THANK YOU FOR WAITING! SEE YOU AT THE END ;)
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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Chapter 33
The moment a bland blonde opens the door I recognize her.
I'm convinced Renee has done it too because she runs to the kitchen to take shelter.
Without asking for permission or even asking for much less I go into the room, after her.
"If you don't leave right now I'll call the police!" she warns, shaking her cell phone in front of me.
I move closer. I have an overwhelming urge to squeeze her neck and I'm sure I won't feel any better.
"Do it!" I roar with all my rage pouring out of me, "I want to witness your children being taken away by social services."
Her face contorts into a grimace of... terror? No. This damn woman can't be afraid of anything.
"Damn you!" she lunges at me trying to hit my face, I easily stop her hands and pull her into the corner between the countertop and my body as I start squeezing her cheeks hard, my fingers are marking her skin.
"Listen to me carefully," I demanded, exerting more force on my fingers, "Don't go near Isabella again," I pronounce each word slowly so that she understands and reasons what I'm saying.
Although her whitish face looks red, her blue eyes keep looking at me haughtily. Even though I'm the one holding her cheeks, she thinks she has more power. There is no doubt that Renee is the kind of woman who doesn't deserve anything, much less having given birth to an exceptional woman like Isabella.
"Little man," she whispers as I set her free while slyly rubbing her cheeks, "You fucking bastard!"
"Bitch" With one of my arms I throw everything on the countertop to the floor, plates, vases, and all kinds of stupid things that fall to pieces, I turn to look at her and I know she's scared. "Where is Carlisle?"
She lifts her chin to face me.
"I don't know," her voice trembles.
"Mommy, we brought breakfast!"
A small blond boy with expressive eyes stands at the entrance looking at all the mess on the floor, seconds later more boys of different heights and complexions arrive along with a burly man carrying a baby in his arms, I guess he is Isabella's stepfather.
The guy scrutinizes me authoritatively in a duel of glances as he watches me walk out one side of him.
I walk back to the driveway and I'm just about to get into my truck when I hear:
"Don't you ever come near my family again!" the man yells, turning me back in front of him in a matter of seconds, no longer carrying the baby. The guy flinches as I face him, and I notice his pupils dilate as we come face to face.
"Enjoy this house for as long as you can, because I assure you it won't be long" I press my finger hard on his chest. "And tell your wife not to go near Isabella again, otherwise I'll see to it that all those children have a better home away from you."
.
.
.
Suddenly I throw my head back, covering my mouth.
"What's wrong?" Jacob asks, fixing his attention on me as he continues to taste his waffles. "You've gone pale, are you okay?"
"I've been suffering from heartburn for days to the point that I feel..." I press my lips together as I feel the damn nausea. I close my eyelids momentarily and after a few minutes, I sigh as the burning fades away. "I think my stomach is upset."
Jacob chews with his mouth closed, looking at me with a gesture of concern.
"It could be that Bella's meals have damaged you. You were telling me that she seasoned every food as if it was the most natural thing to do."
I just make a small, disguised nod of my head, setting the silverware aside as the waiter appears with two cups of coffee poured on the table.
The burning sensation in my throat has taken away my appetite.
"Why don't you make a doctor's appointment?" Jacob continues his interrogation when he notices that my appetite has disappeared. Maybe some medicine will make you better.
I nod, ready to drink my coffee. The aroma begins to bother my sense of smell, it's perhaps a little strong. I barely take a sip and decide to put the cup away.
"You do look weird," Jacob says.
I sip some water to lessen the nauseous feeling I keep experiencing. Black just keeps looking at me with some uneasiness in his eyes before asking to remove the coffee cups from the table.
"Better?" he asks.
"A bit."
"I still can't believe how the hell Carlisle disappeared when he was about to be caught," he admits, turning his attention to his breakfast. "Maybe a few damn minutes made the difference, don't you think?"
"Probably. When Mike told me he was outside the building it only took me 23 minutes to get there, and he was gone and so was Renee."
"Damn woman, you should have taken me with you when you went to Arizona, that bitch deserves a couple of slaps," he ponders for a moment and his eyes narrow. "By the way, how's Bella doing?"
Just naming Isabella makes me feel lousy.
I'm not used to measuring what I say because I simply don't like to lie, and this very thing hurt Isabella. How ironic! I was trying to watch my mouth for a long time, especially keeping it from coming out of my lips what a lousy cook she is, and I ended up being much worse.
