Page 11 of Neptune

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CASSIE

M y hand is trembling as I sit again in front of the mirror, at the dresser. As usual, Paul is next to me. But now, I'm not in my house nor Ella's studio.

Right now, I'm in the fucking dressing room of the hotel where my wedding will be taking place.

Yes, today, this morning, I will be married to Lucas Klein. I can't believe how time has flown so fast.

Today, I'm a bride.

I'm wearing a long white wedding gown that has a deep V cut at the back. A beautiful lace pattern fully covers my arms and the sides of the dress, stopping at my waist, while the rest of the gown is just clean white down to the ground.

My hair is styled in a braided bridal updo.

"You look stunning. Gorgeous. Breathtaking," Paul can't stop complimenting me since he finished putting on my make-up, which he made natural and elegant. "Wait until Luke sees you. I wouldn't blame him if he’s too speechless to utter the vow."

But Paul's words don't make me feel any better. In fact, it makes me feel even more nervous. Will I really exchange vows with that man today?

I know that our marriage is a contract between us, but it doesn't mean that I haven't forgotten how sacred the word is.

Marriage . It's supposed to happen between two lovers who are willing to promise each other their lives. Not us. Not like this. Clearly, I think of it as a joke, and I'm going to take a vow of something that I don't mean. In front of the priest. In front of the world.

Thankfully, our wedding will not be aired live, but parts of it will definitely be aired in a few days on national television.

This is crazy. I don't even have any family to go through this with me now.

Someone knocks on the door, which is then opened, revealing Peter.

"Cassie, it's about time. Are you ready?" He approaches me but then frowns when he sees my condition.

I keep fidgeting. Peter and Paul look at each other, sharing a worried look.

"Did you see Morgan?" I ask, my voice shaking.

Why the hell am I even asking about her? Most likely, she won’t come. Not when I used this marriage to kick her out of her job.

Peter shakes his head sadly, signaling that the answer is negative. I know it, but still, that fact makes tears form in my eyes.

Yes, I wanted to kick her out of my career so that she could stop exploiting me. But I didn't mean to kick her out of my life. In fact, I did that because I wanted her back in my life.

Suddenly, her words echo back in my ears, " I didn't love your father when I married him."

My breath catches in my throat, and I swallow the lump in it. Will I only repeat what she has done?

I'm no different from her. I'm just the same. I'm about to marry a man that I don't love. This is the start of something very wrong.

I choke, "I can't do this." I look at Paul and Peter in horror, and the expression on their faces after they hear my words is even worse.

They look bloody frightened.

"Cassie, darlin'." Paul's voice is pleading.

He steps closer to me, but I abruptly get up from the dresser bench and pace around, panicky.

"No," I stutter. "I can't do this. I won't do this. "

God, what am I doing? All the guests must have arrived by now, and I'll be the nation's biggest joke if I cancel this wedding, which is supposed to be the biggest event this year.

But I can't do it.

Even if I do walk down that aisle, my legs will shake so hard—I'll collapse and embarrass myself. People will laugh at me nonstop—it will be aired on CNN. Oh, gosh.

"Cassie..." The colors on Peter's face drain as the sight of me about to cancel my own wedding strikes him like thunder in the middle of bright daylight.

The poor guy has been coordinating with the organizers to prepare the most phenomenal wedding this year, only to find that the bride is about to run away.

I clench my fists tight at my sides, my vision starting to get blurry with tears. Paul approaches me, while I catch sight of Peter abruptly calling someone.

"Cassie," Paul says, holding my shoulders firmly. "You can do this. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be okay. This is the best decision you've made to make everything better. To save everything you've been working hard for. To save yourself."

From Morgan .

Yes, I know that I'm doing this to survive. It's just human nature to do so. But then, how can Paul say so when he was also against this wedding in the first place?

Someone else steps into the room, making me snap my head toward them. Oscar is now standing by the door. He flashes a smile but then freezes when he sees me and the mess we're all in.

I'm still shaking. "I can't." Letting out a shaky breath, I shake my head in denial. "I don't even think that I can walk down the aisle." My legs feel so weak, like they’re about to collapse anytime soon.

Oscar approaches me with a concerned look. "You don't have to walk down the aisle alone. I'll be by your side."

