After so many messages, and quite a few via review, begging me not to leave it a whole day before giving you the chapter that contains the other three meetings, I've delivered. LOL
Jasper was granted an audience with his father in law only after insisting it was a family emergency. The efficient woman who'd blocked his path asked him to wait while she contacted the judge and only then was he allowed to follow her to his chambers deep in the heart of the building.
Jasper wasn't awed at his surroundings. He was well acquainted with the courts and the chambers as well as the maze of corridors that linked them. He followed the woman as casually as he could and did his best to keep any obvious signs of his anxiety to himself.
And Jasper was anxious.
He'd talked at length with his wife about how far he could go with Charlie and they'd both agreed that the die was already cast. Isabella's meeting with Jake would set the tone for whatever came next, but as far as his parents in law were concerned there was no longer a line in the sand that couldn't be crossed. They'd crossed it; he was just here to make sure they now stayed on their designated side of that line.
He politely thanked the woman for ushering him to chambers and then stood at Judge Charlie Swan's closed door. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth to settle himself after knocking and then went inside with a firm determination to do his best by Isabella.
The pleasantries were over swiftly. Charlie wasn't a very social man and he had none of the warmth or charm that he'd somehow instilled in his daughters. Jasper took the offered seat opposite his father in law and once the judge was once again settled in his seat he opened his briefcase.
He withdrew two file folders from within it and laid them on the desk in front of himself. Charlie eyed him curiously but said nothing.
It was all up to Jasper now and he knew it.
"On behalf of my clients Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, I've been asked to meet with you today to inform you that the engagement, and subsequent impending marriage, between Miss Isabella Marie Swan and Mr Jacob Black will not be going ahead," he told an obviously stunned Charlie.
More obvious than Charlie's surprise was his lack of reply. Undeterred Jasper continued. "Miss Swan has asked that you refrain from contacting her now that she has returned from her trip abroad. An application to request a restraining order has been completed, though it hasn't yet been filed by the county court. My client wishes to inform you that if you abide by her request she will not file the application, but it will be kept on record by her legal representative until such time that she wishes the document destroyed. An immediate filing will be sought if you do contact her in the meantime."
Charlie accepted the copies of the restraining order that Jasper handed him across the desk and took a few moments to study them before removing his reading glasses and leaning back in his chair. "On what grounds is the application being sought?" He asks calmly.
"Miss Swan feels that her best interests are no longer being served under your care. Her distress over her arranged engagement to Mr Jacob Black was ignored by you and as such she wishes to distance herself from any further contact that may cause her further distress," Jasper told him simply.
"I trust you have informed your client that if this petition is filed I will fight this preposterous claim vigorously," Charlie sneered as he threw the papers to the desktop. "At any time your client could have approached me and made her distress at the engagement known to me. Instead she chose to take her leave to Australia, therefore abandoning the relationship between us. The lack of any contact since she checked into the facility in Australia bodes well for my side of the case, does it not?" Charlie asked snidely.
Jasper, prepared for remarks such as those didn't take the bait. Instead he assured the judge that he had duly informed his client of her rights, and of the rights of the defendant.
"You mentioned you'd been retained by both my daughter and Edward Cullen, to what end are you representing Mr Cullen?" the judge asked quite casually for a man who'd just been told not to contact his own daughter.
"Miss Swan plans to reside with Mr Cullen for the foreseeable future and believes that your closeness both professionally and personally to the Cullen family might give you cause to attempt to contact her through their son. As their son, Mr Edward Cullen, intends to reside with Miss Swan, I have advised him to consider a similar filing naming Mr Edward Cullen as the requesting party. The same conditions would apply. If you refrain from contact as requested he will not file the complaint. Counsel will retain the document until such time that he rescinds the request," Jasper informed a now red faced Charlie.
"I see," was the only forthcoming response so again Jasper continued.
"Further to this Miss Swan is requesting that any personal belongings that are currently insitu in her family home, your principle place of residence, be suitably packed and shipped to her at this address," Jasper said, passing another sheet of paper across the desk.
The judge read the paper and then looked over his glasses at his son in law. "To your home?" he asked simply.
"Yes sir," Jasper answered curtly.
"I see," the judge responded. "Inform your client that her belongings will be there by the end of the day."
"I will, thank you," Jasper said and meant it. He'd expected a much bigger fight than this. "There is just one more thing and then I'll let you get back to work, Judge Swan," he said as he opened the second file folder and withdrew a sheaf of papers and handed them across the table. "This is a letter of demand. You will cease all actions with regard to the management and containment of Miss Isabella Marie Swans trust fund herewith. I will expect your withdrawal from the fund by the close of business today or I will inform my client to request a writ from your very own court to ensure she has full access, to the full amount she was left at the time of your fathers passing. You will note that any and all lendings or borrowings that you've obtained against the trust fund will need to be dispersed immediately."
