The story deals with adult subject matter and occasional description of explicit sexual abuse. Not meant for underage readers. Read at your own peril. And oh, Twilight belongs to SM. This is just a fanfiction.

Beautiful Sorrow

End of Chapter 14:

"Good luck with college, Isabella. Give my regards to Charlie, would you? I hope we meet again."

With those parting words, his car pulled away from the Swan driveway, leaving behind a bedazzled, young girl rooted to the spot. His rational mind, which normally dictated all his decisions, told him to keep his distance from Isabella Swan; that prettier and better skilled, not to mention age appropriate, substitutes could easily be found elsewhere. But his heart was already addicted to the high only she could provide. As he approached his estate that night, he was already thinking of ways he would orchestrate his next fix.

Chapter 15

Carlisle, October, 2009

Despite the distractions his mind insisted upon him, Carlisle succeeded in getting a fair amount of work done throughout the remaining hours of his day. He was wrapping up his tasks in preparation for his ride to the airport when he heard a rude rapping on his door.

Amanda hadn't buzzed him about anyone seeking his audience, and he knew he didn't have any meetings scheduled. He exhaled in frustration; it can only be one person: Eleazar.

Surely enough, it was Eleazar who barged in after he called out a reluctant invitation.

Years hadn't mellowed down his gruff and disagreeable disposition. His hair had mostly gone grey, and he was more rotund now than he had been even a few years ago, but he still carried his heavy form with the charm and compassion of an agitated dragon. General consensus in the office about him was that he liked no one and no one liked him, and he never did anything to counter that status quo.

"What can I do for you, El?" Carlisle asked evenly, suppressing his displeasure for being disturbed when he was just about to call it a day.

"I just heard from Moreno that you gave the word to scrap Ion One?" he asked with furrowed brow, not bothering to hide his disapproval.

Carlisle rolled his eyes.

Ion One. Not again. Why won't it leave me alone?

Not getting the desired response from Carlisle, Eleazar stepped closer to his desk.

"Since when do you override all the protocol we have in place and label an asset toxic before any proper evaluation's been done? I was working on their finances all last week. They can easily beat the trend with a little injection of capital and minimum, in-house resizing. What gives, Carlisle? Why are you jumping the gun on them?"

Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose to manage the rage that threatened to boil over. Eleazar was not just another member of his staff; he couldn't subject him to the same tongue lashing Moreno or Amanda would get under the same circumstances.

"Because it's losing money, Eleazar. I don't want this albatross around my neck bleeding us dry," he spat through gritted teeth, trying to sound as civil as possible.

"Bleeding us dry? We both know that at any given moment, at least ten percent of all our business ventures don't turn a profit. That's within the acceptable margin we have mapped out. We don't pull the plug on them at the first sign of floundering.

"Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't it Ion One that you went all out to keep afloat back in 2002 when they lost nearly all of their net worth? There was no solid projection that indicated that they'd pull through then, but you insisted on it regardless. Yet now, when they actually have a fair chance of beating the odds, you are ready to wash your hands off them? And you don't even consult me before making such a decision? What's going on here, Carlisle?"

Eleazar's words were all true, and they stung like they were meant to. Eleazar had a fairly good idea the significance Ion One once held for Carlisle. Not that he approved, but he knew nonetheless.

"I made an executive decision, Eleazar. Just because I bailed them out once doesn't mean I made a pledge to do it repeatedly for all eternity. Please, just accept it and let it go." He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"And what about all of their employees? They have over a thousand people working in their Worcester plant alone. This is not how we do business, Carlisle. We never have." The older man challenged him with a firm resolve that unnerved him. But Carlisle had years of training to perfect his poker face.

"They have a fairly decent severance package. They'll move on and find work somewhere else. It's not my responsibility," he countered with the hard, cold logic that he'd learned from none other than Eleazar himself.

Eleazar didn't make a quick retort. He stood there and observed his nephew for a moment with tired but wise eyes.

"What's happening to you, son? Why are you really doing this?" It wasn't Eleazar Goldsmith, the CFO, asking. It was Eleazar, his uncle and mentor.

He had a significant fall out with Eleazar over his association with Isabella Swan five years ago. Eleazar vehemently opposed his decision to pursue her and as a result he had been forced aside from Carlisle's personal life.

Carlisle sadly pondered how all of his woes and anguish could have easily been avoided if he had only heeded his uncle's counsel. Eleazar didn't approve of his unadulterated affections for Edward, but came to accept it half-heartedly after years of badgering and insistence from Carlisle. Eleazar always mistrusted the willful youth and prodded Carlisle to hold off from placing such unreserved faith in his obstinate half-brother.

If only he had listened.

