There were so many supportive comments and that was truly wonderful. It's so comforting to know that there are other countries who are supporting American women and who are with us in the fight. And to the ones who are worried and scared, it's going to be okay. We'll let them have this battle, but you know what? We will win this war. It is not over. And the best way to ensure that we win the war is by getting out there and voting for candidates that want to protect our rights. I keep thinking of American resilience and fight, and let me tell you something, all throughout history the American people have fought hard and won against tyrannical dictators that wanted to withhold our rights. Pull from that strength, feel your anger at you becoming a second-class citizen, and you fight the hell back. You fight for yourself, you sister, you aunt, your cousin, your friend, your niece, your granddaughter, your daughter. We are in this together.

And as a portion of education for a few of you who voiced your opinions. I was thinking of blocking, but then I felt that maybe a bit of background is needed. Roe v. Wade covered so much more than abortions. It covered medical privacy, and now that Roe is gone, your medical history is up for grabs by the government to use as they please. Some of you said in cases of rape, well there are now four-five states who have banned abortion even in cases of rape and incest. If it truly had anything to do with upholding the constitution, they why did they so willy-nilly throw out the 4th amendment? That does affect everyone, not just minorities. The police now have the right to come into your house without a warrant, take evidence, arrest you, and you could be completely innocent with the proof and everything, they could just do it because they can and there is no way of suing them. How many times has our lovely police departments broke into the wrong home and hurt someone? Brianna Taylor comes to mind.

Now that Roe is gone, the Supreme court has already released a series of court cases/issues they are going after. Brown v. the Board of Education. Contraceptives. Gay marriage. Trans rights. Indian Child Welfare Act. Those are just to name a few. I sincerely hope you understand the ramifications these court rulings will have on people. I hope you understand the fear people are feeling. And I truly hope you understand that even if you're on their side, you are not safe either. We're fighting for your rights too, please help us. America was built on freedom, but what the Supreme Court is doing is taking away freedoms. Our government has been infiltrated by MAGA, Christian-extremists whose intent is to take America back to the 1950's and the only people who will be safe from their oppressive policies will be rich people. Please, join us before it is too late. Please open your eyes and see the devastation that is happening.

No offense to Christians, but sincerely, please get these crazy people in check. The things that these extremists are preaching are not God's teachings. God loves all his children. He is the final decision in judgement, not his children. He knows our hearts; he knows the goodness that is in each one of us and he judges accordingly.

*If you argue, insult, mock, tease, convict, anything... I will block you from this story, finished stories, and future stories. This is my platform. This is my story and I refuse to share it with people who will act as such. There is a way I can pull this story, and all others, from guest readers, and I will fully implement that to ensure that the people who are angry/upset about this and myself, are in a safe space. Don't be the one to ruin it for guest reviewers, and if you are a guest reviewer who is on the side of human interest, give me an email address, or some way to send chapters to you.

I love you all. Keep fighting. Keep educating yourselves. We're in this together. And if you from another country, I implore you to get involved somehow, I'm not sure how, sign a petition or protest. But please we need voices from all over the world. Our government needs to know that other countries are seeing how we are being oppressed.

Chapter Eight

I had moved into the bathroom, trying to put my dress on. It was tricky because I was crying, and my hands were shaking uncontrollably.

The door burst open and Dora, sporting her long, sweeping gown walked in.

"Isabella how—," She stopped, both in her step and her words. Her eyes looked down at my throat.

"Let me help you." She said quietly as she reached under the cabinet and pulled out a bag. She unzipped it and pulled out concealer.

I let her dab the sponge against my brushes and fix my makeup. Then she helped me pull the tight dress on and make sure it was placed where it was supposed to be. She was very quiet as she helped me, which I appreciated more than if she had offered useless, comforting words.

"Let's go down. They're waiting on us," Dora said when she finished getting me ready. Before we got to the grand staircase, she said. "Keep your head up, but don't keep your nose high. Shoulders squared, back straight, and try not to move too quickly."

I nodded and hoped I could do all that. When I was younger, I was clumsy, but the better my dance technique got, the more graceful I become. Of course though, in stressful situation, my clumsiness tended to rear its ugly head.

I kept my eyes down as we descended down the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dora smiling down at everyone. Caius was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her. He reached for her and kissed her cheek softly once we reached the bottom.

"Thank you all for coming," Caius said as he wrapped his arm around Dora. "I would like to introduce you to Isabella, Felix's fiancé."

There were soft murmurs and a few congratulations thrown around. Felix appeared and placed his hand on my lower back. I cowered down, my eyes falling to the floor.

Several men walked up to Felix and clapped him on the back. They commented on how pretty I was, or told Felix how lucky his was, but none of them addressed me. They talked about me like I was an object, which I came to realize, that's exactly what I was.

An object. A piece of eye candy that made other men jealous was my purpose. It made sense now. Rich men like this didn't care for other people. And their wives were nothing more than trophies to display.

As I looked up, I noticed a man with shoulder-length light brown hair looking at me with an intense look. Caius walked up to me and clapped him on the shoulder, his fingers digging into the man's shoulder.

The man transferred his eyes to Caius, asking him something. Caius laughed, throwing his head back before turning. The man took one last look at me before turning and walking away in the other direction.

Once I lifted my head, I realized there weren't as many people as I thought there were. Probably only about nine or ten people. Felix kept his arm around me, squeezing my hip roughly every now and again. I knew I'd have bruises; they were already starting to hurt.

After an hour of being dragged around the room to show off, the butler finally announced that dinner was being served. Felix sat be down in the seat beside him on the right side of his father. I stared at the fancy place setting. There were several pieces of silverware, two glasses, one filled with water, and then several plates. I wasn't sure what was what.

