DISCLAIMER: The story doesn't belong to me; the characters are property of S. Meyer, and the plot belongs to Annalau Thank you so much for letting me share your story in English!
Gracias Laura, por darme esta oportunidad!
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Before reading: From the beginning of the story the only intention is to maintain the suspense or drama without going beyond harming your sensibility. This is why I clarify that Bella's character will not be subjected to any aberrant act by Carlisle or any other character.
Chapter 25
My mouth is dry, and my voice seems to have disappeared.
Edward's father dressed in a dark suit stands in front of me, takes a few steps into the lobby and extends his hand in greeting to Attorney McCarty. Do they know each other?
I hold my purse and take a deep breath walking to the exit.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?"
I don't stop at the sound of Carlisle's voice. I'm convinced I need to get out of this building before my legs decide not to cooperate.
I hug the bag to my chest and a shiver runs through me when his hand stops me by my elbow.
"What's wrong with you Isabella?" He asks teasingly, "Did the mice get your tongue?"
I don't answer. I'm still paralyzed with fear.
He approaches me and my heart rate rises at the sight of his face so close to mine. I am terrified. Then one of his fingers tries to touch my lips.
"Don't touch me!" I demand as I flinch.
Carlisle presses his lips in a straight line, leaving his hand up, perhaps with the firm intention of wanting to touch me.
"You are very..." his eyes look at me again in a repulsive way making me instinctively cover my cleavage with my purse, "charming."
"Can you believe my efficient secretary resigned?" Mr. McCarty interjects in the same mocking tone. "She is complaining about labor exploitation," he chuckles, "today's generations are inept and afraid of hurting themselves by overworking."
I turn my head slightly to face him. Mr. McCarty has a game of glances and smirks with Carlisle.
"You two," I point at them, "are in cahoots against me. I'm no fool."
The dimples in Mr. McCarty's cheeks fade as he removes his smile. He approaches me menacingly and grabs my arm.
"Don't forget I'm a lawyer," he threatens, "and it could go very badly for you if you say anything that might damage my reputation."
"Take it easy, McCarty," Carlisle interjects, loosening his grip on my arm. "I'll take care of the young lady. There is no need for violence. Let's see, Isabella," he examines the reddened area of my skin, "Are you all right?"
I try to pull my arm free, and Carlisle tightens his grip and pulls me out of the building with him.
"Why me?" my voice cracks and the first tears escape.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replies.
A freezing drizzle falls heavily, numbing my face as I reach the sidewalk; I shiver and hug my body. The avenue is lonely and dimly lit.
"I want you to leave me alone, please."
Carlisle puts his hands in his pockets and turns to look in both directions, checking that no one is passing by.
"I'll tell Edward." I face him with such courage. "I'll talk to him and explain that you're bothering me."
He cocks his head to one side and watches me. His dark coat begins to dampen.
"What are you going to say? That you imagined seeing me in the office? You're such a liar, Isabella. Such a liar that you'll never be able to find my name anywhere but convenient. Instead, yours is on an internet portal where you offer your virginity to the highest bidder. What will the good and submissive Charlie Swan say about his firstborn?" he pulls out his cell phone making my heart hammer in a hurry. "It's simple to find out how he feels about his daughter, don't you think?"
"How do you know about my father?"
"Not only about him, I also met Renee and found out that you are just as promiscuous as she is. By the way, your siblings are nothing like you. They are more trusting, they love gifts."
My blood rushes to my feet. My breath catches in my throat and my need to cry, and thrash grows in equal measure.
"You know if you want to talk about me. It's in your hands the peace and safety of your family."
"Damn you!" I throw myself on his torso pounding my fists against his torso, but I know my blows are nothing against him. He easily grabs my wrists and pushes me away.
"You don't know me, do you, Isabella?" His gaze is imprinted with so much malice that it forces me to avert my eyes from him. "That's why you ran away. Run as far away from me as you can, because when I catch up with you, you'll pay for your rudeness one by one."
I'm crying as the drizzle blurs my tears.
His body leans towards me and I take three steps back, turn around and run senselessly through the streets. I must go far, far away.
I don't know how long I've walked; I only know that my clothes are soaked and I'm very cold. I take shelter in a lonely restaurant and with trembling fingers I dial Jess, she doesn't answer, and neither does Mike. My only option is Esme.
"Hello?" she answers on the second ring.
"It's Bella, can you come and get me? I don't know where I am..." my words are half-finished; I can't stop crying.
"Bella, are you okay?"
I shake my head as if she can see me.
After a deep silence from me Esme sniffles.
