Chapter 272 Chapter 272

Chapter 272 Chapter 272
BELLA

“I mean, I never imagined I'd be standing at a funeral for your sister,” Esme whispered to me over the slow humming of the little orchestra playing at a distance.

I simply heave a deep breath and look away as another drop of dirt falls onto the coffin. I can't bear any more of it. She'd deserved a lot of bad things in this life, but death was never one of them.

“I think she was everything but perfect, you know,” I reply softly, walking over to the guard that's in charge of little Damien. “But I don't think she deserved death, at least not in that way.”

Esme takes my hand and sighs.

“I know, Bella. She risked her life to save yours because she felt like she'd taken enough out of yours anyway,” she replies, staring deep into my eyes.

“You're right, she wasn't perfect—more of a monster, to be honest,” she says with a slight shake of her head. “But at least the last thing she did was the right thing.”

I remain silent, my heart throbbing slowly when I suddenly notice the shift in Esme's demeanor.

Her eyes widen slightly and she slowly begins to back away from me.

I turn to ask her why, but I immediately understand when I see Brad calmly walking towards me, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunshades.

He stares down at the grave and I can feel his hesitance to comfort me oozing through his skin.

He takes a deep breath and says, “She was your sister and a pain in your neck for a very long time, but you still loved her until the very end. That says a lot about what kind of person you are, Bella.”

“It doesn't change anything, does it?” I ask flatly.

He sighs yet again and shakes his head.

“I thought as much. I shouldn't feel this bad about it, Brad… but I do. She'd caused the first major loss of my life, but this still feels like a huge one.”

“She was your sister and I don’t think whatever evil she has done in the past would change that,” he mumbles.

For some reason, my heart suddenly flares with a rage that burrows deep into my chest.

“This isn’t your fault,” I say softly, “but for some reason, I feel very angry at you. You caused us to lose our child, Brad. You could have done something about it! I carried that child with the excitement that it would be ours! You have no idea how that loss felt, and when I left, all you did was watch me leave!”

I roar at him.

His face goes ashen with guilt and he tries to wrap his arms around me, but I am not having it.

I step away from him, brushing his arms aside, and he sighs, agony in his eyes.

“I messed up badly, Bella. I had absolutely no right to do that to you, to be such a coward, but I was. Believe me when I say that every single day since then has been absolute torture for me. I haven’t been able to think straight or do anything properly since then. I cost us a lot, I know, and I will spend the rest of my life paying for it.”

My eyes grow heavy with tears, my heart aching with a burden I have carried long before Ariana's interference with my life.

“You do not understand anything, Brad. I tried for years to get you just to look at me. I did everything right, not just to please the pack, but to please you too.”

He grabs my hand and this time, I am unable to bring myself to pull away from him.

His eyes suddenly redden with tears and in that moment, I realize that the hard man who treated me like trash is no more.

This is Brad, plain and in the flesh, with his feelings as transparent as glass.

“I loved you from the first day I saw you, Bella, but I was a coward. I didn’t know how to express my feelings. I didn’t know how to stop meeting the pack’s expectations. I wanted to give them the image that I had a strong Luna, which was why I rooted so heavily for Ariana to be Luna, but in truth, I have always wanted you.”

His words are desperate and strained.

I look deep into his eyes and scoff.

“So tell me, are you that same man? Is that what you’re offering me now? Or has Ariana’s death paved the way for the pack to see that I am their only chance? Is that why you are coming clean to me now?”

His eyes flicker with horror and he gasps in shock.

“What? Hell no, Bella. To hell with the pack if they do not think you are good enough—I will literally abandon all of it just for you!” he exclaims.

“You are the only thing that matters to me at this point, Bella, and I will do anything, absolutely anything, to make you understand just how much you mean to me.”

He draws me closer, pulling me into the warmth of an embrace I have spent years craving.

My heart crumbles into my stomach instantly and my tears pour out.

I have never broken down this thoroughly, but I cannot help it.

I cannot control the way I feel, and that desperate need to be comforted literally sweeps me off my feet.

He strokes my hair gently and whispers into my ear.

“Please, just give me another chance and I promise you that I will make it up to you. I will never let you down again, Bella, and even if it is the last thing I do, I will spend the rest of my life repaying that debt to you.”

I look into his eyes again and, without thinking, I crash my lips against his, my chest blooming with a euphoria I had lost long ago.