Hey ,we're back. I'm so sorry for the massive delay in posting. Thank you for all your nudges, PMs, and reviews asking if everything was okay. Yes, we're going to finish the story. We have just a few chapters left and they are pretty much done. Unfortunately, life has once again gotten in the way for me and this time I had to stop everything to deal with it.
In March, my father got sick and I've been taking care of him in addition to figuring out what to do with his business. I was also gone to the east coast for ten days, so time has just been non-existent. Anyhow, my father was in remission/recovery mode until a few weeks ago and then everything came back full-force. At one point, I even talked with Discordia about finishing LtOYL on her own but I just can't leave this story. This fandom has been my extended family since 2009. The support you all provide with your kind words and feedback is the encouragement I need on days I just want to give up. If any of you have experienced the helplessness you feel that comes along with taking care of a sick parent, you know it can be overwhelming.
I cannot express enough of my gratitude to Discordia for her kindness and patience dealing with my crazy ups and downs these last few months. Believe me when I say I'm dedicating all my free time to getting this wrapped up and I'm doing the best I can. Please hang in there with me and, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support. You guys really are the best! ~ Kherisma
Our kindest thanks to LJ Summers and AshesAshes for beting this chapter. You guys are just as much a part of this story as we are—couldn't do it without ya.
The song for this chapter is "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap www#youtube#com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk#
Here is the pic tease: i43#tinypic#com/zuh9uv#jpg
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Forty-Two: Cataclysm
The following morning, I woke up and dressed to head to the pool. I was feeling the residual stress from the day before and figured the exercise would help. As I was about to leave my apartment, my cell phone went off and I rushed back inside to grab it. I grabbed it just as it stopped ringing and went to voicemail.
It was just before six o'clock, and I wasn't expecting any thoughts. My thoughts immediately went to Edward, hoping he was responding to the voicemail I'd left the night before. Opening my voicemail, I saw it was Charlie.
"Good morning, Bella. I talked to Aro last night and he said he's headed to Australia for the Perth International Golf Tournament. He's leaving for the airport today at ten, but if you really needed to talk, he could stop by the office on his way.
"I know it's short notice but if you and Vanessa think this can't wait and want both him and I there, it's you're only option for a while. He and Jane will be gone until November, and your mother and I will be leaving for her birthday trip to Rio after that. Anyhow, when you get this, give me a call and we'll go from there."
I hurriedly closed out of my voicemail and dialed Vanessa. She sounded slightly breathless when she answered. "Everything okay, Bella?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, I was just about to get in the shower when you called. I figured it had to be important if you were calling this early."
"Aro is leaving for a golf tournament in Australia today," I explained. " Can you get to the office as quickly as possible? It's the only chance we'll have to talk to him for weeks, and with Alec's trial about to start. . . ."
"Of course, I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Thanks, Ness."
Assured that Vanessa would be there, I called my father back. "Please ask Aro to come in this morning," I said, skipping the small talk we normally would have made. "Vanessa and I will be at the office as soon as we possibly can."
"This really can't wait?" he asked. I could hear the concern in his voice.
"No. I wish it could."
He sighed heavily, as if bracing himself for what was to come. "Okay. I'll call him right now. See you at the office in a bit then."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Of course, Bella."
I hung up and returned to the bedroom, quickly stripping out of the suit I'd just put on. A swim would have to wait. I showered and dressed, double checking to make sure I had all of the documents I needed before I left for the office.
A glance at my phone told me that I had enough time to walk to work rather than drive. Driving would be faster, but I knew with traffic, it would take Charlie and Aro a while to arrive at the office. Walking would clear my head and give me a chance to put my thoughts in order.
As I walked, I ran through the evidence we were going to present to Charlie and Aro. The previous day's elation about finding the evidence began to fade as I considered the possible ramifications for the firm and its reputation. I had been so wrapped up in finding out the truth, that I hadn't really taken the time to think about what would happen after I told Charlie and Aro.
I was about halfway to work when my phone rang, and I hastily grabbed it from my bag, hoping that it wasn't Charlie calling to say that Aro wouldn't be able to make it. I didn't check to see who had called and my heart stuttered in my chest when I heard Edward's voice.
"Bella?" His tone was uncertain, and I stopped in my tracks. It had only been a matter of weeks since he showed up outside of my apartment drunk, and yet, it felt like it had been much longer.
"Ed . . . Edward!" I said, surprise making me trip over his name. "I'm so glad you called."