Similarly, Eleazar's opinion of Isabella was nothing short of fervent revulsion when he first learned of Carlisle's intention to marry her. She was wrong for him and there was nothing that could be said to convince him otherwise. As far as Eleazar was concerned, Isabella was the embodiment of unsuitability as the candidate to be the next Mrs. Cullen: she was the wrong age, had bad table manners, wasn't beautiful enough, came from a poor family, had the wrong personality, and above all else, she did not have the desired attitude. He didn't hesitate to make his distaste known, and as often was the case, the voice of reason got cast aside in the face of a woman's lure and charm.

Carlisle would spend the rest of his existence regretting his stupidity.

He chose Isabella over Eleazar's word of caution. So, when his world came crumbling down around him as a direct result of that decision, he hardly had the face to turn to his uncle to seek consolation. His pride wouldn't let him, and neither could he tolerate hearing 'I told you so' from his vindicated mentor.

Eleazar gave him a wide berth and refrained from being inquisitive since Carlisle's wedding to Isabella. Carlisle was initially grateful for the absolute privacy it afforded him to carry on with his mission of vengeance without anyone questioning his methods. He was now fraught with regret. He didn't know how to answer Eleazar's question; he didn't know if he'd be able to survive the judgment he would see in his eyes.

"Nothing is happening to me, El. I just want to branch out to new producers. That's all." Despite his perfectly plausible explanation, he couldn't look the older man in the eye.

Eleazar looked him over with piercing, grey eyes, deep in thought. Then he lowered himself to a chair directly opposite Carlisle across from his desk.

"I know you've been avoiding me, Carlisle. And I've let you do so for the past three years. But don't think for one second that I don't notice how you've been sinking into… this abyss. I am old, not stupid," he spoke quietly. The concern in his voice was unmistakable.

"I don't know what you mean," Carlisle hedged in a last ditch attempt to ward off Eleazar's probing questions.

Eleazar took a deep breath and then began speaking in a low voice.

"You marry a pretty, young girl, against my advice may I add, but instead of being on cloud nine you work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week. Then out of nowhere she ends up in the hospital with an eating disorder? And she has a drinking problem too?" Eleazar cut straight to the point.

Carlisle sighed in frustration. He might have been able to minimize public exposure of Isabella's sojourn to the hospital, but he should have known that very little would escape Eleazar's keen attention. His silence over the matter these past six months did not mean he was ignorant of it; he was only giving him space.

Carlisle had speculated about Eleazar's lack of reaction over the months. But he wondered now if it was pride that had held Eleazar back the same way it restrained Carlisle from seeking consolation from his uncle. After all, he was quite harsh in putting the old man in his place, making it amply clear that his counsel was only welcome regarding matters related to work, not his personal life. How could he expect Eleazar to assert his presence to comfort him after that? He couldn't and he didn't. But Eleazar was big enough to extend an olive branch; he was setting aside his ego to make the first more. But Carlisle was poorly equipped to reciprocate with open honesty.

"You are reading far more into it than there is. She has a problem, I'm dealing with it. People have problems, it's not uncommon." It burned his tongue to lie to Eleazar. But he couldn't bring himself to let anyone else see the true extent of the erosion of his soul.

"And your 'brother'? You didn't buy him a new car on his birthday this year, or the year before. He didn't come home to spend the holidays with you. You didn't try to get him past the Board of Directors once since your wedding. You don't fly out to visit him anymore. And shouldn't he have finished college by now? Where's the grand graduation party? The fanfare? Do you even know where Edward is?" He paused for effect. "Are you still going to tell me there's nothing to it?

Hearing Edward's name being uttered aloud brought him to his knees and even his unimpeachable skill of keeping his face impassive, perfected over a lifetime, couldn't keep him from visibly flinching, as though he'd been hit by a bullet. Even after three years, the gaping wound that he carried within bled afresh.

Edward.

My brother.

My assassin.

Carlisle hastily stood up and turned his back on Eleazar. He could feel the presence of impending tears in his eyes that he steadfastly refused to let escape past his lids. He couldn't let his uncle see him like this. He couldn't let anyone see him this broken.

No one in his office ever spoke of Edward in his presence; they never had any reason to do so. Isabella would never dare to either. Sometimes it was almost possible for him to imagine that Edward never existed. Most days he was able to cling to that illusion; most days he could go through a meeting or a merger without letting himself think about the past. But Eleazar had opened the floodgate with a single magic word, and he could feel the ground being washed away beneath his feet in the torrent of emotions and memories.