"Send me your location, I'll be there in a moment."
Sitting on the sidewalk in the drizzle I stand waiting for Edward's mother to arrive for me.
The notion of how and when Esme arrived I can't know. I am aware of myself as I realize she enters her house and doesn't take me to the apartment.
"No," I barely say in a whisper, "I don't want to be here."
Esme ignores me and parks in her garage. I know I must look crazy looking everywhere hoping to find Carlisle watching where I am.
"You need a hot shower, or you'll get sick. The night is very cold, Bella."
She helps me get down and with slow steps, we enter the huge mansion, she takes me to Edward's old room once I refuse to go into hers. It doesn't take me long to strip off my wet clothes and let the warm stream of water cover my cold body... it isn't long before I'm wrapped in a warm, fluffy bathrobe.
"I'll call Edward."
"No!" I squeak with difficulty as I feel pain in my throat. "Please don't bother Edward. He promised to share that trip with Pat, and I won't be the one to ruin their time together."
Esme sits down with me and starts brushing my hair very slowly.
"You're scaring me, Bella. Meeting you in the condition I did makes me imagine that something very bad happened with you and if I don't call my son he will end up being angry with me. You know Edward and you know well how he gets."
"Haven't you ever felt like you don't have the strength to go on? That's how I feel, I don't have the strength or the will to go on anymore."
"I see you so lonely and helpless," she mentions without daring to hug me, "I don't know what I can do for you. I haven't been the best mother despite having a son and a grandson who have needed me so much," she sighs deeply, "maybe you looked for help from the wrong person."
Suddenly she stands up and helps me get under the blankets, without tucking me in or any further demonstration on her part she sits at my feet, watching from her position.
"You'd better sleep," she orders.
I lay on my side with my hands under my pillow and close my eyelids, letting hot tears continue to flow unabated.
Maybe it's time to go home to Charlie where I should never have left. And even though I'm in love I'll talk to Edward and tell him I want to leave, that I need to go back to Forks.
I'm so deep in my inner monologue that when I feel a warm hand remove the hair from my face I open my eyes. The room is dark now, but I can still make out Esme's figure standing in front of me.
"I would have loved to have a daughter," she whispers, "just like you."
Without thinking I hold her hand making her wince.
"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" I keep my real request to myself; I need her to give me a tight hug.
She exhales tiredly, yet sits on one side of me as one of her hands begins to brush my hair carefully.
.
.
.
After that night Esme seems to have more confidence with me. Now it's easy for her to text me to say hi and see if I'm okay.
Like today when I'm arriving at the apartment after my last class, and she keeps asking if I need anything.
"I'm worried about your condition, Bella," Jess touches my forehead and makes me hiss because her hand is so cold. You've been so bad for three days," she says, "and at night you just cough all the time, which makes me think you're going to cough up a lung at any moment."
"I'm very sleepy," I say between another coughing fit. I go into my room and hug the big bear that sleeps with me in bed, I can hardly breathe and I'm tired of my back from coughing so much.
"Mom's home remedies haven't worked," I hear her say, I can't even open my eyelids to see her. "I think the best thing to do is to go to a doctor, for a simple flu with a cough it was enough."
My cell phone starts ringing; it must be somewhere in my bed; I just don't want to look for it. My ears are thundering from another coughing fit and I want to vomit up what little I ate this morning.
"I ordered some chicken soup for you," she strokes my hair as she sits down next to me. "I want you to get well, Bella, I need to tell you a lot of nice things that are happening to me with Mike."
I don't open my eyes.
If Jess knew I've been applying for re-entry to other colleges far away from here, I'm sure right now she'd be dragging my hair out instead of combing it so lovingly. She would be hating me, and I wouldn't be able to blame her.
Nevertheless, I am happy for her because she deserves all the happiness in the world.
You are the sister I always wanted to have," I reveal sincerely.
Jess smiles at me, she's about to say something and the doorbell interrupts her. I watch her run around in those weird pajamas she usually wears; I will miss her so much.
I snuggle with my bear.
"Hello"
My eyes widen at the sound of Edward's beautiful voice, I immediately sit up and smile stupidly at him. I may be the scariest woman right now but having him in my room is life to me.
I hold out my arms welcoming him.
"Edward," my voice is mixed with a horrible little hiss, "You're here at last!"
In his arms, I can feel so much better.
"Honey, your body feels like a glowing ember," he cradles my face and leaves a short kiss on my lips. "I missed you."
Edward starts brushing my hair with his fingers in a tender way, he puts me in his lap hugging me against his chest.