Jasper stood then. He'd said all he'd needed to say and he'd done so without the need for threats. He'd been clear and precise and he hoped that Charlie knew not to fuck with him. He was ready for him if he tried, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
When Charlie made no comment whatsoever Jasper let himself out of the office and closed the door carefully behind him. He was back in the foyer one minute later and out into his car within five. The whole thing had taken just twenty minutes from start to finish.
Several Cullen Enterprises employees welcomed Edward home from his trip abroad as he moved through the building. This both pleased and shocked Edward who had always believed he was invisible there.
"Edward? What are you doing here?" Carlisle asked as his son strode through the cubicle forest towards his office.
"I came back early," Edward mumbled as he reached where his father stood in the doorway of his private office.
"Good, good," Carlisle grinned, convinced his son had seen the light and was now ready to take his rightful place in the firm. "Come in, come in," he said affably, waiting for Edward to take a seat opposite his own at the desk. "You should've called and let us know you were heading back, we'd have sent Derryn to collect you at the airport," he admonished.
Derryn was his father's latest driver Edward recalled. He'd replaced Stuart who'd replaced Griffin who'd replaced Enzo before him. Enzo had been Edward's favourite, he'd taught him to bet on the outcomes of almost everything that could be predicted.
"It was last minute," Edward explained vaguely.
"Well you're here now," his father chuckled. "Your mother will be thrilled, have you been to the house yet?"
"No," Edward replied carefully. "But I'll call her later."
Carlisle creased his eyebrows at the strange statement. The boy looked well rested so he doubted he'd just gotten off a plane, but he hadn't been home yet either. But Carlisle had other things on his mind and put the personal thoughts aside. "I must have missed your calls while you were away but I'll fill you in on where we're at with the development now and you can meet with your team as soon as you're up to speed."
He stood and moved to the filing cabinet to his left and it gave Edward the precious few seconds he needed to get straight in his mind what he needed to say.
Carlisle returned to his seat with a roll of blueprints from the cabinet and set about laying them out onto the desk. "These are pretty close to the final drawings, I think. There are always late adjustments, but this is a general picture of what we'll be applying for in the permits," his father informed him happily.
"Dad," Edward began nervously, "I'm not here to tell you I'm coming back to work. I'm here to tell you that I won't be taking a job here, ever."
Carlisle hadn't been listening too closely and thought his son was saying he wasn't coming back to work 'yet'. "Fine, fine," he said as he gazed lovingly down at his blueprints. "You've still got a few weeks of the three months we agreed to, so take your time."
"No, dad," Edward said again. "I didn't say I wanted to take the rest of the three months off, I said I'm not coming to work here ever."
This time Carlisle caught it, and he wasn't amused. He slipped the rubber band around the now rolled up blueprints and pushed them aside. "Explain," he barked as though he was dressing down a wayward employee, not addressing his own son.
"I never wanted to come into the business, dad. You know that," Edward said quietly, hoping to avoid a loud scene.
"How would I have known that?" Carlisle hissed. "You never said a fucking word about that to me."
"I shouldn't have had to," Edward countered as calmly as he could. "You knew I wanted to pursue an arts track. You knew I hated business school. You knew I made myself sick just thinking about working here."
"I'm not a mind reader, Edward," Carlisle said more calmly. He could visualise the scandal that was looming if he played the situation wrongly. Persuasion was always the better option he told himself as he softened his features and leaned back in his chair as casually as he could. "I'm sure that if you'd come to me and told me any of that I'd remember. Perhaps you mentioned it to your mother, not me?" he asked. When Edward only shook his head he smiled as warmly as he could muster. "There, see? Your mother and I would've remembered if you'd spoken up. But no matter, I'm sure we can come to some compromise. Perhaps some more time off would help with your transition? A little time to indulge your art at weekends? I could increase the personnel assigned to your team. That would give you more personal time to paint or write or whatever it is you feel you must do."
Edward laughed then. He couldn't help it. His father had no idea that music was his passion. He'd never held a paintbrush and the only writing he'd ever done was taking notes during the business classes he hated so much.
"Music," Edward said firmly. "The piano specifically is what I want to do with my time, dad. And no, I don't want some more time off, or to just play at a weekend hobby. I don't want to work here. I never did. And I'm not going to."
Carlisle still believed he could turn the situation around and took a few seconds to form his next plan of attack. "The piano? Well, that's admirable I suppose. Better than had you said flute or something equally as insignificant as the violin," he chuckled, hoping to hide his irritation. "I'll buy you a piano then. You can put it in the library downstairs and play whenever you want. I'm sure we can arrange your hours here in such a way that you'd get plenty of time to play with it."