Edward's birthday was in June. Every year, since he turned sixteen, he got a new car from Carlisle on his birthday. It was their tradition, however extravagant. Not this year though, or the year before. Edward didn't take any of his cars with him when he left, he'd been told. He wondered what he was driving these days. Was it a good car with a decent safety record? He hated himself for caring. He hated himself for not being able to purge his mind of these unwarranted worries.

He hadn't seen Edward in over two years. He didn't know where he was. And he shouldn't care.

The weight of his sorrow became too great and he had to steer his mind away from the devastating onslaught. He focused on anger instead.

Isabella.

Just the thought of her name was enough to fill his mind with fury. She destroyed everything. She deserved to suffer right alongside him. And she would, he pledged to himself. He scoffed at the doubts he'd been harboring these past months about his treatment of her. She richly deserved every sliver of pain that he subjected her to. No, she deserved worse. He would never forgive her.

He didn't even realize that he was literally shaking with rage until Eleazar placed a hand on his shoulder in a calming gesture. He was so lost in his delirious ploy of revenge that he didn't even notice the older man approach him.

"Carlisle," he said. "I am not your enemy, my son. I am on your side. I always have been, and always will be, on your side. I can't- I won't see you kill yourself like this. Please, talk to me. Let me help."

"I… I… El, I can't… I can't…" Carlisle grasped for the words that eluded him. He had never been this lost, this helpless.

Both of them were startled by the sudden ringing of the intercom. Eleazar answered the phone as Carlisle was still far from being steady with his voice. Amanda informed them that if Carlisle didn't leave soon for the airport he would miss the window of taxiing clearance his private jet had received from the air traffic control at Sea-Tac.

"He'll be out soon," he said into the phone and hung up.

"El… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I have to go now." Carlisle collected himself the best he could and began gathering his papers and files to bring on to his flight.

"Yes, you do. But you are not going alone," Eleazar declared.

"What do you mean? You are not scheduled for this trip. What about your meetings here? I don't have time for you to pack," Carlisle objected hastily.

"I'll cancel my meetings, and I can get what I need once we land there. I am coming with you." He said with finality, leaving no room for argument.

Carlisle could only nod in agreement. He'd been shaken to his core by their conversation earlier and didn't have the will or strength to fight Eleazar off.

An hour later, as their jet was taxiing off the tarmac of Sea-Tac, Eleazar turned his attention to his travel companion once again.

"Tell me everything, Carlisle. From the beginning. Don't shut me out. I am not stupid, but I need to hear it from you. What have they done to you?"

Carlisle was looking out the window, into the pitch-black, night sky. He took a deep breath and without taking his eyes away from the window, in a halting and unwilling voice, began to recount the tale of his woe, and the confession of his crimes.

IMPORTANT AN: Those of you who are on twitter may know that I used to tweet every Thursday to thank you all. I have been told that this expression of gratitude is apparently grating on people's nerves. If you happen to be one who've been inconvenienced by this and don't want to be annoyed, kindly drop me a PM. I deeply respect your wishes and would stop mentioning you. Being a nuisance was not my intention ever. It saddens me that we have entered that phase of social evolution where gratitude is considered irritating. Oh well, we live and learn...

For all observers, I do apologize for the traffic and for clogging up your TLs. I will try to spread it out throughout the day to minimize the pile up as well as push it to once a month instead of every week. However, if the matter is offending to you ideologically, then please feel free to unfollow me. Let me know when you do it so I can return the courtesy; we have no business being in each other's TimeLine.

AN2: Inside Man by Ooza

Summary: With his parole fast approaching, inmate Edward Masen is looking for a friend. College student Bella Swan stumbles across his profile on a prison pen-pal website. Their friendship is formed over written words, but will it last once he rejoins her world?

Chances are you're all reading this already. If not, I can't stress this strongly enough, you should soon. My heart clenched as I was reading the letters Edward wrote to Bella. A true must read.

AN3: Thank you lulabelle98, for making all this readable. I couldn't do it without her. Please read her story The Long Walk Home.

Thank you Detochkina for pre-reading and pointing out holes the size of Chicago! She is awesome. Don't miss out on her story Sinnerman. It's amazingly unique.

Thank you WutheringBites for validating my story at Twilighted. I am most grateful.

Thanks to Dooba, Shattered1025, KrazyK85_, Twinerdforlife, jneag2071, LauraHilary, I2want2knowu, bmango77, musicflare87, anhanninen, opheliasmuse, twilover76, lels2768, yesmrcullen, LadyTazz7, gredelina1, emilybowden, and lulabelle98 for WCs. You ladies rock! They are all esteemed authors. Please check out their stories.

Come find me on twitter: ToTheDreaming.

I am thankful to all those who've read, reviewed, alerted and fav-d my story. Kindly review and let me know what you think. They help to fight off writers block the same way the flu shot fights off sniffles!