"Do you have time to talk?" he asked. "I know you're probably getting ready for work right now."
"I'm actually already on my way," I explained. "I have an early meeting this morning, but I'm glad you called. How are you?"
"I'm okay." He paused for a moment. "It sounds like things have been going well for you. I've enjoyed the texts you've sent me. How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm good," I said, sinking onto a nearby bench so I could focus on him rather than dodge the other pedestrians on the sidewalk. I've been doing so many new things and it feels good. I feel . . . stronger—more sure of myself."
"That's good—glad to hear it. I'm sorry I missed your call." His voice was beginning to relax and he sounded less hesitant, more like the Edward I was used to.
"It's okay," I assured him. "I'm just glad you called at all. I hoped my message wasn't too much."
"No, I've been thinking about calling you, actually."
"I hope you don't think I'm rushing things," I said, voicing the fear I had that I was pushing him faster than he was ready for.
"So what happened yesterday?"
"Oh, it was just work stuff. . . ." My voice trailed off. I was in the middle of a busy area surrounded with other work professionals, some of whom I recognized from my daily commute. Edward didn't acknowledge my concern so I was unsure of what that meant.
"What was it?"
I looked around and dropped my voice to speak quietly. "Well, you know the concerns I've had about one of the partners at the firm? Last night, Vanessa and I found some damaging evidence against him, the sort of thing that will get him disbarred."
"Wow," Edward said softly. "So what does that mean? I know how important the firm is to you."
"Truthfully, I have mixed feelings about it," I admitted. "I've wanted to expose Alec for a long time, but the more I think about it, the more complicated the situation gets. It may actually be detrimental to the firm, considering how public of a company we are but it's not exactly something we can just sweep under the rug and hope goes away. That's actually what my meeting is about this morning. I'm meeting with the senior partners to discuss things and see how they want to proceed."
"Oh, well, good luck. I hope everything goes as well as it possibly can," Edward said sincerely.
"Thank you, I appreciate that. You were the one person I wanted to share this with."
"It means a lot to hear you say that, Bella." I could hear the smile in Edward's voice when he spoke. "Look, I know you probably have to go, I just wanted to call you back and let you know I got your message. It was good to hear from you."
"Thanks for calling. I'd love to talk to you again—it was good to hear your voice. I . . . I really miss you."
"Thanks for giving me some space."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Whatever you need, Edward; I mean it."
The line went silent for a moment and I heard him take a deep breath. "I actually was wondering if you'd like to get together for coffee sometime," he offered, and my heart leapt. I desperately wanted to see him, to hold him again.
"Of course. I'd love that," I said eagerly. "My whole weekend is free, so whatever time works for you is fine."
"How about eleven o'clock on Saturday?"
"That sounds great. Where would you like to meet?"
"What about the café where we had crepes after the Stein Exhibition?"
"Yeah, that sounds perfect," I said, my heart beating faster in my chest at the thought of a chance to see Edward again. The possibility that we could be taking a step toward a relationship again thrilled me.
"I'll see you there at eleven, then." The familiar warmth of Edward's voice was so good to hear and I was grinning ear-to-ear.
"I'm looking forward to it, Edward."
"Me, too."
~LTOYL~
I could see that Vanessa was as anxious as I was when we assembled with Aro in Charlie's office. The four of us took seats after making small talk for a moment and after a glance at my father and Vanessa, I began.
"Aro, I'm sure you know that Alec and I have never been close, but I've always done my best to work with him for the sake of the firm. For a long while, I've had some concerns about the way he's been conducting business. I truly hoped I was wrong, but unfortunately, I'm not." I glanced at Vanessa and she silently pushed me to continue. "We've been working to put the pieces together and I'm sorry to say that what we've found is . . ." I hesitated, trying to soften what I knew would be difficult to hear. "It's worse than either of us anticipated, Aro.
"We have proof that Alec has been buying his clients verdicts." I faltered at Aro's stricken expression, but he nodded for me to continue, his thin lips tightening. "It appears that Alec has developed quite a reputation for winning all his cases and having connections. Clients who are guilty know to come to him. From what we can tell, his clients have been paying him exorbitant amounts of money and he goes through the motions as if he's defending them, but really, he takes a cut of that money they paid and uses it to buy off Judge Cheney and Detective Cameron.
"Detective Cameron then disposes of incriminating evidence that is critical to convict the client, and Judge Cheney throws the case out. Then, to clean up any loose ends, he orders the records sealed and they all walk away scot free."