His words touch my heart. The plan was to walk down the aisle alone because Dad's gone and Morgan wasn't going to come, and I haven't thought of anyone else.

But then, even though Oscar isn't a father figure to me, he's someone dear to me. He's been with me through the ups and downs of my life, guiding me along the way.

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for someone better, and I appreciate his effort to support me during this difficult time. Now, I regret underestimating the weight of my decision to get married. It isn’t until right at this moment that I become paranoid.

Another movement from the door startles me, and my eyes widen in shock. Now I know why Peter suddenly called someone.

Luke is standing there, anger radiating from his body. There's a split second when he seems starstruck as he stares at me, but then he strides toward me, his jaw tight.

Wait. What is he doing here? Aren’t the groom and bride not supposed to see each other before the wedding starts?

But of course, which groom wouldn't if he just heard that his bride was going to run away from him?

Oh, shit.

I'm in big, big trouble.

No, don't come closer.

I gulp as Luke steps closer to me with full strides, making me automatically retreat. I can't believe that he's here, in the bride's dressing room.

And I hate myself that even though I should have no time to think about this, Luke looks fine as hell in his navy groom suit.

Right. I suddenly want to rip my brain out of my head.

When Luke halts right in front of me, he hisses, "I want everybody else out of this room this instant." When there's no response due to the shock everyone else has, Luke clenches his jaw. " Now! " he hollers.

And that makes Paul, Peter and Oscar abruptly rush out of the room before closing the door. That might be useful to prevent the organizers or any other people from eavesdropping on our conversation, which I must say, will most likely be a fight.

I stare at my angry supposed-to-be future husband and step back again, only to knock the dresser behind me. Luke glares at me like he wants to end me for forgetting our deal.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asks.

I swallow hard, starting to regret the stupid thought that has crossed my mind that I could run away from him.

But then, his temper makes anger build up inside me too. It might be easy for him to do this fake marriage thing—he has no idea how the thought of taking the sacred vow just for the sake of lying in front of the whole world has messed with my mind.

Not everyone is heartless like him.

So I raise my chin, shooting him the same glare.

"It's not my fault," I say. "You pushed me into this marriage. You didn't mean to help me. If you did, you would have helped me without shoving me into this ridiculous game. You took advantage of my trapped state. How can I make such a vow to someone like you?"

"Cassie, we had a fucking deal." His voice is menacing, deadly.

I scoff in disbelief.

"Right. You're a fucking businessman. I get it. And I'm sick of it." My voice is shaking due to the emotion eating me inside—I'm trying my best not to shed a tear. "I'm tired of everybody always talking about business around me. I'm tired of people using me."

Even my own family, Morgan, is using me for money, for her ambition. She has admitted that she used Dad too, that she never loved him. And I'm about to enter a marriage in which both people are using each other, not because they care about and love each other.

" Cassie ." Luke's voice is shaking, but unlike me, who's shaking from holding my tears, he's shaking from holding his anger. "You're talking about people ruining your life. Do you think that getting out of this marriage now would do any good for yourself?"

I'm stunned. Now that he said it like that, my mind is filled with many thoughts. Say, I walk away from this marriage, what will happen to me?

The embarrassing news will reach the media, and in no time, the whole world will know about that.

I'll be the nation's joke once again. They may think that I'm indeed a bitch who doesn’t want to settle down, an ungrateful woman who ditches her future husband who loves her and has stayed by her side during the lowest point of her life—I mean, I've made him sound like an angel to the rest of the world.

I know that many girls would kill to be in my position, to marry Luke.

And Luke won't be there to cover up all those dirty headlines anymore after what I'll have done to him.

Worse, some men who've always wanted to get to me will come back to bother me again, which will be the perfect fuel for the paparazzi.

Worst of all is that Morgan will think that I'm nothing without her, because apparently, my life didn’t get any better after she left me.

In short, it would be a mess. It would be shitty.

I cover my mouth with my hand, pacing around again. My heart thumps so wildly that I feel like it's about to explode out of my chest. Oh, God, am I having a panic attack?

"No, no," I deny, still pacing around in the room, feeling so lost.

"Cassie, look at me," Luke says.

"What should I do?" I rasp. "Oh, God, what am I gonna do?"