Another coughing fit prevents me from telling him I must return to Forks.
I'm startled when he stands up with me in his arms.
"What's going on?" I barely ask.
"We're going to a doctor. You can't go on in this condition, you can barely breathe, Isabella."
.
.
.
I have been at Edward's house for three days under his care after being nebulized to clear my lungs of all mucous bacteria. I am better and more clear-headed.
Edward comes out of the shower and makes me wonder how true it is that I feel better; he looks so hot with the towel around his hips and his hair loose and freshly washed.
"I thought you had fallen asleep."
I deny letting my eyes feast on all of him, even biting my lip without hiding that my attention is fixed on his big bulge. I think I've become a morbid girl and didn't realize it.
"Are you feeling all right now?," he strips off his towel, "Do you want to tell me the real reason why my mother picked you up in such a bad condition?"
I kneel on the bed as he starts to shamelessly pull his boxer shorts in front of me. Maybe this is his tool to make me talk.
"I didn't know Esme had spoken to you."
"What happened, Isabella?" He comes closer and lifts my chin.
- I quit the office.
"Is that the reason you got so upset? My mother found you a long way from McCarty's office. She explained that you were very frightened, that you wouldn't stop crying and that you were sitting on the sidewalk in the rain. What were you doing wandering around at that time of night?"
"I just got angry, because..." I bite my lip "Well, I've decided to spend a few days in Forks."
I can see the features of his face contract into an angry grimace.
"Why did you quit?" he asks, "What about college?"
I sigh.
"It will only be for a few days."
He half-starts walking like a caged lion. He knows me and he knows I have something else in store.
"What about us? Do you want us to break up?"
"No!" I exclaim in a shout and get off the bed and walk over to him. I can't lie to him, so I bring my hands to his bare chest. "I exploded that day because..." I exhale deeply, "Because I got tired of all the labor abuse they did to me, and Mr. McCarty told me I couldn't charge him with anything because he's a lawyer."
"What else?"
"That's all" I bury my head in his chest letting his arms wrap protectively around me.
"You want to go hide at the end of the world instead of suing him, is that what you want?"
"I'm not as strong as you think I am, Edward. I'm suddenly scared and overcome by my emotions."
"I'll take care of that asshole," he promises, I raise my head to see his green eyes blaze with fury. He grabs me by my ass and pulls me down to his height as I cling to his hips with my legs around him. "No one messes with my woman."
"Please don't confront him. I don't want anything to happen to you."
He just moves his nose against mine, in a tender gesture.
My hands caress his beard as I leave short kisses on his face. I love him so much.
"Why don't we live together?"
I freeze as I hear his proposal. Edward smiles and carries me to the bed where he slowly lays me down so he's on top of me.
"I want to take care of you, Isabella. I never want you to feel alone or afraid of anyone ever again. I want to share my day-to-day life with you, in the mornings have breakfast together and drop Pat off at his school, and then I will take you to college. I want to come home after a long day at the office and see you here and with your beautiful smile forget everything. I want to make love to you every night and morning or afternoon and know that there will be no temporary goodbyes. Stay with me, love. Live with me."
I caress his face and bring his coppery horses behind his ears. His fierce face seems to be at perfect peace just now.
If Edward knew the whole truth I am sure he would not hesitate to confront his own father, just as I am also aware that the moment he would do it Carlisle would harm my own and that I cannot allow.
Maybe, just maybe if Carlisle knows that my relationship with his son is official, it will be enough for him to stay away from me. I want to believe he will.
I hug him tightly, letting a few tears fall. I want to hold on to him with all the strength of my love, I want to make him very happy for as many days as fate allows me to be. And when Carlisle thinks of intervening I will look for another way to stay, because I love Edward. I love him with all my heart, and I can't let him go.
"Why are you crying?" his fingers glide across my temples, wiping away the trace of tears.
"I just feel so happy. I want to live with you, my love, I do!"
Edward kisses my mouth in that way that drives me crazy, his lips slide to my throat and makes me gasp when he bites my skin.
"I just want…" I ask in the middle of a sigh as his lips move down to one of my breasts, "Let's go to Charlie first and tell him we'll be living together."
He pauses looking at me leaving his chin in the middle of my breasts.
"Okay. We'll go to the corner of the world and talk to your father, sweetheart. But now we'll make love."
I sigh feeling that everything will be okay.
Hello! Here I am back with another chapter and Bella got really scared by what Carlisle told her but anyways she feels safe sharing her life with Edward. Did you like the chapter? And what about the decision of living together?
Thank you so much for all the favourites, followings and reading! See you soon xx