Isabella Swan spent the night sleepless, her eyes wide open until dawn, for fear that Edward Cullen would return to claim another unwanted duty as husband and wife. She loved him, yet she could not bear the harsh treatment without a trace of tenderness.
The ding sound of a text message echoed through the quiet room, and it took a moment for Isabellas numbed mind to register the sound. Slowly, she reached for her phone to check the messages.
As she read the contents of the text, her usually vacant eyes suddenly widened. Something hot and wet brimmed in her Eye socket, and she quickly scrolled through the messages, but more kept coming in. Like someone with a compulsion, Isabella read each one sent by the unknown number.
The messages contained photo after photo of Edward and a woman in intimate embraces. She recognized the woman鈥攊t was Emily Bronte, who shared a name that sounded like hers but with a different last.
The subsequent photos showed the pair hugging and tumbling onto a bed, the images vulgar and distressing to see. What pained Isabella the most was the look in Edwards eyes in the photos; it seemed there was no one else in his world but Emily.
Darkness swirled before her eyes, and her heart felt as if it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. Isabella wanted to scream and vent her pain, but try as she might, no sound escaped her lips.
Then, another text came in: "Isabella Swan, you know who this is. You should have some self-awareness. If you know whats good for you, leave now. Do you have no shame left?"
The message was cryptic, the number unfamiliar, but Isabella knew who it was from鈥擡mily Bronte, Edwards childhood sweetheart.
After Edward was taken back by the Cullens, Emily had followed, only to be pursued by the then heir of the Cullen family, Jack Dawson, forcing her to break up with Edward.
The reason Edward had married Isabella for the union between the Cullen and Swan families was to gain the Swans support, and she had fallen for Edward.
So now...
With the Cullen familys fortune secured and Jack Dawson out of the picture, Emily was finally free, and the marriage that was never meant to be between her and Edward naturally came to an end.
In the evening.
Isabella sat on the balcony, gazing into the distance, her eyes distant and unfathomable, lost in thought.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound.
Apart from the servants who came to deliver meals and clean, and Edward who came to fulfill his marital duties, who else would come to her room?
She looked towards the sound and saw a woman who was both familiar and strange, but she couldnt quite place who it was. Isabella asked in confusion, "Who... are you?"
The woman approached her directly and looked down at her condescendingly, "Are you Isabella Swan? Is this what youve come to?"