New Love, New Life
by Momma2fan
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All mistakes are mine, although Wizardtho polished them up.
AN: So many were surprised by Esme having a gift...that was a twist I didn’t see coming until I’d written it.
Chapter 16
“What are you talking about, Bella?” Jasper stepped forward.
“It seems Esme has been hiding something from all of you.” Bella moved down a step, but Demetri’s hand on her shoulder stopped her progress. “Think about it, Jasper, Alice’s gift is subjective. I’m sure you learned a way around it. How many times did you decide to leave her, only to be intercepted by Esme, who was able to stop you?” Turning to Emmett and Rosalie. “How many times did you and Emmett decide to leave the family, Rosalie, only to be thwarted on your way out the door?”
Jasper thought back on all the times he wanted to leave, to return to Peter and Charlotte, but Esme always managed to convince him to stay. Why? For what purpose?
AN: So many were surprised by Esme having a gift...that was a twist I didn’t see coming until I’d written it.
Chapter 16
“What are you talking about, Bella?” Jasper stepped forward.
“It seems Esme has been hiding something from all of you.” Bella moved down a step, but Demetri’s hand on her shoulder stopped her progress. “Think about it, Jasper, Alice’s gift is subjective. I’m sure you learned a way around it. How many times did you decide to leave her, only to be intercepted by Esme, who was able to stop you?” Turning to Emmett and Rosalie. “How many times did you and Emmett decide to leave the family, Rosalie, only to be thwarted on your way out the door?”
Jasper thought back on all the times he wanted to leave, to return to Peter and Charlotte, but Esme always managed to convince him to stay. Why? For what purpose?
“Rosie, we’ve tried to leave more than a dozen times.” Emmett looked at his mate, seeing her expression just as surprised as his.
“Why, Esme?” Rosalie looked at the woman whom she’d always looked to as a mother figure.
Esme stood silently, her glare settled on Bella. Demetri would have laughed if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Aro looked at his niece, “Cara nipote, are you able to pull back your shield so I may read her?”
Bella concentrated for a moment before turning to her uncle, “Her left hand is uncovered.”
Aro glided forward to grasp Esme’s hand in his own. His eyes closed his eyes as he read her every thought, both human and vampire. When he was finished, he dropped her hand while staring at her in shock and anger.
“You are just as bad as Edward and Alice with your manipulations and deceit. Perhaps worse.” Aro stepped back on the dais to sit on his throne, still stunned at what he had seen. “You were targeted, Carlisle.”
“What do you mean, Aro?”
“Bella, I need you to remove your shield, starting from the bottom and working your way up. Alec, I want you to numb her once Bella begins.” Aro waited and watched as all of Esme’s senses were removed; only then did he relax slightly.
“When you met Esme as a girl, while you were working in the hospital, she set her sights on you. Before she was old enough to try and seduce you, you had already moved on to another location. She researched your whereabouts, as much as she was able at that time, and made sure she was able to follow you. She was never married to an abusive man, she made that up. Her husband was actually a good man who loved her. When she found you after you had turned Edward, she followed the both of you and figured out what you were. Her desire to be the wife of a doctor, to live the life she felt she deserved, overroad common sense. She threw herself over a cliff, yes, but not because she’d lost her son. Instead, it was so she could get to you. Her son lived and was raised in a loving home, something she was well aware of because she kept tabs on him.
“When you recognized her as the girl you’d met before, recognizing she was your mate, you changed her. From then on, your fate and the fates of your other companions were sealed.”
“Go on,” Rosalie encouraged when Aro stopped speaking.
“Rosalie, your life would have been very different if it weren’t for Esme’s interference.”
Rosalie growled and turned her ire on Esme, “What are you talking about?”
Sighing, Aro looked at the blonde sympathetically, “The night your fiancé and his friends...violated you, you were not near death. Your life could have been saved and Carlisle was in the right place at the right time to do that. However, Esme was with him when they found you. You reminded her of a friend of hers from her human life, so she convinced him to change you.
“When you brought Emmett back after you’d found him, Carlisle felt he may have been too far gone for the venom to save or turn him and was about to refuse, but she convinced him Emmett was your mate and he had to be turned, so he was.”
“Wait a minute,” Rosalie interrupted. “Emmett and I aren’t mates?”
“No, my dear,” Marcus spoke for the first time. “You are companions. While you do have a very deep, strong bond, it is not that of mates.”
Bella watched helplessly as Emmett roared in anger and Rosalie began to sob tearlessly.
“Major Whitlock?” Marcus got Jasper’s attention. “I’m sure you’re aware that Alice isn’t your mate.”
Jasper nodded, “I am, yes. I tried to leave when I figured it out.”