Edward laughed again. He knew what his father was doing. He'd seen him in action in meetings for years. He was attempting to thwart a potential disaster by offering whatever bribe would get the deal closed quickly.
Edward wasn't interested in bribes and he had no stomach for deals of any kind. "You aren't listening," he told his father pointedly. "I'm not coming to work here and I won't be returning to live at your home either."
Now Carlisle decided to get tough. He'd been shocked to see his son in the building weeks ahead of schedule. He'd been pissed to hear the kid didn't want the job that was waiting for him despite the fact that he'd agreed to go to that god forsaken camp for three months and then return to it. And now the ungrateful little bastard was standing defiant when he'd just been offered a very amicable solution to his ridiculous whim to play the piano.
No, the time for softly softly had passed. Carlisle brought his hands down from behind his head and settled himself into his more regular pose. The consummate businessman who was a force to be reckoned with during negotiations.
"Now you listen to me Edward, your mother and I indulged you when it came to your trip but you've had your fun now and it's time to fulfil your responsibilities to me and to this firm. You're my son and I paid for the education you received and now I expect you to take your position here. This is not negotiable. If you choose to defy me I'll have no other choice but to cut you off. Think about that, Edward. You won't have the financial backing of this family or of this firm. You have nothing of your own and nowhere to go. Do you really want to give up what you've been handed here?" he asked, confident that the threat of being financially cut off from the Cullen money would have the correct effect.
It didn't. Edward had expected it. It was the last bargaining chip his father held and he'd used it to full effect just now. The threat was clear. Work in the family firm or go it alone.
And just then Edward decided that it no longer frightened him to be cut off. It had once. When he'd had no options, when he'd been totally alone. But not now. He had Bella now and she wanted to make a life with him. Money just didn't matter.
More sure than ever that what he was about to do was right Edward got to his feet. His stunned father stayed seated and was forced to look up into the eyes of the man his son had become. "Yes dad, I am giving up what you're offering me here because it isn't what I want. I had no doubt that you'd threaten to cut me off and I'm okay with that too. That's your choice and your right to do so. It isn't my money, I didn't earn any of it and I don't want it. Thank you for the education you paid for but I won't be using it to work here. I'm sorry you think I went to Australia simply to have some fun. I was suffering here, dad. And I hadn't even really started the job yet," he laughed as he thought back on it. "I didn't even last a full day working here and it made me sick. I went to Australia to find the courage to tell you once and for all that I don't want to work here. I found it and I've told you. What happens now is up to you."
He hadn't gotten out into the cubicle forest properly when his father began to roar.
"You're a little boy playing a man's game," Carlisle bellowed, not caring that his employees would hear. "I gave you everything. All you had to do was show up, sit in that office and do as you're told. All of this could've been yours in a few years. If you walk away now don't come crawling back to me when everything you think you're capable of doing on your own fails. You have no idea what you're walking away from. And you're throwing away the only opportunity for success you're ever going to get you useless little prick."
Edward was stunned. He'd known his father was going to be angry. He'd known his father would attempt to coerce him into changing his mind. But nothing prepared him for the venom his father came out with in those few moments. He hadn't quite understood just what his father was until just then. A business man who believed that everyone could be bought and sold at his whim. To his father Edward was just another obstacle to surpass in order to get a job done.
Shaking from head to toe Edward nodded just once, more to himself than at his father, and spoke as clearly as he could under the circumstance.
"We have very different definitions for success, Mr Cullen," he said firmly, addressing him professionally because Edward no longer considered the furious man in the doorway to the office as his father. "I'll see myself out," he said and then turned on his heel.
Nobody met his eyes as he made his way past the cubicles but several of the office workers whispered 'good luck' under their breath as he moved along. He understood why they couldn't openly address him and he was grateful that they'd take the risk of being overheard by a now irate Carlisle who was busy throwing the contents of his office around in frustration.
There was only one thought on Edward's mind as he left the building and made his way back to Jasper's house.
He was free and he had hope.
Mary Alice was trembling as she watched her mother set the tray down on the coffee table in the living room of her family home. Renee poured two cups and passed one to her daughter before she took her own and settled on the very edge of the settee.
Mary Alice sipped the boiling hot liquid carefully and then set the cup back down on the table. She was nervous and her hand was shaking. She snuck a look at her watch and hoped that the others had executed their parts in the plan by now. She needed it to be too late for her mother to contact any of the other players, so Mary Alice ate up a few extra minutes gossiping about her mother's bridge club friends and catching up on the newest grievances her mother had with her household staff.
It was a safe bet. Her mother always had new issues with the staff.
