A little bit of spare time this weekend means I can plug away at another chapter! Thank you all for your reviews, I'm happy to read all of your feedback as this story gets a refresh. Quick note that this chapter is basically a new addition to the previous story, as I think the next several chapters will also continue to be. I realized as I first wrote this that I was being impatient and not taking the time to really develop the storyline and characters, and missed important opportunities for backstories. I'm going to change that from this chapter moving on, so hopefully that can help some of the concerns as well.

Anyways, please enjoy! Side note: Who watched the Grammy's last night? I have to say, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé made my night (insert heart eyes here)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

BPOV

For the first time in years, I slept through my alarm clock.

Luckily for me, I had Angela around who made sure not to schedule any morning meetings after the gala which I made a mental note to seriously thank her for once I got to the office. Little did I know that having the morning to myself after the events of the night before were more than necessary.

My sleep the night before was nonexistent – I was extremely restless, with the few moments of sleep I had being hijacked by nightmares and the conscious moments filled with thoughts around the spur of events over the last 24 hours. Seeing the Cullen's again, my father finding out that I was supporting my mother behind his back and also, as much as I didn't want to think about it, the weird attitude Edward was giving me.

It was like one second he couldn't stand to be near me and the next second he'd be acting as if nothing had passed between us. His voice echoed in my ear as I remembered his comment about still being his Bella. Who the hell did he think he was and how dare he think that I was still his? Hell, I hadn't been his for years and after everything I doubt I was ever even his. For years I had practically convinced myself that I was never his in the first place, that he'd never really wanted me the way that I had thought. Not after the way he'd ended things between us.

Aside from that chaos, Charlie's anger and disappointment was eating me up inside. Our conversation ended abruptly between us, as they usually would when both of us got to the point where we had no control over our emotions. That was one thing we had in common – neither of us liked to showcase our emotions on a pedestal. One of us would usually end the conversation quickly and assure the other we'd talk to them soon. Usually, my dad was the one to make the first move but this time, I knew that the ball was in my court.

And on the other hand, a small part of me knew that I was making a big mistake by helping my mother. That small part was equal in size with the part of me that ached for the maternal affection that I never had. I didn't realize how much I needed it until after I had left Forks, and that was because during that time I had Esme. She was the closest thing I had to a real mother and gave me that motherly affection I needed. But Edward took that away from me too.

Now that she was in rehab, I made sure to stay on top of her progress and would receive the calls from their head psychiatrist, Dr. Newton, on a biweekly basis. In the beginning, I made myself available and blocked off the timeslot in my calendar through Angela, but after a few months I felt content that she was making real progress. Instead, I told Dr. Newton that he could leave me a voicemail giving me the update and I would reach out to him after if necessary. I didn't want anything sent through email, as a paper trail is the last thing that I wanted, but I still felt the need to somehow control the situation. Classic Isabella Swan, needing to be in control of everything.

The thing about those voicemails was I never knew what to expect and often, I worried that her progress would go downhill. I was worried to hear that she wasn't doing as well as I had hoped or worse, that she'd quit. Thankfully, that call never came – Renee had surprisingly never had an outburst or issue, instead she was on the road to a full recovery.

Sure, I knew it was childish for me to believe that she would come back and welcome me into her opens arms. Dad was right, even if he didn't say it outright. I knew it was a stupid idea and it was impossible. But maybe, maybe there was some sort of chance for us. Maybe it could become some sort of civil relationship between us that could grow into even slightly resembling a mother-daughter relationship. That thought may have been farfetched but it could be possible and I didn't want to lose the small bit of hope there was in that outcome.

I deserved to be happy. I made it through things that no one else could imagine, and I survived. Not only that, I thrived. I worked hard to make the empire of Swan Enterprises for myself. The anger issues that I had were always right under the surface but with distracting myself with my studies as well as spending time with Rosalie and Jasper, I was able to focus on staying positive and working towards my goals. Even now, with everything going on, it would not distract me from my purpose. I deserved to be happy, even if that happiness included a little bit of baggage. And I never sat by idly and waited for things to come to me, not since I was in Forks. If I wanted something, I would go out and get it myself.