"What evidence have you found?" Aro asked, his voice cautious. I could see his hands clenched where they laid on the arms of the chair. My heart constricted at the sight; I hated hurting him like this. I was so angry at Alec for what he'd done, at the way he'd betrayed the firm and his own father.
"With the help of a private investigator, we pulled together numerous documents. Yesterday, Vanessa stumbled upon some receipts."
I glanced over at her and she picked up where I left off. Reaching in the file on her lap, she pulled out a stack of papers and pictures. She placed them on the table in front of Charlie and Aro. " If you look at these, you can see that this picture is of Alec and Detective Cameron at Quince on Broadway. This here," she said pointing to the receipt, "is the receipt for dinner and that's Alec's signature. The amount on it is the exact same price—down to the penny—as an invoiced amount through us that was billed to Alec's client." They both examined them, their expressions growing more and more grim.
"There's more," she added. "I matched up similar receipts and invoices for additional cases—the Colin Littlesea trial for one. There's also evidence that he was planning to do the same thing for his current case. I know you've been overseeing it, but it appears he's already taken money from Jeremy Harcourt to secure Detective Cameron and Judge Cheney. No matter how the trial had gone, his client would have been acquitted."
Aro's voice was hoarse when he spoke. "I've never liked Cheney and I knew Alec played a little loose with the company credit card, but I never dreamed he was doing anything like this."
His thin, sallow face was drawn and his eyes were sad. Frankly, he looked completely gutted by the news and my heart clenched at the sight. "I'm sorry, Aro," I said, my voice sincere.
He smiled sadly at me and swallowed hard. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Bella. You and Vanessa are the kind of lawyers I hoped my son would be. It's a bitter disappointment to realize that not only is he not the lawyer or the man I thought he was, but he's done what may be irreparable damage to the firm. You've done the right thing in bringing this to our attention."
He laid a reassuring hand on mine before turning to my father. "Charlie, I'd like some time to speak with you before we make any decisions about what step to take next."
Charlie nodded gravely. "Of course."
Vanessa and I excused ourselves, leaving the evidence for them to review. We went to my office and I sank into the chair behind my desk and buried my face in my hands.
"That was harder than I expected," she said.
I lifted my head and nodded, blinking back tears. "It was. Aro's face when we told him . . . ."
"It was awful. I hated to break the news to him, but what else could we do?" she asked. "Last night I was so elated about finding the evidence, I didn't really have a chance to think about what the consequences were going to be."
"Me either," I admitted. My stomach churned as I wondered what would come of the news with Alec meant for the future of the firm.
We spoke for a while longer before Vanessa had to excuse herself. We hadn't heard back from Aro or Charlie yet but she had a meeting with a client scheduled, and I had a number of phone calls I needed to make about my own cases. The morning passed swiftly as I forced myself to keep busy. I was just about to head out to lunch when my father knocked on my half-open door. He looked stressed and the wan smile he gave me didn't meet his eyes. "Can we talk over lunch, Bella?"
"Of course." I stood up and he held out a takeout bag from our favorite local deli.
"Let's eat in my office, I've already ordered in for us." I nodded and followed him out my door.
I took a seat across from him once we were in his office and he handed me a take-out container. I poked at the grilled chicken salad he'd bought me, and waited for him to speak. When he didn't, I decided to break the silence. "How did your talk with Aro go?"
Charlie sighed and pushed away his sandwich. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. He's pretty upset with Alec-mainly disappointed."
Neither of us ate much more of our food; the grim discussion seemed to zap both our appetites.
"I can only imagine. It broke my heart to tell him."
"You did it as delicately as you could. There's no good way to tell a father that his son is bribing a judge in order to win cases."
I let out a heavy sigh. "No, I suppose not. So what happens next?" I asked.
"We're not sure. Certainly, Alec is done working here. But there are a lot of things that need to be discussed before we move beyond that. If we turn the evidence over to the police, the outcome will be devastating to the entire firm. It could ruin Swan and Volturi's reputation completely. No matter how innocent the rest of us are, there will be intense scrutiny from the police and the media. There will be a number of cases that will have to be re-opened and it could lead to verdicts being overturned. Our reputation can only withstand so much. Innocent or not, we will lose clients because of Alec. And maybe that's fair; the idea that this has gone on under our nose without Aro or me ever realizing it . . . ." He shook his head as his voice trailed off. "It' disturbing to say the least."
