Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. In my previous notes, I mentioned that there would be no direct dialogue between characters, but I have changed my mind. There will be direct dialogue in the chapters after this one. That's because with the exception of the first chapter, all other previous chapters (including this one) have been about the past. It just makes more sense to have the characters talk to each other once we reach the present time because Bella will be living the events instead of remembering them.
This is also the last chapter that takes place in the past before we reach the present time when the Prologue takes place.
Also, I made a mistake in the prologue concerning Bella's current age. I said she was 27, but she is 24 when James dies, and when the Prologue happens, so I went back and fixed it.
I also wanted to give a shout out to my new FF friend Anam! Thank you so much reading this story. You were the very first person to leave me a review, so that means a lot to me. :)
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns Twilight.
Chapter 12. Loss
The next day went by as usual. We woke up, took our showers, made breakfast, took care of Riley, dropped him off at preschool, and went to work.
James and I were very busy that day. James had meetings scheduled throughout the day, and I had tons of paperwork to fill out. By the time we left to pick up Riley and go home, we were completely exhausted. Once we got home, James decided to try and get some paperwork finished in his home office.
Even though I was very tired, I decided to make something nice for dinner. As I was getting ready to start, James came rushing out of his home office and told me that he needed to run back to the company office because he had forgotten some very important papers and that he would be back soon.
Before he left, he gave Riley and I a hug and a kiss and told us he loved us. He always did that before he went somewhere.
I never thought that it would be the last time we would see him alive.
By the time dinner was ready, James still wasn't home yet. I thought it was a little strange because we didn't live very far from the office and he should've been back by now. I figured that maybe he had gotten caught in a bit of traffic because even though it was late, Chicago always seems to have traffic no matter what time it is.
I waited a little longer before I tried calling and texting him to see what was taking him so long.
He never answered.
An hour later, dinner was completely cold and I was getting very worried. He was almost never late getting home if he had to run back to the office. So I continued to try and get in touch with him.
He still didn't answer.
I was really starting to freak out and I began imagining all of these horrible scenarios that could have happened when I heard a knock at the door.
I got a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I hoped that it was James, and that maybe he knocked on the door because he had forgotten his keys, but when I opened the door, my worst fear was confirmed.
Standing on the other side of the threshold, were two police officers. One look at their faces told me everything. James wasn't coming home. Ever.
They asked if they could come in and speak with me about my husband. I sat down and broke into tears as they told me he had died.
They said that it appeared that he was on way home from the office, when his car was hit head on by a drunk driver. They told me that the paramedics on the scene had declared him DOA (dead on arrival).
One of the officers also told me that even though he had an ID on him, I would still have to go to the morgue and positively identify his body.
I think that was one of the worst parts of the whole situation.
I was pretty much in a daze for awhile after that. Victoria came over after the news of James' death spread and she helped look after Riley while I got in touch with our lawyer and took care of funeral arrangements.
His funeral was two days later. Since James didn't have any family left, the majority of the people that came to pay their respects were close friends and coworkers. A few clients showed up as well.
When the funeral was over, our lawyer Jason Jenks, read me James' will. James left everything he owned to me and Riley. He gave me complete ownership of the company and stated that if I didn't want it, it would be given to Riley when he turned 21. I loved the company, so I accepted ownership. He also left me the penthouse and his cabin in Forks. I was surprised to learn that he even bought the land in Forks that contained our meadow.
Riley would get eveything else as soon as he was old enough. James had even created a trust fund for him. The rest of James' money would be split evenly between the two of us, and because Riley was only two, his money would be put into a separate account that he would gain access to when he turned 21.
Things were hard for awhile after that. I missed James everyday, and even though he was too young to understand what happened, I could tell that Riley missed his dad too. And even though I was grieving, I never once treated him the way my father treated me when we lost my mom. I still don't understand how he could have done that to me. If anything, I wanted to be there for my son even more.
Victoria continued to help me out with Riley when I needed it. I found out rather quickly that running a company by yourself wasn't easy. I don't know how James managed to do it.
I certainly didn't think that becoming the owner of his company after he died would eventually cause me to come face to face with past.
A/N: I did it. I killed off James. But it had to be done in order to force Bella to confront her past. You'll understand why in the next chapter.
So even though I killed James, at least I didn't make him a bad guy! ;)
Also, in the last chapter, I mentioned how James and Riley both love the song "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes. In the story, "Breakable, the Truth Hurts" by Soft Ragoo, Edward is totally obsessed with The White Stripes and mentions "Icky Thump" a lot. I had never heard it before I read that story, so I looked it up on Youtube and fell in love with this song, so I put it in my story.
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