My phone beeped with a text message alert and I reached over to my night table to see it was Jacob, letting me know that he was coming up. I was glad that we had scheduled a morning session instead of an evening one, as after last night's events I could really use the training.

Shortly after Swan Enterprises launched, I had realized that my anger issues weren't going to go away overnight. I was not emotionally or psychologically capable of handling it on my own, and seeing a therapist hadn't helped me in the past either as it just brought about more harmful memories of my mother. Especially those that I did not want to relive ever again. During college, a small scale outburst wouldn't have been a big deal especially while Rosalie had my back the majority of the time. College kids didn't take things that like that seriously, I just had to deal with being called a bitch a handful of times, which never quite bothered me.

In the corporate world, however, the smallest mishaps could land you with million dollar lawsuits. Sure, the bitch card would still stay and with my stature, no one would dare raise an eyebrow towards me however I couldn't take my chances with anything more than that. The spat the day before with the brainless men who tried to pitch their idea to me was the first time in years where I'd given them a real reality check as they had walked into my dragon's den. However, that was once in a very long while and anything more than that, I would never do. At the end of the day, I was a professional. A professional going through more than the average mid-20s multi-billionaire, but nonetheless.

And sure, I had enough money where I could pay anyone off if I had to deal with something serious in the courts, but I never wanted to get myself to that point. My reputation, especially in the industry that I was in, was priceless.

That's where Jacob came in. Jacob was a retired Navy Seal, only retired due to a serious injury which would not allow him to pass clearance back into the field. So he took his strengths and turned it into another career – physical one-on-one training but in my case, with a little bit extra. We used our time together to work on the underlying issues, specifically my anger. Our relationship was tough in the beginning as I left it as a physical workout and that was it. However, as time went on we began to open up to each other and yes, it went both ways. Jacob himself had gone through many horrible things in the past, many that he never even talked about to anyone, and that was a way we began to bond with one another. Though Rosalie and Jasper were the only two to really know me, Jake was the first to truly understand me. Though I had never admitted it out loud and never would, it wasn't only his training sessions that comforted me but it was simply him being there during those tough times.

For example, right now was definitely one of the tough times I needed him for.

"Whoa, easy there, killer!" Jacob laughed, pushing back the sweaty tendrils of dark hair that had stuck to his forehead. "Any harder and you'll be punching a whole straight through the bag."

I pulled myself back and stood straight, wincing slightly at the pain in my right hand as I lifted it and flexed my fingers. "I've got a lost on my mind."

"Yeah, no shit," he said sarcastically, gripping his large hands into each side of the bag again once I quickly threw another set of jabs. I landed a hard punch with my right fist but must've hit it wrong as I immediately recoiled my hand and hissed in pain. "You okay?"

Jacob quickly let go of the bag and moved to stand in front of me and reached to grab my hand. I moved slightly out of his reach and flicked my hand a few times to ease the pain, though it did absolutely nothing at all.

"Jake, I pay you to train me, not to tend to every single injury." I motioned for him to step back behind the bag and he shook his head.

"Nope, I don't think so, Bells. You know the rules, there's good pain and bad pain. And that right there is bad pain, so let me see."

I huffed, making him laugh as I'm sure I looked like a child especially as I stomped over to the bench and sat. Jacob grabbed an ice packet from the fridge and grabbed a small towel before crouching in front of me. He tended to my right hand and worked in silence, while I watched as he carefully took my glove off and inspected my small hand within his large one. This was a side of Jacob that even I rarely saw as his eyebrows frowned in concern and his lips pursed while he gently put the ice wrapped towel against my knuckled. I sighed as the cold hit my knuckles and instantly felt the pain slowly ebb away.