"Dad . . . ." My voice broke as I searched for the right words. We were both silent for a few moments and I contemplated our options. The thought of covering up what Alec had done sickened me, but if it was what Charlie wanted, I'd consider it. "Do-do you want to keep things quiet? I mean, if that's what you want . . . I . . . I know how much this firm means to you and—"
Charlie shook his head. His voice was gentle when he spoke. "I appreciate you offering to do that for me, Bella. I know that seems like it would make things go away, but you and I both know better than that. It's difficult to even consider doing so, isn't it?" he asked and I nodded. "I couldn't live with myself if I compromised my ethics that way, and I know you couldn't either."
"I know how much this firm means to you, Dad." Internally, I felt a wash of relief. He was right; it would have been nearly impossible for me to live with. As a lawyer, the code of ethics I followed was very stringent, as was my own personal beliefs. Allowing murders to walk free in order to save my own reputation wasn't something I could do.
"Aro and I-along with you-worked long and hard to build something that I could be proud of, a legacy that I could leave for you. That's why we have to do what's right, Bella. It breaks my heart to think that Alec's behavior might bring down this entire firm. I hate to think of having to let the talented, hardworking people we have here go, but to turn a blind eye to this and keep it behind closed doors would go against everything we built this place on. We have to be honest. If we compromise our values and ethics, we're no better than Alec. Aro and I have discussed it and we think the best option will be to turn the evidence over to the police, notify the ethics board, and close Swan and Volturi."
Tears immediately filled my eyes and my face crumbled. Charlie stood up, folding his arms around me. "It's not going to be easy, kid but I'm proud of you."
I nodded against his chest and cried for a few minutes. I had never expected that my investigation into Alec's behavior would lead to something like this. I had been so focused on the goal of getting rid of Alec that I hadn't seen the bigger picture. It was devastating to think of closing Swan and Volturi, of dismantling the legacy my father and grandfather had built. The thought of starting from scratch just a short time after making partner was bitterly disappointing. For years, taking over the company one day was the driving force behind everything I did-even the majority factor in ending my relationship with Riley. Though that part of my life was now behind me and I was hopefully beginning again with Edward, I felt like the foundation underneath and everything I had built my life on was crumbling.
All the people this would effect . . . . It broke my heart for all of our employees that we'd have to let go. We'd always prided ourselves on being an excellent place to work and the thought of having to let go of Bree, and Gianna, and all of the other talented, driven people here was more than I could imagine.
It was painful to realize what part I played in all of this. I hadn't realized how far-reaching the consequences of my decision to investigate Alec would be, but as tough as the decisions ahead of us was, they would have been worse if we'd been caught unaware of what Alec was doing. I had to console myself with that.
My father and I talked for hours, hashing out a plan for how to turn the evidence over to the police and the Bar Association. We formulated a plan for what would happen when the firm closed and what could be done for the employees of Swan and Volturi. Finally, we discussed my future.
"Aro and I are finished, Bella," Charlie said with a sad smile. "But you still have a long career in law. You need to consider the idea that once the fallout from Alec's investigation has settled, that you could start a new firm along with some of the other lawyers here. You and Vanessa in particular. The two of you have the potential to make something together."
I looked at him with a sad but hopeful smile, still feeling utterly shell-shocked by the events of the day. "I'll talk to her," I agreed.
"There's a lot to consider, but I know you can do it, Bella. And I hope you know that you did the right thing bringing this to our attention. Whatever the consequences, you did the right thing."
"Thank you," I whispered. He gave me one last, long hug and I left his office, going to my own and closing the door behind me. I took a long while to think through his suggestions about my future. He was right; this was far from the end of my career in law. It would be devastating to dismantle Swan and Volturi and I knew my own case files would be under intense scrutiny from the ethics board and police. But my work would speak for itself and I could begin again. If there was one person I could trust to build a new law firm with, it was Vanessa.
Once again, the plans for my future had been ripped out from under me, but unlike Riley's leaving, I knew I could cope with this. It was no less devastating, but I was stronger now. In the year prior, I'd fallen to pieces, picked myself up, and put myself back together again. I could survive anything now. There would be long, hard days ahead of me and tough choices to make, but I could handle them.
The future was uncertain, but I was strong enough to face it head-on. No matter what came my way, I'd be ready for it.
Notes: Was the chapter what you expected? Did you see Swan and Volturi's closing coming? Are you excited that she has a date lined up with Edward next? We're eager to hear what you thought on the chapter and we promise the next one won't take too long!
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