Another sneaky look at her watch and she knew it was now too late for her mother to stop either Bella or Edward making good on the choices they'd made.
"Mother, Jasper and I collected Isabella from the airport last night," Mary Alice told her now gaping mother.
"What?" Renee screeched. "Why wasn't I told she was leaving the treatment centre early?"
"You weren't told because we all knew you'd do everything you could to stop it," Mary Alice replied. It was the first time she'd ever showed, or voiced, any sort of defiance of her mother's ideals and she found that it felt good. Very good.
"Of course I'd stop it," Renee screeched again. "Isabella couldn't possibly be cured yet. She had another four weeks of treatment and even then I'm not convinced that place is good enough to deliver on their promises."
It wasn't lost on Mary Alice that Renee was yet to ask either how her daughter was or where she was. "There were never any promises, mother," she said firmly to a confused Renee. "It was all lies. All of it. Crossroads isn't a health spa or a treatment facility of any sort. It's a corporate retreat with a few places for private guests to relax and unwind. There never was any therapy or counsellors there."
Renee was on her feet before Mary Alice had finished the statement. "I demand to know what you've done, Mary Alice. How dare you!" she seethed. "I only let you choose the facility for your sister because you said your husband had a colleague you'd gone there and they'd cured him! Explain yourself this instant!"
"Sit down mother," Mary Alice said impatiently. She was well versed in her mother's histrionic tendencies and she was in no mood to sit through them today. "It wasn't a colleague of Jasper's that attended Crossroads, it was Jasper himself. He was a drug addict and a drunk during college and he went there to dry out."
"I don't believe you," Renee hissed.
"I don't care if you believe me," Mary Alice hissed right back. "You always believe what you want to believe anyway."
"Why would you do this to me?" Renee snarled.
Mary Alice could only roll her eyes. Of course her mother would see this as a personal affront to herself and not as having betrayed her own daughter like she had. "I didn't do this to you, mother. I did this for Izzy," she said and grinned as her mother cringed at the nickname she'd used. "She had a right to decide for herself who she should marry and she didn't want to marry Jake. So I told you what you wanted to hear about Crossroads and made it so that she could go there. She needed time away from you to gather the courage to break the engagement for herself."
"How dare you!" Renee screeched again but the sting had gone out of it for Mary Alice. Now it just seemed pathetic and insincere. She didn't bat an eyelid and Renee noticed. "You have no idea what you've done, Mary Alice. No idea at all the trouble you've caused your father by doing this. He'll never forgive you."
"I've got some idea, mother," Mary Alice said sweetly and watched as her mother's eyes narrowed. "And at this point I don't really care if father ever forgives me my part in this. I did this for Izzy and if he can't see that, if you can't see that, then I don't think I care if either of you forgive me."
Renee was aghast. This wasn't like Mary Alice. Mary Alice had never defied her. Isabella did all the time, but not Mary Alice. This was Isabella's influence and Renee was livid. She got up from her seat and took the telephone handset from its cradle. She held it aloft and told Mary Alice that she was going to call her father and tell him all about Mary Alice' deceit.
"Go ahead," Mary Alice taunted. "Jasper is probably sitting opposite him at this very moment anyway."
Renee cancelled the call the instant her daughter said the words. "Why is Jasper in your fathers office?" she demanded.
Mary Alice smiled then. "My husband is threatening yours," she said sweetly.
Renee did dial then. Mary Alice knew for certain then that everything she'd suspected of her mother was true. She hadn't asked what her father was being threatened over because she already knew. She couldn't know that Jasper had no intention of mentioning the business deals part of this mess, but Mary Alice saw her mother's panic for what it was. An admission of guilt.
Renee asked for Judge Swans chambers and while she was on hold Mary Alice gathered her purse and moved to the archway of the living room. "Goodbye mother," she said pointedly. "While you speak with father Isabella is meeting with Jake to tell him she's not going to go through with the marriage. There isn't anything you can do to stop that now," she grinned.
Jasper's meeting had been the quickest so he was the first to arrive back at the house. He knew it was irrational but he checked and rechecked that his files were right where he'd left them in his private safe before he loosened his tie and poured himself two fingers of scotch, despite the fact that it was only two in the afternoon. He felt he'd earned it.
Mary Alice was the next to return and she threw herself into her husband's arms the instant she located him in his private study.
Edward was only five minutes later than that and as soon as he'd been let inside by a nervous Alice he said his hellos and ran straight up the stairs and right into the guest room. He threw his coat onto the bed and then ran for the bathroom. He threw up and up, more violently than he ever had with a hangover.
