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Complications
Rosalie watched nervously as Bella's expression slowly turned from confused to hurt. She swallowed hard and took a step toward her sister.
Bella backed away and whispered, "What?"
"I am so sorry. I know I should have told you sooner, but I was afraid of your reaction. When you told me that you liked Cullen, everything changed. And then, you were caught together, and I knew I couldn't keep this a secret anymore."
Bella struggled to comprehend what Rosalie was telling her. "Edward Cullen is the man who proposed to you and told you that he is in love with you." Seeing the guilt on Rosalie's face, Bella felt all her hopes crumbling to dust. "On the night he asked me to dance with him."
Her heart broke when she realized that the dance had meant nothing to him, when it had meant everything to her. She blinked quickly, turning around. He had used her, and she had been stupid enough to think that he liked her.
"He asked me to dance with him, right after you refused his proposal," she realized. "He used me to make you jealous, and you didn't say anything." She quickly turned toward Rosalie, her eyes already filling with tears of anger and hurt. "When I told you that I liked him, why didn't you tell me the truth? Why did you let me get my hopes up?"
Rosalie's bottom lip trembled. "You were so excited that I didn't want to ruin your happiness."
Bella laughed humorlessly, throwing her hands in the air. "Now, I am supposed to marry my sister's lover. How is that going to make me happy?"
"I know," Rosalie whispered, her voice shaking. "I didn't want this to happen."
Bella looked at her sister, not knowing what to say anymore. "I want to be alone."
Rosalie opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it immediately. Pursing her lips, she nodded twice and left the room. As soon as the door closed, two tears rolled down Bella's cheeks.
The next thing she knew, it was morning, and her maid was shaking her awake. "Miss Swan? Bella, you have a visitor."
Bella slowly opened her eyes and looked at Irina. From the maid's baffled expression, Bella realized she looked like hell. Her eyes were probably red and puffy, and her mouth felt dry. She must have cried herself to sleep.
"A visitor?" she croaked, sitting up.
"Are you alright?" the maid asked, concerned.
"I feel wonderful," Bella answered absentmindedly. "What were you saying about this visitor?"
Irina didn't seem convinced by her response. "Well, he is talking to your father right now. Lord Swan asked me to wake you up."
"He?" Bella didn't need to ask Irina who she was talking about. She already knew.
"Lord Cullen," Irina answered, taking a purple, beautiful dress out of the wardrobe. "He arrived only ten minutes ago and asked to see your father." Irina raised her eyebrows, curious, when she saw Bella's grim expression. "I suppose that is a good sign, isn't it? I thought you were going to be more excited about it."
Bella pushed the covers away. "I don't have a reason to be excited."
Fifteen minutes later, Bella was descending the stairs, her steps growing slower and slower as she was approaching the office. She didn't want to face Edward. She didn't want to talk to him. But first of all, she didn't want to marry him. Unfortunately, she didn't think she had a choice.
She slowly walked toward the office and stopped as soon as her hand touched the doorknob. Her heart was hammering inside her chest. She could hear their voices through the door. Taking a deep breath for courage, she opened the door and walked inside.
Edward and her father turned around and looked at her. They both stood up to greet her, but Bella simply nodded and sat down on the couch. She hated the fact that her heart skipped a beat when she saw him. She didn't want to feel anything for him.
"Bella, I suppose you know why I summoned you here," Charlie said.
"Yes, I do," she said shortly.
"Nonetheless, I would like to ask you," Edward said as he walked toward her.
Bella clenched her teeth, looking down at her feet. She wasn't expecting him to kneel in front of her, but he did. This time, she didn't have a choice. She met his gaze, and everything Rosalie had told her the other night popped in her head. He didn't love her. He loved Rosalie. He wanted to marry Rosalie, not her. Her hands were trembling, and she hid them in the folds of her dress.
"Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" His green eyes were serious, although his lips were slightly curved into a smile.
Bella looked into his eyes and whispered, "No."
Edward seemed surprised by her response, but Charlie was the first one to react. "What? Bella, you realize you don't–"
She interrupted her father, still looking at Edward. "No, I don't want to marry you, but I don't have a choice. It doesn't matter what my answer is going to be. My fate has already been sealed. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to leave."
Edward slowly stood up. "Lord Swan, do you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?"
Bella stiffened. She especially didn't want to be alone with him.
Charlie was silent for a few seconds before he finally answered, a little reluctantly, "Not at all."
They both waited for her father to leave the room. Bella dropped his gaze and walked toward the window, folding her arms across her chest. She could feel Edward behind her, but she didn't turn around.
"You know," he whispered a minute later.
She swallowed hard. "Unfortunately for you."
Edward noticed her rigid shoulders and the way she held herself. Rosalie must have told her the truth. He couldn't blame her. After all, Bella was her sister. He also couldn't blame Bella for refusing to marry him. Still, it made the entire situation even more complicated that it already was. Bella was going to be his wife, even though he had never thought about that possibility.
He took a step toward her, trying to gauge her reaction.
She didn't say anything, although her shoulders hunched a little. He continued, "I know this is … odd, for the both of us, but we can make this work."
She suddenly turned around, her eyes ablaze with anger. "Make this work? How do you suggest we do that? Pretend we are a happy couple, madly in love with each other when we both know that you love Rosalie?" Tears stung the back of her eyes, and a lump formed in her throat. "Or were you going to do that anyway, because you want to make her jealous?"
He froze, seeing the hurt on her face. Her eyes were sparkling with tears, and her bottom lip was trembling. He wanted to replace that sadness he saw in her eyes, but he couldn't. He had already hurt her too much.