Having told her she was just begging for affection hurt her deeply, and despite my apologies, she didn't want to stay. And today I am paying the consequences. She had decided that we should give each other some time on our own, which I was not willing to do because I had to take care of her.
"It seems that even though you took some time," he points to the silver ring on the ring finger of my left hand, "Bella wants everyone to know that you have an owner, doesn't she? That looks more like a wedding ring." I smile as I realize he's right. "When are they coming back from New York?"
I can't take my eyes off the ring adorning my finger: it's wide, rough, and with Isabella's name engraved inside.
"Well, man, let's change the subject," Jacob says when he sees that I don't answer. "Tanya told me you went to the office to pick Kate up and she didn't see you."
I let out a breath of air through my lips, losing my gaze among the diners. Most of them are business people who are neatly dressed while I, well, I don't like ties or suits.
"I need to talk to her, but for some reason, she doesn't want to."
Jacob puts down the silverware and drinks from the glass of red wine without taking his dark eyes off me. He seems to be debating with himself.
He snorts as he sets his glass of juice down on the table.
"I'll give you Kate's address. I know where she's living."
I lean over the table.
Jacob had to realize all the heartbreak I'm carrying because if he didn't, he wouldn't be giving me Kate's location.
.
.
.
I press the doorbell twice more and a little red-haired girl appears behind the door.
"Hanna, don't open the door again without my permission!"
I hear Kate's voice reprimanding her daughter. The girl disappears, turning around and being replaced by the figure of her mother, who stops at the door frame when she sees me.
"What are you doing here?" she tries to close the door and I do not allow her to do so by interposing a boot inside her apartment. "I don't want to see you, Edward, please understand."
"We need to talk, Kate." I enter peacefully and uninvited into her room. I don't see any details, just that it's a large room with all the necessities to live comfortably, I put my hands in my pockets and look at her waiting for her to decide to talk at once. "So, why did you leave?"
She crosses her arms as the woman who is helping her approaches and murmurs something in her ear because the young woman nods, looking at me from head to toe, and then disappears back into the hallway.
"You haven't changed a bit, Edward."
I don't know if that's a compliment, but I don't stop to think about it. Kate half smiles and motions for me to sit on the couch across from her.
"Would you like something to drink?"
I deny.
Our conversation begins slowly and somewhat awkwardly. Kate begins to tell without delving into details of what her life has been like over the years. She is married with two daughters and is currently finalizing her divorce. She mentions that her intention was not to return to the city, but her best friend suffered an accident and had to agree to her request to cover her position.
I also tell her a little about myself, naming throughout that I am in a months-long relationship with the most important woman in my life.
We continue to talk about ourselves until an eerie silence falls over us. I know it's time to face each other and talk about what's really important.
"Is one of your daughters mine?" I ask bluntly.
She blinks nervously, crosses herself, and uncrosses her legs several times looking for a comfortable angle that allows her to keep breathing because she seems to have stopped breathing. She tucks a long reddish lock of hair behind her ear and licks her pink lips.
"I don't know," her voice is almost unintelligible, she looks into my eyes, and I can tell she's about to cry. "I never wanted to know."
I don't know how to feel. Maybe I feel anger, sadness, I don't know, it's a lot of mixed feelings piling up in my chest. She is confessing that she cheated on me or...
I sit up, walking around the sofa, I open my hands and close them tightly. I want to complain, to throw her abandonment in her face.
"Edward?" her voice cracks as she holds my arm, "I didn't cheat on you."
I turn to her. I see her eyes drowning in tears and I am able to make out the terror she is feeling, I rub her arms gently.
"What happened, Kate?"
Instead of responding, she begins to sob in a choked way. I comfort her, wrapping my arms around her body and gently rubbing her back.
"I had to leave," she says between hiccups making me feel impatient and so strange at the same time, "they raped me," she whispers as she buries her face in my chest.
I feel my blood burning as I cradle her tear-stained face and make her look at me.
"What are you saying!?" my voice is a loud roar.
Kate shakes her head.
"They raped me!" her fists pound my chest weakly. "They broke into my apartment, and they did it, they did it over and over again."
"Who?! When?!" the questions come out of my mouth, I feel bad seeing her so torn my chest hurts. I didn't protect her as I should have, I failed her.