When his stomach was empty he took a quick shower, changed his clothes and then went back downstairs to wait for Bella. He was worried that she hadn't returned yet but Jasper assured him that she'd be along soon. How he knew Edward didn't know, but he understood the importance of leaving her alone to do what she had to do.
So he waited with her sister and brother in law in the living room in silence.
Nobody wanted to impart the details of how their respective meetings had gone because they all knew they'd only have to repeat it all once Bella returned from hers. So they simply sat and waited quietly.
Bella didn't knock when she arrived. It was her sister's home so she simply walked right on in through the front door. She sought his eyes the second she came across the group in the living room and once she had she burst into tears.
Edward caught her up in his arms and held her as she cried. He hoped they were tears borne of relief and not anguish, but he had no way to tell. So he simply let her cry.
Mary Alice' eyes were misty too by the time they broke the embrace and after a whispered 'thank you' to both her sister and brother in law Bella settled down into the corner of a sofa and began to tell them all what had happened at her meeting.
It was good news and Edward was relieved. Jake hadn't reacted aggressively and seemed to be, to Bella at least, receptive to her offer.
Jasper recounted his meeting with the judge and everyone sighed in relief that his meeting had gone to plan and smoothly too.
Mary Alice was happiest at retelling her meeting. She'd enjoyed defying her mother and she was happy that her mother's first call was to their father and not to Jake or anyone else. It had given her sister enough time to spell out the terms of the plan to Jake and it had given Jasper enough time to inform their father of Isabella and Edward's intentions.
Edward's tale was less enthusiastically retold. He kept his father's parting words to himself but did tell the others as much of what else had been said as he could recall accurately.
"Well then," Jasper said once all four accounts were sufficiently analysed. "Now we wait."
"Now we wait," Edward whispered to himself.
Mary Alice got to her feet and asked what everyone felt like for dinner but nobody was hungry enough to care. Happy to have the decision left up to herself she made to leave the room but was called back by Bella.
"Ally," Bella called softly. "I don't think we'll be staying for dinner," she informed her confused sister. She turned to Edward and waited for his nod of confirmation and then she went to where her sister had stopped, midstep in the archway that divided the living room from the dining room. She took her sisters hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. "Edward and I have a room booked at a hotel and we'll be leaving to go there before dinner. I don't want you to think that we aren't grateful, so very grateful, for everything the two of you have done for us, because we are. But you've done enough now."
Mary Alice was about to protest when Edward got to his feet too. He addressed Jasper, but what he said was meant for them both. "We don't want either of you dragged any further into this than you already are," he said honestly. "Both sets of parents are going to be pretty pissed off about all of this and we don't want that spilling over and invading your home. We decided a few days ago that we'd be going to a hotel, so don't think we haven't thought this through, please."
Mary Alice was near to tears again and couldn't respond. She stood clutching her sisters hand and begged her husband with her eyes to do something. Anything that would stop the couple from leaving.
"We're already involved in this," Jasper began carefully. "We couldn't be any more deeply involved than we already are so there is no point to leaving. We want you here. We're family and you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to."
Bella and Edward had expected resistance to the idea so they tried to stand firm. "Thank you Jaz," Bella said kindly. "And thank you for including Edward into this family, but we do have to go. It isn't fair that the backlash from this should touch you or Ally. It's our mess so the fallout should fall at our door, not yours. But thank you, so very much."
Jasper began to wonder then if either of the pair knew exactly how deeply he was involved personally. He thought perhaps they didn't.
"The day I sent you that fax put me right in the target zone for whatever fallout there'll be with this," he told Edward. "That page I sent you personally could lose me my license to practise and blacklist me from ever getting another job if I don't, Edward. And the other documents about the development deal I sent to you could see me sent to jail. I'm pretty sure I couldn't be any more deeply involved here."
"I didn't read it," Edward whispered to a stunned Jasper.
"What?" he yelled, startling both his wife and Isabella.
"I didn't read the page you sent for me," Edward repeated. "I got so caught up in the mess surrounding Bella I put it aside and forgot about it."
"Jesus Christ," Jasper muttered. "Tell me you didn't leave it behind. Please tell me you still have it?"
"I have it, it's in my luggage," Edward confessed. "I meant to read it but the right time never seemed to come around."
Jasper cursed softly under his breath and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Get it and meet me in my study," he told Edward and then he turned to his wife and sister in law. "Ladies," he began, "I need some time alone with Edward. Will you please excuse us for a little while?"
"Of course," a nervous Mary Alice replied with a squeeze to her sisters hand. "We'll set to dinner, right Izzy?"
Bella could only nod her agreement, all thoughts of leaving for the hotel forgotten. She watched as Edward ran up the stairs but allowed herself to be pulled into the kitchen by her sister once he was out of her line of sight. She had no idea Jasper had sent something personal for Edward and she had no idea what it could contain that could rattle her normally unflappable brother in law. Neither, it seemed, did her sister.
