Summary: Isabella lived a perfect life with her husband until the abuse started. With the death of her mother, she may have just been given life changing gift: a way out. But with it comes a whole new world that she may not be ready to face. Maybe with the help of her green-eyed savior. Mafia, Crime, Abuse, Hurt/Comfort.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Stephanie Meyers owns characters but the plot is of my original work.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Freedom

"In other news, the state-wide search for the missing wife of James Witherdale, CEO of Witherdale Industries, might finally be coming to an end. Marie Witherdale's belongings have been found off the coast of Winnetka—only less than two miles away from their home. No official police reports have been made. Sources say no foul play has been found. Stay tuned for any more information. Good morning folks, my name is—"

I switched the TV off.

I sat up in bed and realized that this was the first time I was waking up without sweat or tears in years. I felt like crying because feeling normal shouldn't be abnormal. I looked around the room and tried to remember how I had gotten here. I suddenly remembered meeting Carlisle and Esme but immediately after that, I had passed out.

I feel so damn weak; I honestly don't know how I'm able to function. I'm still starved, and this was the most sleep I've had in weeks. Charlie must have brought me into the room after I fainted and I had slept through the night. I stood up and walked toward the door. I was very hungry, so I hoped that maybe now I could try to eat a piece of fruit or any type of food.

I was about to twist the knob open when I heard Esme talking.

"Oh Charlie," she exasperated. "You can't just let her go now."

"I don't want to prevent her from doing what she wants. She's so used to being told what to do that if I tell her to stay, I won't be any better than that piece of shit."

I winced at the reminder of James.

"But you just got her back," Esme said.

"Honey," a new voice comforted her. I assumed it was Carlisle. "Isabella needs to heal and getting away from this place will do that for her."

"I'm not going to lose her," Charlie said. "She's my daughter. The only thing that can stop me now from being in her life is her. If she finds out why Renee left, it will be up to her whether she wants to get involved in this. This world is a whole new mess for her to deal with."

"You're ready to tell her?" Carlisle asked.

"She has a right to know," Charlie replied.

Then there was a moment of silence.

"She looks so much like Renee when we were younger," Esme mused. "She's so beautiful and I can't wait for her to move past this."

"She's going to…very soon. Has she been seen by a doctor?" Carlisle asked.

"The first thing Jason did was take her to a private clinic," Charlie said.

"She's too thin," Esme said softly.

"Was everything documented?"

"Yes, bruises and scars were photographed. Hopefully, we won't ever need to use those photos. If I have to take her to a new country to start over, I will. I want her to disappear from James' life for good."

"She's family, Charlie," Carlisle reassured him. "You and I are in this together. We'll all make sure she's safe. I promise. If it wouldn't cause such a war on our turfs, I'd have people assassinate him this second."

I gasped and immediately covered my mouth. I hoped they hadn't heard me.

Charlie laughed darkly. "If I find out he has something to do with Renee's death, I'll do it myself."

They were silent for a minute or so before Esme spoke up again.

"I should make her something to eat," she said. "I wonder when she'll wake up."

"The entire time I've been here, she's had maybe less than eight hours of sleep. She always wakes up screaming," Charlie said.

"Poor child," Esme said. It almost seemed like she was crying. "What would Renee say if she saw this? It's just not fair."

"Renee did a great job sending her to Jason. Even after she died, she found a way to make Isabella safe," Carlisle consoled her.

That seemed to sooth her because she quieted down.

Someone's phone rang and Carlisle answered.

"Edward?" There was silence and then, "I'll take this outside."

I heard him leave out the front door and then it was just Charlie and Esme.

"How's Edward doing in Seattle?"

"Doing well, I suppose," Esme sighed. "This is the first time he's finally called us since he landed last night. I hope it's good news regarding the shipment. I hate having any of my boys doing business out there but what can I do."

"He can take care of himself," Charlie reassured her. "Aro handles business professionally. I don't trust Aro but I do trust Edward."

"I don't want anyone hurt, that's for sure," Esme said.

"He's not alone."

"Thank you, Charlie," Esme sighed. "But I want to know more about what Isabella is going to do after this. Where is she going? I'm sure you don't want her going too far away. And what about bodyguards? James is everywhere and she'll need protection. Does she have money? Or what about a home? What if she gets hurt? Charlie, Renee wouldn't want her to be alone."

"I think that's why Renee finally reached out," Charlie said. "For more than two decades, we didn't hear a single word from her. Then all of a sudden, I'm notified of her death because she wanted me to know? She knew Isabella was in trouble and as much as she hated it, she knew I would make Isabella safe."

"But yes, she does have money. Renee and I set a trust fund up for her. And Renee took care of documents so she could start a new life. But if I find out that James had anything to do with Renee's death, treaty or no treaty, I'm going to kill him myself."

X

Later that afternoon, Charlie and Carlisle went out after the phone call. I was alone in the house with Esme—well alone as in us and the handful of suits running around outside. I was too scared to leave my room for the most part but when I started to smell the food she was cooking, I couldn't resist coming out.

"Esme?"

She turned around with a gasp, her hand clutching at her chest.

"Isabella, you scared me," she breathed out nervously. "You're so quiet."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just wanted to see if you needed help in the kitchen."

"I would rather you rest but if you want to help, sure," she smiled. "You're free to do whatever you want."

"I want to help," I reassured her. "I've been sitting here for almost a week twiddling my thumbs. What do you want me to do?"

"Want to peel and cut the onions and garlic?"

I nodded and started to gather the things I would need. "What are you making?"

"I figured since it's pretty cold at night here, some beef stew? My boys always nag me for my stew because they like their stew soupy and I figured you needed some meat on your bones if you know what I mean." She winked at me and I found myself smiling along with her.