“Esme knew as well, that’s why you were never able to leave. Esme didn’t want to lose her perfect life and perfect reputation, complete with the adopted children she had saved. She finally had the life she’d always wanted.”
“Where did Bella fit into her plans?” Carlisle wanted to know.
“Ah,” Aro began. “As I said earlier, Esme’s son, Geoffrey, grew up in a loving home. However, when he was eight, the stock market crash of 1929 hit his father’s interests hard and Charles Evenson killed himself rather than living below his perceived station. Geoffrey was adopted by Elliot and Evelyn Swan of Forks, Washington in 1931 at the age of ten. Geoffrey met his wife Helen and the pair were married for a long time with no children, until they were blessed with a surprise. Helen gave birth to their only son, Charles Geoffrey Swan, in 1964 when they were in their late forties. Charlie grew up in Forks and became the Chief of Police, later marrying Renee Higginbothom, who gave him a daughter in 1987. A little girl they named Isabella Marie Swan.” Aro stopped, letting his words sink in.
“So Bella is Esme’s biological great-granddaughter?” Emmett asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Aro explained. “Finding her blood relation was the beginning of the end for the Cullen coven.”
“How so?”
Aro stood up and paced along the dais. “Esme wanted to keep the only remaining family she had left in the world as close as she could, so she convinced Edward that Bella was his mate. She used Jasper’s gift to keep Edward’s lust for his singer's blood under control, not realizing that eventually it wouldn’t work. When Bella’s blood was spilled, in order to keep her biological line continuing, Esme convinced Edward to leave, taking the whole family with her. She never anticipated Edward’s obsession. It was that obsession which caused her to lose control of him.”
Bella felt her knees give out and would have hit the floor had Demetri not grabbed her.
“Gatáki?”
“I’m okay,” Bella looked at her mate. “I’m just shocked.”
“Alec, give Esme her senses, but don’t allow her to move,” Caius ordered.
“Why can’t I move?” Esme growled. She looked around the room, seeing her family backing away from her. “What’s going on?”
“We know the truth, Esme,” Carlisle said quietly.
“And what truth is that, Carlisle?”
“We know it all!” Rosalie yelled. “How you used us to get your perfect life, leading us right to your last remaining relatives.”
“Ah,” she cackled, “You know Bella is my blood. That’s why I couldn’t let Edward suck her dry. That’s why I made him leave her.”
“You also created an obsession that is going to get him killed.” Emmett sneered at her.
“Does it matter, Emmett? We’re going to die anyway. The last of my human family died when Bella was turned, I no longer care what happens to me. Or any of you, for that matter.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve been sentenced to die,” Caius commented. “Felix.”
Felix walked over, quickly dismembering Esme and dropping his lighter on her twitching limbs. Bella watched her burn to ash, feeling no remorse. Once the flames were gone, she looked at the remaining Cullens.
“Carlisle, I can see you’re shocked by what has been revealed about your mate. If you truly had no idea or had any part in Esme’s schemes, then you’ll allow Aro to read you. The truth will come out, regardless.” Bella looked at the stunned man before her. “What do you say?”
AN: Bye-bye Esme. Whatever will Aro discover next?
Translation:
Italian - Cara nipote (Dear niece)
“Why, Esme?” Rosalie looked at the woman whom she’d always looked to as a mother figure.
Esme stood silently, her glare settled on Bella. Demetri would have laughed if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Aro looked at his niece, “Cara nipote, are you able to pull back your shield so I may read her?”
Bella concentrated for a moment before turning to her uncle, “Her left hand is uncovered.”
Aro glided forward to grasp Esme’s hand in his own. His eyes closed his eyes as he read her every thought, both human and vampire. When he was finished, he dropped her hand while staring at her in shock and anger.
“You are just as bad as Edward and Alice with your manipulations and deceit. Perhaps worse.” Aro stepped back on the dais to sit on his throne, still stunned at what he had seen. “You were targeted, Carlisle.”
“What do you mean, Aro?”
“Bella, I need you to remove your shield, starting from the bottom and working your way up. Alec, I want you to numb her once Bella begins.” Aro waited and watched as all of Esme’s senses were removed; only then did he relax slightly.
“When you met Esme as a girl, while you were working in the hospital, she set her sights on you. Before she was old enough to try and seduce you, you had already moved on to another location. She researched your whereabouts, as much as she was able at that time, and made sure she was able to follow you. She was never married to an abusive man, she made that up. Her husband was actually a good man who loved her. When she found you after you had turned Edward, she followed the both of you and figured out what you were. Her desire to be the wife of a doctor, to live the life she felt she deserved, overroad common sense. She threw herself over a cliff, yes, but not because she’d lost her son. Instead, it was so she could get to you. Her son lived and was raised in a loving home, something she was well aware of because she kept tabs on him.
