A/N: Thanks goes to Cristina, Paige, Sherry & Tiffany, you girls rock my world.

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Chapter 7

House arrest. Edward fucking Cullen had put me under house arrest. Unless it was something to do with the wedding arrangements, I wasn't permitted to leave the house or speak to anyone. He had locked all the doors to ensure I couldn't escape again. When he wasn't around, Marcus was always there, like my fucking shadow. If he was trying to make me hate him even more than I already did, he was succeeding.

Speaking of weddings, ours was only a few days away now. I had postponed picking the dress for as long as I could, but Esme was now insistent that today was the day. I had to get a dress. I honestly didn't understand why I couldn't get married in a trash bag or an old pair of PJs. It wasn't as if it was a joyous occasion. Did anyone really care what I looked like? I certainly didn't, and I couldn't care less what Edward thought.

As payback for forcing me to go dress shopping I had refused to allow Esme or Rosalie into the dressing room. I had insisted that they wait in the lobby. I may have even pretended that I wanted the dress to be a surprised. It certainly was going to be a surprise alright. I had chosen a black wedding dress to represent how I felt about the wedding, but that wasn't the best part. The front of the dress was short, like I can see your panties short. The back of the dress was long, like some sort of train or something. I dunno. I wasn't really interested in that part anyway. The entire dress was made out of black lace. It sort of reminded me of Madonna when she sings 'Like A Virgin', which I thought was fitting, although I certainly didn't look anything like a virgin in this dress. Did I mention the low cut chest line? Yeah, you best believe my boobs were on display for the whole world to see. Edward was going to lose his shit. I couldn't wait.

"Are you sure this is the dress you want?" The assistant asked warily.

I smiled, looking at my reflection in the mirror. "Yeah, it's perfect."

"Okay," she sighed, as she turned to walk away. I knew she was upset with my choice. She had been reluctant to show me the dress in the first place.

I grabbed her arm before she could go anywhere. "One word of warning," I said, staring at her straight in the eye. "I have a gun in my purse and if I hear you mention the color of this dress or style to anyone, I will blow your fucking brains out. Got it?"

Of course I didn't have a gun in my purse, Edward still had my gun, but she didn't know that.

The assistant's eyes went wide as she stared at me in horror. "Yeah, I, uh, got it."

"Good."

I removed the dress and ensured she put it in a garment bag before I went out to the front of the boutique where Esme, Rosalie and Marcus were waiting for me. I tried my best to keep myself from grinning like a loon, but it was hard, knowing the surprise I had in store for them all.

"Did you find one you liked?" Esme asked, jumping to her feet the second she saw me. She looked pissed off, but was trying her best to hide it. I guess this wasn't fair to her, as far as I know she had nothing to do with this arrangement, but still, she was his mother.

I nodded, motioning to the bag in the assistant's hand. "Yeah, I got one."

"Can I have a peek?" Esme asked, moving towards the bag.

I grabbed her wrist before she could get too close. "No!" I snapped. I realized I had spoken too harshly, so I forced a smile on my face. "I'd really like it to be a surprise."

Esme sighed, holding her hands up in surrender. "Okay. I won't look. I am just glad that you picked something and seem to be coming around to the idea of getting married."

I looked at her wondering what she meant.

"You're smiling," Rosalie chimed in from my side.

Oh. I guess I wasn't as good an actress as I thought. "Well, it's not like I can actually stop the wedding, right?" I said, shrugging. "I might as well go along with it."

They both stared at me suspiciously, but never said anything. I had gotten away with it, for now.

I made arrangements for the dress to be delivered to the church on the morning of the wedding. I really didn't want to risk anyone looking in the bag before I had the chance to wear it. Esme wasn't happy with the idea of leaving the dress at the boutique. She even insisted that it might need altering, but I assured her that the dress fit perfectly. There was nothing for her to worry about. She eventually gave in. I think she was just happy that I was taking an active interest in the wedding.

After dress shopping, Marcus took me home. He didn't speak a word to me on the way. He had barely spoken to me at all the entire time that he had been watching over me. Edward hadn't been particularly talkative either. I think he was still pissed off that I had tried to run away. I was sure he would do the exact same thing in my situation. He always seemed to be busy these days, too. If he wasn't on his phone, he was on his laptop, or looking over paperwork. Well, that was if he was even in the house. I wondered if he was always this busy. I still didn't know what he did, well, I knew what he did, I just didn't know which type of businesses he had or where exactly he fit into the family. I really didn't know anything about him at all.

"You look happy," Edward commented the second I walked into the kitchen.

I shrugged as I went over to the fridge and grabbed myself a coke, making a point of putting a scowl on my face. I certainly didn't want him to think that I was happy.

"Did you find a dress?"

I nodded.

"Have you lost the ability to speak?"

"No, I just wasn't aware that you wanted to speak to me, considering you have spent over a week ignoring me."

Edward sighed, closing his laptop. "I wasn't ignoring you. I had things that required my attention."

"Well, don't let me stop you," I said, storming past him, but Edward grabbed my arm.

"Please, don't be like that."

"Be like what?" I hissed, pulling my arm free from his grasp.

"Like this," he said exasperatedly, running his hand through his hair. "We're getting married in a few days. Can't we just get along?"

"No. We can't just get along. You fucking kidnapped me."

"I did not kidnap you," he said, standing up. "You're being childish and unreasonable. It was an arranged marriage and you damn well know it. Was your sister this unreasonable when she got married?"

"No, but she got several more years' of freedom. She got to know her husband before they were married."

"Yeah, well, her circumstances were different."

"Different how? I fail to see how they were different, other than the fact that you forced my father into this."

"How many times do I need to tell you that no one forced anyone into anything?"

"As many times as you want, but I will never believe you. My mother and father would never turn their back on me unless you made them."

"They haven't turned their back on you."

"Yeah? Well, why aren't they here? Why aren't they coming to the wedding?" I could feel my eyes filling up with tears, but I refused to let them fall.

Edward sighed. "They have their reasons."

"You're so full of shit, you know that, right?" I screamed, as tears began to fall whether I liked it or not. He reached for me again, but I moved out of his way, storming away to my room and slamming the door.

I wasn't sure I could do this anymore. I tried to pretend that my parents' actions didn't hurt me, but it did. It was tearing me apart. I had never felt so lost and confused.

A/N: I know a lot of you are frustrated, but we aren't going to get answers for a while. This story all formed around that black wedding dress and in order for Bella to want to wear it, she has to be hurt and in the dark. Hang in there. We'll find out more after the wedding.