Damn you, ever-nagging plot bunnies … I just can't get this one out of my head. I am focusing on one story, but I wanted to get a foundation on this new one. So, here we go … This will be similar to Buying Love, Friends with Benefits, Mafia Princess and The One That Got Away, with shorter chapters and weekly updates: Sundays with teasers on Thursday.

In a world where magic has ceased to exist for hundreds of years, a sole male possesses an unknown power. It slumbers deep within him, churning and pleaded to come out.

But, he does not know what it is.

He's an everyday, ordinary man, with a mediocre job and tiny apartment and an obnoxious downstairs neighbor. Edward Cullen does not know what is in store for him when something inside him awakens and makes him the most powerful man in the world.

Goodbye, mediocrity ...

She is like him, ordinary, mediocre and stuck in a loveless marriage to a monster where she endures his anger and rage. But, within her soul, is another type of energy. It keeps her alive and pushes her forward, but she wishes it would just go away. Isabella Black just wants to end the nightmare of her life and start new.

Walking into a lawyer's office, she meets Edward Cullen and something between the two of them sparks. Not as a client and attorney.

Something deeper ...

Could it be the magic within?

The Magic Within

Chapter One

EPOV

Sighing, I stared up into the darkness. How did I get here? What do I want out of life?

Fuck, that's too existential for three in the morning, Cullen. Yes, you're stuck in a tiny apartment, working as a legal aid attorney and barely scraping by, but you're making a difference.

Am I?

I worked my ass off in college and law school, graduating the top of my class. Then, I worked for a prestigious firm and quickly rose through the ranks. That is … until I had a nervous breakdown. A huge breakdown during closing arguments on one of my hugest cases. My client lost and I was put on medical leave, only to return to work to be fired. I was a liability.

Now, I work for the little guy, the down-trodden, the broken, the battered and the lost.

Being paid bupkus.

Bitter much?

It didn't help that my adoptive parents practically abandoned me when I went through the roughest part of my life. I was a shame to the Cullen name. I was disinherited and tossed to the wolves. Well, Esme and Carlisle Cullen can kiss my pasty white, hairy ass. I don't need them.

The only person that I talk to is my adoptive sister, Alice. She helped me get back on my feet after I was summarily fired and disowned. However, when mums and daddums found out that she was helping me, she was threatened as well. Our phone calls were now limited to once a month. Alice calls me using a burner cell, giving me the details of my former life. I love my sister. I wish I was closer with her or if she grew a backbone, giving our parents the proverbial finger.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I digress …

Sighing again, I sat up and scrubbed my face. I was not going to go back asleep. Not now. The constant dripping of Mr. Ferguson's leaky faucet made me want to pee and Mrs. Sanchez's television was so loud that it made my floor vibrate. The entire apartment building could hear that she was watching her telenovelas. And that shit was fucking weird. I was hooked.

Plus, it helped with my Spanish. That's a necessity in my line of work. You'd be surprised how many people come into the legal aid office, not able to speak a lick of English. I was getting better. Carmen didn't need to come and translate for me if I had Spanish client. I did my best and used Google Translate.

That shit saved my ass.

I made my bed and hopped into the shower. I scrubbed my body before sitting down to work on a few briefs I had to draft. Plus, I had a new client scheduled for mid-morning. Carmen, my boss and savior, said that I would be the best person for this job after speaking with the woman. In my planner, printed in neat block letters, was a name … Bella B.

However, I had to get my ass into gear and finish the briefs because I was due in court in the late afternoon for an eviction case.

Working until my alarm went off, I tucked my computer into my briefcase and changed into a suit. I did manage to keep my kick-ass wardrobe from my time as a hot-shot attorney. I loved my Armani, Prada, and Dior. Just because my trust fund was liquidated due to my parents' shame and my former boss took away my expense account doesn't mean I had to look like a poor schlub.

I was determined to get back in the game. Legal aid was a stepping stone. Perhaps, I could work for the district attorney. I'd spoken to several lawyers and they were nosing around because I was the best attorney at the legal aid office, but my precarious mental health still raised red flags.

Damn it.

Perhaps this appointment with Bella B. will give me the momentum to get my career back on track. I was in my early thirties. It's too late for a career change. This had to work. I knew what I had to do with my life.

Do I?

A/N: Edward's a lawyer and a mess, but not too much of a mess. His parents are pretentious assholes who see illness as weakness. Edward's mental breakdown made him 'weak' in their eyes. And we'll meet his parents, at some point. Do they still feel the same way? Or has their tune changed?

Up next will be Edward's appointment with Bella B. Leave me some!