurely. Her face, her sweet face, I thought, envisioning her blotchy skin, puffy brown eyes, and matted lashes as she passed me in the hall. Was it because of me? "Ah", I clenched my teeth, trying not to double over from the extreme pain in my chest at the thought of hurting Bella. She is yours, my beast growled. Go to her. You know what you are to her. I did, even though I did not want it to be. I was not a stupid man. From the first moment I touched her, I knew she was my mate but...
Esme. I felt heavy, eighty years of marriage. I could not simply leave her. Well, not without speaking to her first. She had always fit well into the family, and we've been together so long, we were assumed to be mates. How would I tell Emmett and Rose? How would I tell Bella? She was in no condition to have any more life changes at the moment. Esme is a good parent and faithful enough.
Except for right now, my beast growled in disgust. She is probably doing it again. Enough, I thought, attempting to silence my beast but knowing it was futile. No! Once a cheater, always a cheater, and you always take her back. Why should she change? I slumped in my chair, fiddling with a pen in my hand while I processed his words. I couldn't blame her. At least not entirely, it was no secret that our kind typically had no loyalty to others outside of their mate. Our family was the exception. Maybe not all of us, I thought remembering Edward.
But Esme could be different. She promised me she would be different. Again, the beast whispered, and you forgave her like she knew you would.
Am I that predictable? I wondered, thinking about the first few times I confronted her after finding out she was with someone else. We always worked things out for the family's sake. Your family as you knew it is gone, the beast said to me sadly. But your family with Bella could begin. Could it? I asked myself, feeling a lightness in my chest upon allowing myself to believe that I could be happy with Bella. Buzz! I looked at my desk to see I received a text message.
"Dong it." An unknown number told me. What? What on earth?
"Ding it"
"Do it." The number finally managed to pump out, and before I could ask who it was, they replied. "Alice. Duh also blonde." Alice, I thought in bewilderment and confusion. Blonde? What on earth was she talking about?
"Bline."
"Blind." Good Lord, she was texting completely blind. I smiled and chortled a bit, even though I probably shouldn't have. "Alice", I whispered her name with a smile on my face. My daughter. Even if she wasn't here physically, she still was watching out for me despite not being able to see.
I'm coming for you Bella, I thought hesitantly as my beast celebrated. But first, I think I need to give Esme a call, I surely owed her an explanation.
And maybe, see if there was anything worth saving. My beast groaned dramatically at that thought.
Esme
Beep! Beep! Beep! My phone rang loudly from Eleazor's bedroom, interrupting my roll of successful architectural designs. I was slightly annoyed, but that quickly dissipated as I realized it was most likely him calling from his hunt. I flit to the bedroom, answering the call with the sultriest voice I could muster. "Hello sexy," I moaned.
"Esmerelda," Carlisle said my name coldly. I gasped, bringing my hand to my mouth and closing my eyes as I felt dread come over me. Think Esme, you can fix this. He's your good boy.
"Carlisle! Oh, I have missed you, my love. I'm so glad you called."
He stayed silent for a minute, not even breathing before speaking. "Save it, Esme. I know what you're doing. And I'm done."
"What?" I breathed into the phone, shaking slightly. Carlisle, I don't understand, I cried into the phone as venom filled my eyes. Without Carlisle, I had nothing. Sure, Eleazer was a temporary solution to a problem, but I had longevity anywhere else. I had no abilities, no money, and honestly, I had burned quite a few bridges by sneaking around with the men of other covens.
"I found my mate," Carlisle breathed into the phone with a sigh. "What!" I screeched into the device. I was aware that Carlisle and I were not mates decades ago, but I never imagined that he would find his mate the month I leave! Especially after not having one for four hundred years.
I was angry. Cheating is one thing but falling for someone else...
"Who is she?" I hissed into the phone angrily. He must've been sneaking around too. He gained hundreds of friends throughout his lifetime. Who is to say he had not bonded with one of them or their acquaintances. "Were you cheating on me?" I asked him coldly. That bastard, how could I ever feel guilty when he was so obviously guilty as I was.
"What?" He asked in genuine surprise. How could you ask something like that? "Of course, I never cheated on you. Even when you abandoned the family", he growled the last sentence, angering me.
"I was going to come back," I cried through angry tears. "You have no right! Absolutely no righ"-
"This is unbelievable! You are the one who has a history of infidelity and now you feel betrayed because I decided I could do better than you!"
I gasped. Never before had Carlisle spoken to me that way. He was so angry but so different. It was like he found confidence in him that he never had. Maybe I couldn't save us anymore, I thought sadly before remembering he had not answered my question.
"You never said who she was. What. Is. Her. Name." I asked him ferociously as I struggled not to break the phone in anger.
He sighed, hesitating a few seconds before mumbling, "Bella Swan."
"What!?" I asked enraged. Edward's mate, I thought angrily. "How is that little bitch even still alive? We have two dead coven members and the human is the one who survives?"
"Coven members," he asked as if he were offended. "They were our children! How could you be so cold? We all saw how you reacted when Edward went rogue. This doesn't make any sense? You don't make any sense."
"I reacted the way you expect me to. Enough Carlisle, we are not mortal, and those 'children,'" I said the word in a mocking tone, "are all adults. Bella", I spat her name like acid on my tongue, "belonged to Edward". "If you would have been less involved with affairs of the coven members like me, two of them would still be alive! I was never really going to be their mother, and as much as you want to be, you will never be a father. "
He gasped and paused, as I stilled, reacting to my words. Perhaps I had taken it too far? It was true, all of it was. I never was going to be a mother after the loss of my child. Our race simply did not have the same family dynamics as humans. Every sob I gave for the family was performative. I was truly heartbroken for Edward, and the potential risk of exposure of our coven but I knew I was right. We were not a real family. Carlisle had been deluding himself, but a part of me did wonder if I had overstepped.
"I want a divorce", he said calmly before hanging up.
No, I thought, shaking my head quickly and redialing, only for it to go straight to voicemail. No, no, no! There was absolutely no way I was going to give up what was mine without a fight. Especially to that little homewrecking child! This was not going to be the last time he heard from me.
