Just re-read my own story, since I wrote this 3 years ago, and I still get reviews telling me how horrible a story it is and how I've undermined the female population. I guess I'm just writing this to try and change the mind of any future reader, although, if you hate Edward as well, then that's okay too.

But even now, I still don't see Edward as a terrible guy that is beyond forgiveness. And I don't see Bella as a girl who let a man control everything about her. I see two people who have been madly in love for 13 years get thrown into this terrible ordeal where their entire world got turned upside down, and then they BOTH reacted badly. Bella could have left at any time - she knew Edward was cheating, and she knew that he was doing it for revenge - but she didn't for the simple reason: She was punishing herself. Deep down she understood what Edward was so callously angry about. She understood why he wanted to hurt her. Edward wanted a baby more than anything, but because Bella made one stupid decision, that was taken away from them forever. I think if I was to re-write this, however, I would take out the part of her finding out she could never have children. Perhaps if her losing the baby was more a shock, more people could put themselves in Edward's shoes more.

That doesn't excuse the methods in which Edward used - he could have left her, as well, but I think both were holding on to each other because as mad as he was at her, and as much as he hated her at that point and didn't think he would ever get over it, he was still shocked when she told him to leave. He honestly did not want to leave, and life without Bella seemed bleak and empty - he just didn't realize that he had actually forgiven her until it was too late. That was his fault, which is why in the end Bella hasn't touched him yet, and Bella still has memories and flashes of the other girls.

Will they end up together? Who knows. Perhaps Bella realizes down the road that she can't forgive Edward after all, and I fully acknowledge that Edward has a lot more to be forgiven for than she did, but the point of the end was that she was trying. She wanted to have him in her life more than she wanted him out of her life. It happens a lot, you know, someone cheats and then the couple moves past it. This wasn't that out of the blue, and whenever anyone says "I don't understand how she could get over it!" I always get surprised. People grow. People change. And people forgive. That was really the point of the story. If you didn't get that at the end, that's okay, I'm okay with that, and I still want to hear your honest opinions of the characters. But Emmett's and Rosalie's relationship is one side of cheating - Emmett couldn't forgive, he couldn't get past it. Edward and Bella's is the other - forgiveness, therapy, working it out slowly.

I don't like having to defend my own character, but after three years of poor Edward getting bashed, I felt like I should. I do appreciate each and every review, however, even the negative ones. But I just don't see how some people said that this story was disrespectful to women in general - women, men, people cheat and people forgive.

I know this was long, but hopefully some people find some of the answers that perhaps they missed in the story.

Again, thank you so much for reading, and please leave all HONEST reviews - be they negative or otherwise. I do want to know what you think.