At ten minutes to five that afternoon, just as Jasper had assured her it would, a delivery van arrived. Bella signed for the two medium sized boxes that came out of it and then sat in her sisters living room and cried over the fact that her whole life amounted to the contents of just two boxes.
Mary Alice sat quietly and let her sister cry. She knew that sometimes a good cry could be just what you needed and she figured there was nothing she could say to make her sister feel any better about her situation just then anyway.
Mary Alice had no idea what information her husband had sent to Edward but they'd been locked in the study for two hours by then and neither of them had made a sound or a move. She was pretty sure Bella didn't know what it was about either so she tried to be patient as she watched her sister remove then replace the contents of the boxes.
There were a few clothes, some books and papers, a small case that contained some makeup and a few hair bands and elastics in the first box. The second had only sweaters in it, their bulk filling out the box easily.
"We'll go shopping," she whispered to her sister carefully. "When you're ready we'll go shopping and you can buy whatever you want."
"Jeans," Bella whispered, grinning. "I want to buy books. Lots and lots of books. And t-shirts, not blouses. I want red lipstick and I want jeans."
Mary Alice began to twitter at that. "I didn't wear jeans until I left home either," she giggled as Bella got up from the floor and sat beside her on the sofa. "You're going to love them. So comfy."
"Thanks Ally, for everything," Bella told her sister as she reached for her hand and clung to it.
"It's going to be okay you know?" Mary Alice whispered. "You'll always have us, Jasper and me, no matter what. And now you've got Edward too. This part is hard, I know, but it will be okay. You'll see."
Bella was about to reply when Edward and Jasper came out of the study. Jasper looked shell-shocked and Edward... Edward looked like a zombie. His eyes were red as though he'd been crying and his hands were balled into fists at his sides. The two men stopped just short of the living room and the two sisters watched as they shared a 'look' and then Jasper put his hand to Edward's shoulder.
"Just be honest," he mumbled to Edward and then he moved into the living room. "Come on, Sweetpea, let's go and have a drink."
Mary Alice squeezed her sisters hand and then went into the kitchen with her husband. She was desperate to know what had gone on in the study, and even more desperate to support her sister through whatever it was that Edward needed to be honest about, but as ever Jasper knew exactly what to do in situations like this.
He poured them both a good portion of scotch and motioned for her to follow him through to the sun room. He admitted that it wasn't his first drink of the day and promised her he was being careful with his intake, that it was just the tension of the situation that had him drinking more than one glass. Mary Alice accepted that. She trusted him to know his own mind and she found herself admitting to wanting a drink when she'd returned from her mothers house earlier.
Once they were settled onto the little chaise lounge there he waited until she'd taken a much needed slug of her drink and then he took her glass from her and put it with his on the table to his side.
"They'll be okay, I promise," he told her with as much conviction as he could muster. She nodded but said nothing in return and he hoped that was because she believed him.
In the living room Bella stared up at Edward as he stood before her. Her stomach was aching with nerves and Jasper's whispered advice was still ringing in her ears as she stared. He looked almost catatonic and she had no idea what was wrong or what to do to help.
"Please," she begged. The single word was all she could muster.
"Come," he replied. She took his hand eagerly and allowed herself to be steered back through the house and into Jasper's study.
There were papers spread out all over the surface of his desk and two empty glasses with the remnants of some kind of liquor too. Other than that there was no evidence to give any clue to what had happened in there.
"Sit down, please," Edward rasped through his thickened throat. "I have to tell you something."
"Alright," she agreed and took the nearest seat.
She expected him to sit beside her in the other empty seat but he didn't. He took Jasper's seat behind the desk. He bundled up some of the papers and set them aside and then he blew out a long, slow breath over his lips.
"That day at camp when we collected all those faxed pages from Rose..." he began and then shook his head. "No, I have to go back further than that. My mother's mother died before I was born," he said simply and Bella had to wonder what the hell that had to do with anything that could make him look and sound the way he did right now. "My mother's father died when I was four."
"Okay," Bella whispered, trying to be as patient as she could and giving him as much time as he needed to bring her up to speed.
"He was an investment banker and he headed a very prestigious firm in Seattle. My mother is an only child, Bella. And I'm an only child too," he said as though this should mean something to her.
It didn't. "Go on," she said, her anxiety ramping up higher and higher the more obscure his statements got.
"There's only me, Bella. I'm it, I'm the last one of them," he said softly.