"It was the night..." She closes her eyelids as if she's going back to that day. "When I got off work I got to the apartment and... it happened afterward."
"Why didn't you tell me anything?" in desperation, I ruffle my hair.
"You weren't in town; you had gone on one of your trips through the woods."
"Is that why you left? When I came back I didn't see you again."
"I had to run away. I didn't want you to know, I didn't want you to see me like that."
I turn my back to her and pinch the bridge of my nose. I can't bear to know that truth. To know that they defiled her, and I did nothing.
God! It's an overwhelming helplessness that I feel coursing through my body.
"Edward..." she murmurs my name trying to make me turn to her, but I refuse. "Don't blame yourself" she hugs me from behind, "it's over, I'm over it thanks to therapy. Time was a great antidote and healed my wounds. I was able to heal, and I learned to go on... without you."
I turn to her.
Her face looks peaceful and calmer.
How can she do that?
"You know? All this time I've firmly believed that Bree is yours," she confesses with a faint smile, "she has a lot of quirks like yours, from fearless to angry."
I exhale. I rub my face keeping my head cool, I must choose the right words, so I don't hurt her heart anymore.
"We can't stay with assumptions. We need to find out if she's my daughter, I want to know."
Kate recoils.
"Two years after Bree's birth I rebuilt my life at Garret's side, she thinks he's her dad, she even has his last name. I can't alter her life like this, Edward, I don't want to hurt her."
"I understand what you are telling me, however, I do not accept it. We can't continue as if nothing happened, she exists and the chances of her being mine are many, Kate. You can't leave me with this doubt. Don't do it."
"I am afraid."
I reach out and cradle her face again.
"I'm with you, I'll be with you no matter what."
She nods unconvinced.
.
.
.
I don't know if it's because of the guilt I feel for not taking care of Kate or because of the affection I have for her, I must admit that after visiting her house for the first time we have become inseparable. I'm not talking about anything romantic between us, but a true friendship that we are both trying to salvage.
We had gone to a lab a week ago and after leaving saliva samples we were still waiting for the results while we continued to hang out and I must say I was getting attached to her girls.
"Are you dating Kate?"
That reproachful voice is Pat's. I stop walking and see him sitting on the couch eating another bowl of cereal with milk, how many had he had this day?
"No, I'm not dating her."
"Well, it looks like it and I don't like that she's here all the time with her screaming girls. It makes me angry when they try to sneak into my room and their naughty giggles also annoy me. Besides, I like Bella better and because of you she doesn't come here anymore."
"Isabella asked me for time and I'm giving her time."
"But she's not seeing someone else, and you are."
I shake my head.
I'm not going to explain to my son something that's not my business, like the fact that Kate is excited about someone else and is about to take another step in her life by coming out of the closet to her best friend. She asked for discretion, and I must comply.
"I'll be training," I change the subject and continue on my way but am interrupted by the doorbell.
"Kate, what's wrong with you?"
I am alarmed to see her in tears and sobs. I remove some hair from her face and try to control her hysterical state that doesn't allow her to speak.
"Please, Kate, try to breathe slowly, slowly," I start rubbing her back in circles while her daughters watch us with great curiosity. "Go with Pat," I ask, "he'll show you some movies."
My son just snorts, gives us a dirty look, and reluctantly leads them to the playroom while I continue to hold Kate in the driveway.
"It's not yours, Edward, it's not yours," she whispers clinging to me with all her strength, "and I wanted it to be. I had always dreamed of it.
Bree is not my daughter.
The tightness I feel in my chest overcomes my rage at the realization that the child is the product of rape.
"I don't want her to be his," she murmurs through her tears, "I don't want her to be Carlisle's. I don't want her to be his."
Sorry, I've been MIA for months. You can blame Grey's Anatomy for that 'cause I binged all 19 seasons lol. Also, Microsoft word wasn't working and the online version sucks. Well, now we're back. Let's talk now about the chapter!
So... yeah Carlisle raped her and is probably the father of the kid. In this chapter, we discover what happened to Kate, and between her and Edward a beautiful friendship will also be reborn, both will be very close now that everything has been discovered. Here Edward still doesn't know that Bella is leaving with Esme. I forgot to mention that Renee will get her turn as well as Carlisle, that will be later. I hope you can give me your opinions about the chapter. Do you think Kate will denounce Carlisle? What will Edward do?
See you the next day with another revealing chapter ;)