A staff of people came and served the first course. I found out that the littlest plate on the lefthand side was the dinner roll plate and the first plate on the stack of plates were for the salad.

Three lavish courses were served. I was full after eating a little less than half of the main course, but when I put my fork down and wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin, Felix put his hand on my thigh and squeezed it tightly, causing more bruises. Tears welled in my eyes, and I felt sick to my stomach as I forced myself to eat more.

"I have some imported cigars and old whiskey in my study," Caius said once he finished eating. The men chattered excitedly and followed him out of the dining room, leaving the women to sit in the dining room.

"Did you see the photo about Sulpicia?" A woman with a crooked nose started.

"Oh my god, I did," Another woman who was older said dramatically. "So disgusting. She's put on like fifteen pounds!"

The other woman laughed. "I will never understand what Aro sees in that woman."

"Well you know he doesn't really care what that woman looks like because you know he's a little on the," she flicked her hand in a downward, sassy motion. "That's probably why she gained so much weight. They aren't together like that."

"Maybe she lucked out," Another woman giggled. "I tell you, come Saturday nights, I am begging for Jerry to just finish."

The other women laughed in agreeance.

"I bet Isabella doesn't feel that way." A woman said and all their eyes turned on me.

"Lucky girl, Felix is certainly a handsome man."

"I can't even imagine, with your size difference. He's so big and you're so… well…" She trailed off, snickering in a way that made my skin crawl.

"Being her size would be a blessing! But I don't think I could go without eating… or throwing up after eating." The woman's head fell back in laughter.

"Excuse me." I said quietly as I got up from the table.

As I left, one of the laughing women said, "Guess it's time to throw up."

I started running to the room to get away from these women. I hated that I had to throw up because it made what they said right. I had eaten too much and with everything else, I felt as though my body had just finally found an outlet to deal with all the stress I had been subjected to in the last thirty hours.

I had just finished throwing up all the contents of my stomach when the bathroom door burst open. Dora was standing in the doorway.

"Get up!" She urged quietly.

"W-what?"

"Get up! Get up! You have to go now!" She said just as urgently and quietly.

"G-go?" I stuttered. "Go where?"

"The bus station!" She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet.

"Here," She shoved a backpack into my arms.

"I-I—Why—I don't understand…" I said as I stared at her with a blank expression.

She placed her hands on my cheeks. I wanted to pull away, but I was in shock.

"Your mother never wanted this for you," She said quickly, her face very close to mine. "I loved your mother. She was my best friend. I cannot disrespect her wishes and allow you to marry the one you aren't promised too…Even if he is my son."

"I-I'm promised to… who am I promised too?" I asked as she let go of my face.

"We don't have time to get into that. You have to get going now and get as far away as possible!"

"W-where are you sending me?" I asked.

"New York," She said. "Your bus is leaving in an hour. There's a taxi waiting for you down the street. I've put a thousand dollars cash in your backpack. Use it to eat and grab rides. You'll take three buses to get out of California and hop on an airplane in Nevada, that'll take you all the way to Ohio, then you'll get on a bus to New York. All of your tickets are in there. And there's a letter addressed to Carlisle Cullen. Follow the address on the letter. They will help you. Only trust the Cullens, do you understand?"

I slowly nodded, my entire body vibrating. I didn't know these Cullens. I had heard the name a few times while being here, but I didn't know if they were exactly like these people. But I didn't really have much of a choice. I couldn't go back to Forks, because the Clearwater's were there, and I didn't want to bring trouble to them. I couldn't go to the authorities as Dora had made it very clear that they allowed shadiness to slip under their radar.

"One last thing," She said. "If you… if you tell the Cullens, or anyone, that it was me who helped you escape I will deny it. I will claim you a liar and I will turn my back on you."

"What—but… why?" I asked.

"I don't agree with what Caius has done. I don't agree with a lot of things. But I won't turn against my family. If you tell… it could start a war. People will die." She said. "You'll understand soon enough. Now go. You can reach the ground by climbing down the bars beside your balcony. I've broken the camera system. There's a gate in the back and the guards aren't going that way for another hour. Go now!"

She shoved me out of the patio and pointed to the bars beside it before closing the door and running out of the room.

I wished she had stayed long enough for me to thank her, but she had left so quickly. I didn't know if the Cullens were good, but Dora seemed to think they were. Or I'd be safe with them. Either way, I didn't have many choices. I had to leave.

I climbed down the balcony easily enough. Once I was on the ground, I crept slowly, but quickly, and paused each time I thought I saw a person.

I got to the side of the house when I heard the loud, raised voices. Caius's voice made me pause, as I thought he had spotted me. But then I realized that there was an open window, and he was in his study along with all the other men.

I tried to creep by, but I couldn't help but be frozen in my place long enough to realize that they were talking about me.

"You cannot do this!" A man I hadn't heard speak before say.

"I can and will do this." Caius said. "Charlie is dead. Their agreement died with him."

"I can't believe you would… Of all the low-down dirty tricks… How could you betray Charlie like this? And Renee! When Carlisle finds out you—,"

"Don't you say her name!" Caius hissed. "Carlisle will find out nothing. And you won't breathe a word of this to anyone."

There was a momentary pause.

"I-I'm sorry, Caius." The man said. "I just… I just can't allow you to betray the Cullens like this. Or to dishonor Charlie's wishes. It's our law and you know it. Charlie promised Isabella too—,"

A loud bang nearly caused me to scream, but I managed to choke it down. Curiosity got the better of me and I moved my head just far enough so I could see.

The man I had seen earlier, who was staring at me with such intensity, was now laying on the floor with half of the upper part of his head blown off. Caius stood over him, his arm extended out with a gun grasped firmly in his hand.

I started to sprint towards the gate.