Bella could feel the bile rising in her throat as she thought about what he'd said. Had he only just found this out? Did Jasper lock him in this study to warn him off; to remind him that he was the last well, not Cullen because that was his mothers married name, but the last whatever her maiden name had been? Was he telling her now that he couldn't be with her because he was the last in his grandfathers line? Was she not good enough now?
Like a band-aid being ripped off quickly Bella nodded and threw herself under another bus. "I see," she croaked. "You owe it to your bloodline to be with someone of worth," she said sadly.
"What?" Edward yelled. "No! That's not... no. Christ, Bella no," he said so quickly she was startled and had to sit back in her chair abruptly. "No, that isn't what I'm trying to tell you." He raked a hand through his hair and blew out another slow breath over his lips. "What I'm trying to tell you is that there aren't any aunts or uncles, just my mother. And in the next generation there's only me. When my grandfather died he left half of his estate to my mother as his only child, and the other half he left to me, as his only grandchild."
The relief Bella felt was short lived. He wasn't telling her he couldn't be with her now after all. And then it hit her. All the times he'd said he had nothing. All the references he'd made to having nothing of his own. All the schemes he'd gone along with to make money with Emmett. Edward hadn't known he had money from his grandfather.
"How did you not know?" she asked.
"Because it was hidden from me," he hissed. "That day we got all those faxed pages from Jasper there was one more page. He told me it was for my eyes only so I folded it up and put it in my pocket and just concentrated on the ones he'd sent about your situation. There never seemed time after that day to read what he'd sent me personally. So I ignored it."
Bella thought on that for a long moment before she spoke again. "How did Jasper know you had an inheritance but you didn't?"
"He said be honest," Edward mumbled under his breath but Bella caught it and flinched.
"Because Jasper helped hide it, didn't he?" Bella asked, terrified of what the answer was going to be.
"He didn't know me then," Edward argued in a rush. "He feels awful, Bella. And really, it didn't mean anything to him at the time, and it shouldn't have. Not really. He was just doing his job. Right or wrong he was just doing his job. He couldn't have known that we'd meet anymore than I could've known we were going to. Please don't blame him for any of this, please."
"Why would he do that?" Bella squeaked. "Even if he didn't know you personally why would he be a part of hiding someones inheritance from them?"
Edward lowered his eyes as he spoke. "Because that was what he was hired to do, Bella. Just like I was hired to make the deal between our parents go through. Just like I was a part of forcing you to marry Jake."
"No," Bella cried. And she was crying now. Openly and without any way to hide it. "That's different. You didn't know me then," she wailed, unable to see the irony of her statement.
"And he didn't know me then either, love," Edward whispered. "The two situations are exactly the same. I didn't know you and I had a hand in creating the mess you're in. He didn't know me and he had a hand in creating mine. But we're both here, Bella. We're both fighting in your court. I want to be here for you to support you through it and he wants to be here to support us both. It's the same."
There was nothing Bella could say to that because he was right. The situations were almost identical and if she could forgive what Edward thought he'd done to her then she could forgive Jasper just the same. She'd tell him that later she thought to herself.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked. "Tell me what you need me to do to help you with this."
Grateful for her support Edward tried to set aside his anger at his parents for their deception. He pulled a stack of the papers on the desk towards himself and put them back into the same order they'd been in when Jasper had explained the treachery surrounding his inheritance. He tapped the first page and slid it across the desk so Bella could see it too.
"I need you to take a look at these and tell me if you see what I see. This is the amount my grandfather put into trust for me when I was born," he told her and showed her the page. "After he died it became my inheritance, but for the four years that he was still alive after I was born it was in trust." He took another page and showed Bella. "Those are both my parents signatures," he began quietly, a little overwhelmed by it all still. "They both signed this copy when the money came to me in trust, so that means they are both to blame for it being hidden from me. They both knew what he'd left me."
"Not necessarily," Bella said as she read through the rest of the document.
"Explain please," Edward coaxed.
"Well, up until Ally spoke with our mother today none of us were one hundred percent sure that she knew about the deal my father had made with Jake, right?" she asked and waited for Edward to nod. "So maybe your mother, or your father I suppose too, did know about the trust and then the will and what you'd been left – and I can see that they've both signed the trust document so that's actually a given," she rattled off. "But that doesn't prove that it was one or the other, or even both, that kept it hidden, just that they knew about the actual trust then the inheritance when it became one."
"Okay," he replied evenly. "I concede that point then. That actually makes me feel a little less sick," he mumbled.
"Oh sweetheart," Bella cooed as she left her chair and pushed it on its wheels around the desk so she could sit beside him. She took his hand into hers and rubbed soft circles over it as she spoke. "I know exactly how you're feeling right now and it's awful. But please don't write both your parents off without proof. If there's even the slightest chance that one or the other didn't actively keep you in the dark you have to hold on to that."
