Chapter 25

The next morning comes early – much too early, if you ask me. Forty minutes after dawn, a polite knock at my front door woke me from my light slumber. Napping on and off since returning home from the hospital has resulted in a broken night's sleep. An early morning (and unexpected) visitor was not exactly welcome.

As I dragged myself off my bed, and tossed a slim silk robe on over the matching nightie – emerald green, slim cut, and fitted - I called out towards the door.

"Just a second!" I yelled out, silently glad that the painkillers I had taken before going to bed were still working perfectly. The only pain I was experiencing was behind my eyelids.

I stumbled to the front door, and took a peek out the side window. A tall guy, wearing all black, and looking entirely too awake for this hour, peered back at me politely.

I hesitated. Opening the door to a strange man while I was wholly unprotected seemed stupid. I dashed back to the hall table and dug around in the drawer – my trusty taser hadn't seen action in years, but at least it would make me feel better to have it near at hand.

Slowly, I slid the door open a couple of inches and made eye contact with him. Blonde, square-jawed and dressed in a sharp suit, he smiled down at me.

"Ms. Swan? Mrs. Cullen would like to visit with you. May I search the premises?"

I blinked at him.

Confusion more so than agreement led to me opening the door. The blonde guard slid by me and took in everything in sight. Ben, I thought. He was acting just like Ben did.

He nodded agreeably at me when he slid by me to return to his car. He opened the back door of the sedan with grace, and offered a professional hand to Edward's mother.

Esme Cullen, even at this ungodly hour, was dressed elegantly in a slim grey skirt, a silky navy blouse, and navy pumps. A caramel-haired beauty, Esme Cullen was sophistication personified. And she was walking into my house.

It was a strange sensation, meeting my ex-mother-in-law for the first time while wearing an emerald green nightie which was just this side of too sexy for this kind of meeting. It was stranger still to think that the first time I was meeting my mother-in-law was when she was no longer my mother-in-law.

I invited her in with more grace than I really felt. Embarrassment at my appearance was swiftly glossed over, and replaced with utter confusion. Why the hell was Esme Cullen sitting in my living room, blatantly looking around?

She meets my gaze, unflinching, and smiled. All class, she gestured for me to sit across from her. I sat, and blinked at her again.

"Can I get you anything to drink, Mrs Cullen? Tea? Coffee?" I asked, readjusting my robe to cover as much as my body as possible.

She spoke softly, her voice smooth and warm. "No, thank you." We held gazes for longer than is really normal for polite company.

Her head tilted to the side, and she said, "You're not what I expected. When I found out Edward had married, I was surprised – to say the least. But when I found out just who he had married..." she shook her head softly, a little smile on her face.

I rose my eyebrows and relaxed back onto the couch. What was I supposed to say? Did she expect me to be richer? Blonder? Or simply better known in society?

"I don't mean any offence! I just mean that...it was a shock, that's all." She looked saddened, for just a moment.

She adjusted herself gracefully, sliding one leg over the other and sitting further back. Her high heeled foot bounced in the air.

I assessed her as she assessed me; her clothes, hair, the general air of elegance. Had someone pointed her out on the street – sans armed guards and bullet proof SUV – and said 'that woman is Royalty', I would believe them. Classy was an understatement. And even in the few minutes I had been in her presence, I saw Edward in her. They shared the same hair, the same shape of the eyes – he had her long lashes and high cheek bones. There was a delicacy to Esme that Edward didn't have, though. Esme Cullen radiated calm and ease in the same way Edward radiated control. It was so rare that he was utterly relaxed, and it was always when we were alone.

I remained silent in the face of her assessment; what she must be thinking? How I look, how I sound, the little trinkets I had dotted around my house. She was sitting there, gleaning these insights and assumptions about me, cobbling together a picture of who I am, who I was to her son, who I would have been to her had my marriage lasted. I glanced around, taking in the same things she was: the furniture, the photos on the fireplace, the blankets tossed over the back of the couch, my diaries on the coffee table – all of it telling her something. What, I wasn't sure, but her expression told me that she thought she had learned something significant. I wondered if it even mattered? Whatever she thought she knew would likely have no bearing on my life as it is now.

Out the window I saw her bodyguard standing in sight of us, remaining vigilant. I stored that at the back of my mind. My guards had always been vigilant, but never quite so wary as they guy accompanying Mrs Cullen.

"It's so incredibly rude of me to turn up like this," she let out a little laugh, "but I felt we should really meet." She smiled so softly, I almost smiled back.

"My son's lawyers are...family friends. The Denali's have been on retainer for my family for years. They inform me that you've been dragged into this whole...dirty little mess." She sounded so disgusted, but not at all concerned. I wondered how much she had been told. Shouldn't there be some confidentiality agreement in place?

I nodded, but remained silent. What was there to say?

"I recently became aware of this whole business, so I made the executive decision to clean up at least some of this mess. Starting with the one Edward made." She sounded scorned, and put upon – and a little heartbroken.

"Let me be absolutely clear, Isabella. Edward is innocent of these charges, and I will ensure that an innocent verdict is the outcome of any proceedings. That said, he isn't innocent in all aspects of his life. Nobody is perfect; I want to prevent anything irrelevant to the case coming out." I took that in. There was a steel backbone beneath all that elegant delicacy.

"What is it you want from me then?"

She let out a small sigh. "I want to tell you the truth. Unlike some others, I think you can handle it."

I stared at her and swallowed.

"Okay," I nodded, "tell me everything."