"Too bad this house doesn't have a crockpot. I know that we wouldn't have had time to slow cook it but the way the meat melts in your mouth makes a huge difference." I babbled as I started cutting.

"I've had the beef softening on the stove now for a good hour. It's not the same as a slow cooker but it will still melt in your mouth, trust me," she laughed. "I've had this recipe in the family for years and I've perfected it."

"You have to teach me," I told her.

"Do you cook?"

I frowned and my cutting slowed. I composed myself quickly but when I looked up, Esme noticed my reaction.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean—"

"No," I smiled to shake her off. "It's okay. And to answer your question, I've always liked to cook. My mom wasn't much of a cook so as I grew up, I took up cooking out of necessity."

She suddenly laughed out loud and I looked up again, curious. "When Renee and I were younger, we almost burned the house down. My parents were gone for the night at an event and we decided to bake a cake. But because we were annoying and stupid, we didn't want to go for a box recipe. We pulled out my mother's cookbook and looked for the best cake recipe we could find."

"We found all the ingredients and somehow it turned into a friendly competition. We would each bake a cake and decorate it. The cake that was voted the most beautiful by the house staff would win. So when we put our batter in the oven and set the timer, twenty minutes later we heard the smoke alarm going off. We ran down so fast and we found my butler fanning out the room. He told us one of the cakes exploded in the oven and had started burning. When we looked inside the oven, my cake pan was perfectly fine and Renee's was upside down on the bottom of the stove."

I found myself captivated by her story. I was learning a portion of my mother's life that I was never told.

"Did your parents get mad?"

"They never found out about it," Esme laughed and I found myself giggling along with her. "My father could get hot-headed sometimes and none of the house staff really wanted to tell him they had condoned our antics. We kept it a secret from my parents. From then on, Renee was banned from the kitchen. She wasn't allowed to touch the stove or oven ever again."

"When I was growing up, I was thirteen when I finally told Mom I didn't like her cooking. I always forced myself to swallow her meatloaf or casserole but I couldn't take it anymore. I was in a cooking class as an elective and just in general, I'm an incredibly clumsy person. When I was in the kitchen, I was flawless—Mom even said it was like I was floating around."

"I guess that is something you didn't pick up from your Mom," Esme laughed. "Isabella, you have grown up quite beautifully."

I gave her a watery smile and said thank you.

"I was there when you were born," she mused. "I have a video of it, actually. Maybe one day, you'd like to see it?"

I gasped and nodded. "Of course!"

She smiled and nodded her head. "We're family, Isabella. Don't forget that."

X

Seven days.

Yesterday, James ordered his private team do a more thorough search on the shoreline along the beach north and south of Winnetka. After a gruesome twenty-four hours, the search teams were finally called off. Jason said that with the diligent search for me, and the fact that a suicide note was found, James successfully petitioned the court for my death in absentia.

This morning when I woke up, the Tribune was on the table and my face was on the front page. My initial reaction was one of pure shock because I didn't know that my death would have made such a big deal in the news. Things were winding down, and it seemed that James believed the story. It's been a week since I've last seen him and according to Jason, James did everything he could to find me.

I had to remember that I had the upper hand here. James didn't know that I had Charlie and as far as he knew, Charlie didn't exist in my world. If didn't I have Charlie, and I really had run away, the chances of James finding me were very high. James doesn't know I had help and suicide is a perfect excuse to disappear.

The thing that pissed me off is that James was now recognized as the sad, devastated, and mourning widowed husband. Nothing in the news mentioned the note and what I had said in it. So to the public eye, I was framed as James' depressed and suicidal wife. People were sending out prayers to the Witherdale family due to this tragedy—they felt sad for James. And trust me; he definitely looked the part in front of the press. Right now, James was hot in the news.

"Are you ready to go?"

I turned around and nodded my head at Jason.

Esme and Carlisle left early this morning. Charlie was waiting for me in the car and we were about to head to the airport. I was wearing a blonde wig with wide-rimmed sunglasses. It was the last precaution we were taking as we're leaving the state to make sure that even though to the world I am dead, I would stay dead.

When I got in the car, I took one glance at the cottage that was my home for a week—at least while the storm passed. I felt my chest tightening at the thought of being able to leave. It was such a huge step in starting over and although my mother wasn't with me, I realized I wasn't completely alone.

I took a glance at Charlie sitting on the other side of the car. He was looking straight ahead, but when he felt me looking at him, he gave me a warm smile.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

I nodded my head again.

"Mom said she always wanted to go to Machu Picchu," I said. "We never really had the chance to go while I was growing up."

"Promise you'll check in every once in a while?"

"Of course, Charlie," I agreed. I owed him that much.

"Don't forget to visit," he also said. "Esme already loves you and she told me to tell you that she's looking forward to the day you to meet the family."

"I will one day," I said. "But for now, I would like to be on my own. I know it's selfish for me…But I to want to experience things before I have to settle down and really figure out what I want to do. I just want to know what it feels like to not have any responsibilities."

"No," he shook his head. "I shouldn't have to say this but you deserve to get away from this place. You shouldn't have had to go through so much. You should have traveled the world a long time ago."

"Thanks Charlie," I told him. "I don't know what I want, yet. I'm not sure I want to know and what I'm going to do once I figure out everything. I'll come back but for now, I need to find myself again."

"Of course," he agreed. "Just promise to be safe. I finally have you back."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I looked at him. In the same manner that he missed so much in my life, I also missed a lot in his. In the end he is still my father and even though Mom left him a long time ago, some part of her trusted him to keep me safe.

One thing was for sure…Marie Hayes-Witherdale is dead.

This chapter was edited by EdwardsFirstKiss.

4/10/18