"I'll try," agreed Edward though he didn't look at all convinced. He pulled the next paper towards their new position and waited until Bella had read some of it before speaking again. "While the money was held in trust everything seemed okay from what Jasper can find. But a couple of months after I was born he added this codicil to the original will. And this," he said as he put yet another page in front of her and pointed to it, "this is another codicil he added three years later, just before he died. Something happened Bella. Something big happened between my grandfather and my parents for him to add these."
He left her to read both the additions to the will and when she had he asked her if he saw it the same way she did.
"I think I agree. I don't know either of your parents Edward, but I think you're right," she agreed as she took the original copy of the will and pointed to the original wording. "Jasper would know more about this than I would, he's probably seen stuff like this a million times, but you can tell that when the money was being operated as a trust it was all happy families.
"See this bit here, where it says that 'any child borne of the union between my daughter Esme Anne Cullen and Carlisle Cullen shall be entitled to one half of the entire estate after appropriate taxes and tariffs are distributed after my death'," she read. "But then here, on the second page, what did you call it, a codicil?" she asked and waited for Edward to tell her she had the wording correct. "So on the second one it's that half of the estate can only go to you if it's your mother that agrees to be the executor. Why is that? Doesn't that seem weird to you? It does to me," she said.
Pleased she thought something looked fishy, but not having had time to think about it too much at all, Edward simply asked why it seemed weird to her.
"Well, you were born in 1988, that was the height of the silicone revolution," she said, a crease appearing between her brows. "Every man worth his salt was in investment heaven. I mean, Wall Street was going nuts. More money was made in the few years between when you were born and when I was born than in any other time in history, Edward. But women weren't that big a part of it, yet. They were, later on, but not back then. Is your mother investment savvy?" she asked.
"I doubt it," Edward chuckled. "As far as I know she went right from high school into marriage and managing a house. Not that that's not valuable," he added at the end for good measure. "But I don't think she knows anything about investments and even if she does now I doubt she would have back then if you say that women weren't that into it."
"Some were," Bella conceded. "And I suppose it wasn't that many years further along until women really did become power brokers," she mused. "Did Jasper have any documents that show the growth of the money from when it was just held in trust?"
"Yeah," Edward told her as he rifled through the papers on the desk. "He said that all grandfathers investments had been managed by his own firm while he was alive, then when I was born and some of it was put into trust for me it got transferred out here. After he died and the money came out of trust and became an inheritance Jasper's firm was hired to handle it after that," he said as he handed her another stack of paper.
Bella scanned the pages quickly. "Steady growth," she mumbled. "Managed funds, maximum yield, long term roll overs, clever," she muttered as she looked at his grandfathers investments for the trust. "The trust did well for the first two years and then it dipped, heavily. I wonder if Jasper can find out why," she mumbled to herself as she began to read the next page. "Ahh, now I see it. That makes sense. See here," she said as she pointed to a rather serious drop on a line graph, "the trust took a hit when the stock market crashed. Whatever the trust managers had invested in went belly up. That happens though," she said, though Edward had no idea what he was looking at.
Her squeak when she compared two of the pages made Edward jump in his seat. "Look," she said excitedly. "The dates match. Don't you see? Your grandfather made the first codicil only two days after the trust took that dive. Whoever was managing the trust had invested unwisely and your grandfather took steps to make sure that didn't happen again. Hmmm, he made sure it had to be your mother who managed it after that. Why do that?" she asked herself out loud.
But Edward thought he knew the answer. "Because my father was managing the trust before she took over," he sighed. "He would've invested some of it in his own company because that was about the time that Cullen Enterprises suffered pretty big losses in the stock market crash and he would've needed the money to bail himself out."
"Oh shit," she exclaimed in surprise because she'd really not thought of that. "It's just a theory though, until we get proof. Jasper might be able to help with that. But I have to say, and I'm no expert, it looks credible to me."
"I hope it's true," Edward whispered.
"Why?" Bella asked in a rush. "I mean, if it is true it means that your father gambled with your trust fund. Why would that be a good thing?"
"Because if it was just dad it means it wasn't mom," he said softly. "And grandfathers codicil backs that up. He didn't want my father managing it."
"Yeah," was all Bella could say to that and she hoped he was right. At least he wouldn't have to lose both his parents the way she was losing hers. "Now, show me the second codicil again."
She read it carefully and made a mental note of the wording. "Why would your grandfather specify that the trust, and later the inheritance, could not be used as capital by Cullen Enterprises?" she asked out loud by accident.
Edward jumped right in, "Because he knew, even way back then, that my father was a crook."
A/N: Now we's gettin' somewhere, darlin'...tee hee
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