"So," Jake voice turned serious, breaking the few moments of silence. "Want to tell me what's got you riled up more than usual today?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied shortly.

"Oh, come on. I know you better than that. You're wound up tighter than usual, plus your form is completely off. You've got something on your mind, I can tell."

I sighed again, turning my head away and staring off. "Well, you're wrong."

"Bells," he insisted, his voice now softer. He placed his other hand on top of mine and held it, waiting for me patiently to let him in. But I didn't even know where to start, and I wasn't comfortable telling him everything.

"It's my dad," I finally answered. "I did something behind his back and he found out. Long story short, he's pretty pissed and I don't know how to get him to forgive me."

That was just about as much information as I could share with him and the closest I'd let him in. I couldn't let Jacob in any more than that, and I definitely couldn't tell him about my past with Edward or my mother.

Jake hummed in thought. "Okay, well did you kill someone?"

I turned my head to look at Jake, still crouched in front of me and tending to my hand. "What? No."

"Well, then whatever you've done is forgivable."

"I don't know about that."

"I do, he's your Dad. There's nothing you can do that won't make him love you any less."

I scoffed. "I beg to differ. You don't know my Dad."

"That's true, but from what you've told me about him, I already know his character." Damn it, why did he always have to be so right? Jake smiled as if he had read my thoughts and continued. "So maybe what you should do is think about how you'll apologize and take it from there. Make the first move."

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'll give him a ring. Thank you."

"Whoa, hold on!" Jacob feigned shock. "Did the Isabella Swan just thank me? What an honor!"

I bit back a smile and pulled my hand from his grasp, standing up off the bench. "Oh shut up, Jacob."

Jake was booming with laughter as he stood from his crouch and threw his arm around my shoulders. He looked down at me with a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes.

"Sure, want to make me?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked while looking up at him, enjoying our playful banter until we heard someone clearing their throat. Turning my head towards the door, my grin faded.

"If you're done here, Carlisle would like to speak with you," Edward snapped, glaring at Jacob fiercely. Before either of us could say anything, he spun around on his heel and stormed out of the room.

Jake scoffed and shook his head, tilting his head towards the door. "Who's the asshole?"

"He's not important," I replied quickly and shrugged indifferently, although Edward's attitude was confusing me every moment. I didn't know what was going on with him but this was a stark difference from the concerned Edward I saw last night before going to bed.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Stupid Bella, who even cares?

"Yeah, I beg to differ." Jacob replied and stared at me knowingly.

"And I don't care," I responded. "Anyways, same time, tomorrow morning?"

Jake shook his head. "Not while your hand is in that condition. Maybe we should take a day off."

I rolled my eyes, waving my hand at his comment and turning to leave the room, telling him I was fine. I had only taken a few steps before I felt him grab my wrist, and the next thing I knew, my forearm was pushing against Jake's throat as I pinned him against the wall. I gasped sharply when I came to realize what I'd done and quickly pulled myself back, moving backwards until my back hit the opposite wall.

No… no, this can't be happening.

Jacob placed his hands up in the air and said my name softly, trying to calm the situation.

"I didn't mean to," I rambled quickly as my heart continued to race. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"Bells," he began before I cut him off.

"You should go." I said sharply, not able to look him in the eye as I turned my head to look at a spot on the wall beside him.

"Bells, come on. It's okay, that was my fault," he responded gently and took a step towards me.

I took one quick look at him, expecting to see fear or even anger towards me for what I'd just done but I didn't get the reaction I had expected. Instead, he looked genuinely concerned. His face etched with worry as he regarded me with dark, cautious eyes. I then realized that instead of the reaction I was expecting, I was faced with another emotion and it made me tense and straighten my spine.

He felt bad for me.

He pitied me.

I didn't need pity, nor did I want it. Not then, and certainly not now.

"I'll call you when my hand gets better. Have a good day Jacob, you can see yourself out," I said briskly before turning and leaving the room without looking back.