"I don't think it's going to matter if I tell you how sorry I am," he said.
Bella looked at him, not knowing what to think anymore. Even though he felt sorry, how was that going to make this situation any better? He would still love Rosalie, and Bella would still love him.
"I have to go," she whispered, anxious to get out of the room. She could barely hold back her tears, and the last thing she wanted was to cry in front of him.
"Bella…" he trailed off as his hand gently caught her elbow.
She swiftly shook his hand off. "Don't…" she gasped at first, startled by his touch and then continued, more calmly, "touch me. I told you, it doesn't matter. I said I was going to marry you, and you can talk to my father about the wedding. I don't care."
Edward watched her slam the door shut. He rubbed his face with his hands. How did this happen? How did he get engaged to Rosalie's sister in less than twenty four hours? What kind of marriage were they going to have? She obviously hated him for his deception, and with good reason. She could barely stay in the same room with him. How were they going to live as husband and wife? How were they going to share a bed? Everything seemed so muddled.
He wished he could go back in time and stop himself from ever getting involved with Rosalie.
"What happened?" Charlie Swan walked inside, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Nothing," Edward answered.
"That didn't sound like nothing," Charlie pointed out. "Besides, I thought I saw Bella crying. Did you say something hurtful to her?"
Edward felt like the villain again, and hearing that Bella had left the office crying, he probably was. But he wasn't going to tell Charlie the truth.
"No, of course not. She is just upset with this wedding. I am sure she would have preferred a husband of her own choosing."
Charlie sighed. "I know, but now, it's too late." He sat down at his office and clasped his hands together on top of the desk. "This wedding is going to happen, and I would prefer it sooner rather than later."
One hour later, Edward was shaking Charlie's hand. They decided that the wedding would take place in a week, and that it would be a small ceremony, with friends only. Edward hadn't really been that enthusiastic about it, especially knowing that he had only one week to get accustomed to the idea of being Bella's husband.
He walked out of the office and saw Rosalie descending the stairs. They both stopped for a second to look at each other. He saw her take a deep breath, before she descended the rest of the stairs and came toward him.
"You told Bella," he said.
"She deserved to know," Rosalie answered immediately, clearing her throat uncomfortably. "I knew you would do the honorable thing and ask her to marry you. I couldn't let her accept your proposal without knowing what she was getting herself into."
He nodded. "I understand. Where is she right now?"
Rosalie looked down at her feet. "She is in her room. I tried to talk to her, but she doesn't want to see me. I know you talked to her. What did she say?"
"She looked hurt and angry," Edward whispered, watching Rosalie flinch. "She accepted my proposal, but she made it very clear that she would never be happy as my wife."
Laughing bitterly, Rosalie said, "I told you not to hurt her. Ironically, I was the one who broke her heart."
"We are both to blame," Edward countered. "We should have never gotten together. Maybe this scandal wouldn't have happened. But then, again, maybe it would have happened anyway. We don't know that. But what I do know is that I want to make this marriage work, even if it takes years to convince Bella of that."
Without saying anything more, he turned around and started toward the front door. He didn't look behind at Rosalie. She was a closed chapter of his life, and that was never going to change. He walked outside and toward his carriage, but before he got in, he stopped and looked at the house.
Bella was watching him from her room, her face unsmiling. As soon as their eyes met, she quickly dropped the curtain and disappeared from his view.
In her room, Bella heavily sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands.
Someone knocked on her door.
"Leave me alone, Rosalie," she said curtly.
"Does that apply to me, too?" Her father opened the door and looked at her inquisitively.
"Oh, father. Come on in." Bella tried not to look as upset as she felt. With a weak smile on her face, she stood up.
"Why don't you want to talk to Rosalie? And first of all, why didn't you want to talk to the earl? What really happened between the three of you?" Charlie walked toward her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Nothing," Bella answered quickly. "Don't worry about it. Everything is fine. Why did you want to talk to me?"
Charlie didn't seem convinced. It was obvious he was still curious about it, but he decided to ask later. He had come to see Bella for another reason.
"I came to tell you about the wedding. Since everyone is already talking about the two of you, we decided to have the wedding next week."
Bella froze. "Next week? But that is so … soon."
Charlie smiled, a little melancholy. "I know, sweetheart, but it's for the best. I don't want you to feel ashamed to go out in public for something you didn't do, because yes, I trust you. If you say nothing happened between the two of you last night, I believe you. But even though I believe you, your reputation will still be tarnished."
"A quick wedding is not going to change anything. It will be proof that something really happened, and they will be waiting to see my baby bump."
Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose with the tip of his fingers. "What do you really want, Bella? Postpone the wedding? Fine, we will postpone the wedding. But whether you marry him now or in two months, everyone will still be talking about you. It doesn't matter when you marry him. The only difference is that if you marry him now, everyone will be forced to show you the respect you deserve as the new countess of Melburn."
Bella knew he was right, but it didn't make the situation any easier. Overwhelmed, she threw her arms around her father and buried her face in his chest. "You are right. I will marry him next week."
To her dismay, the week passed entirely too quickly. She had been trying to avoid both her sister and her fiancée, helping with the wedding preparations. Edward had come to see her twice, but she had refused to spend more than ten minutes in his company. It still hurt to see him, mostly because Bella was still picturing her sister in his arms, kissing passionately. At first, Rosalie had decided to give Bella some space, but now, it was obvious she was starting to lose patience with her.
The next thing she knew, it was her wedding day, and she completely dreaded it.