“When you recognized her as the girl you’d met before, recognizing she was your mate, you changed her. From then on, your fate and the fates of your other companions were sealed.”
“Go on,” Rosalie encouraged when Aro stopped speaking.
“Rosalie, your life would have been very different if it weren’t for Esme’s interference.”
Rosalie growled and turned her ire on Esme, “What are you talking about?”
Sighing, Aro looked at the blonde sympathetically, “The night your fiancé and his friends...violated you, you were not near death. Your life could have been saved and Carlisle was in the right place at the right time to do that. However, Esme was with him when they found you. You reminded her of a friend of hers from her human life, so she convinced him to change you.
“When you brought Emmett back after you’d found him, Carlisle felt he may have been too far gone for the venom to save or turn him and was about to refuse, but she convinced him Emmett was your mate and he had to be turned, so he was.”
“Wait a minute,” Rosalie interrupted. “Emmett and I aren’t mates?”
“No, my dear,” Marcus spoke for the first time. “You are companions. While you do have a very deep, strong bond, it is not that of mates.”
Bella watched helplessly as Emmett roared in anger and Rosalie began to sob tearlessly.
“Major Whitlock?” Marcus got Jasper’s attention. “I’m sure you’re aware that Alice isn’t your mate.”
Jasper nodded, “I am, yes. I tried to leave when I figured it out.”
“Esme knew as well, that’s why you were never able to leave. Esme didn’t want to lose her perfect life and perfect reputation, complete with the adopted children she had saved. She finally had the life she’d always wanted.”
“Where did Bella fit into her plans?” Carlisle wanted to know.
“Ah,” Aro began. “As I said earlier, Esme’s son, Geoffrey, grew up in a loving home. However, when he was eight, the stock market crash of 1929 hit his father’s interests hard and Charles Evenson killed himself rather than living below his perceived station. Geoffrey was adopted by Elliot and Evelyn Swan of Forks, Washington in 1931 at the age of ten. Geoffrey met his wife Helen and the pair were married for a long time with no children, until they were blessed with a surprise. Helen gave birth to their only son, Charles Geoffrey Swan, in 1964 when they were in their late forties. Charlie grew up in Forks and became the Chief of Police, later marrying Renee Higginbothom, who gave him a daughter in 1987. A little girl they named Isabella Marie Swan.” Aro stopped, letting his words sink in.
“So Bella is Esme’s biological great-granddaughter?” Emmett asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Aro explained. “Finding her blood relation was the beginning of the end for the Cullen coven.”
“How so?”
Aro stood up and paced along the dais. “Esme wanted to keep the only remaining family she had left in the world as close as she could, so she convinced Edward that Bella was his mate. She used Jasper’s gift to keep Edward’s lust for his singer's blood under control, not realizing that eventually it wouldn’t work. When Bella’s blood was spilled, in order to keep her biological line continuing, Esme convinced Edward to leave, taking the whole family with her. She never anticipated Edward’s obsession. It was that obsession which caused her to lose control of him.”
Bella felt her knees give out and would have hit the floor had Demetri not grabbed her.
“Gatáki?”
“I’m okay,” Bella looked at her mate. “I’m just shocked.”
“Alec, give Esme her senses, but don’t allow her to move,” Caius ordered.
“Why can’t I move?” Esme growled. She looked around the room, seeing her family backing away from her. “What’s going on?”
“We know the truth, Esme,” Carlisle said quietly.
“And what truth is that, Carlisle?”
“We know it all!” Rosalie yelled. “How you used us to get your perfect life, leading us right to your last remaining relatives.”
“Ah,” she cackled, “You know Bella is my blood. That’s why I couldn’t let Edward suck her dry. That’s why I made him leave her.”
“You also created an obsession that is going to get him killed.” Emmett sneered at her.
“Does it matter, Emmett? We’re going to die anyway. The last of my human family died when Bella was turned, I no longer care what happens to me. Or any of you, for that matter.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve been sentenced to die,” Caius commented. “Felix.”
Felix walked over, quickly dismembering Esme and dropping his lighter on her twitching limbs. Bella watched her burn to ash, feeling no remorse. Once the flames were gone, she looked at the remaining Cullens.
“Carlisle, I can see you’re shocked by what has been revealed about your mate. If you truly had no idea or had any part in Esme’s schemes, then you’ll allow Aro to read you. The truth will come out, regardless.” Bella looked at the stunned man before her. “What do you say?”
AN: Bye-bye Esme. Whatever will Aro discover next?
Translation:
Italian - Cara nipote (Dear niece)