Page 27 of Neptune

I brush my fingers through his hair one last time before stepping away from the bed. When Luke and I reach the door, Luke turns off the light. We step out of Aiden's bedroom, and Luke closes the door with a soft thud.

While we're walking down the hallway, Luke takes my hand in his, and surprisingly— strangely— I allow him to.

"Where are we going?" I ask as he leads the way .

A smirk forms on his lips. "I still have something else for you."

It's almost midnight when Luke and I exit Aiden's room. Luke leads me as we walk along the hallway, and it seems like we're heading to the living room.

When we step into it, I'm greeted with loud voices.

"Happy birthday, Cassie!"

My eyes widen in surprise. My jaw drops as I stare at my team gathered in the living room. Oscar, Peter, Paul and Mike are all here, wearing colorful party hats.

Even Paul and Mike have their blow ticklers. Oscar is holding a bottle of wine, and more bottles lie on the bar counter.

"Guys," I echo, dumbfounded. "You're here!" I exclaim, having not expected that they would fly all the way from LA to New York for this surprise.

"Yes, we are, honey." Paul winks, totters toward me and pulls me into a hug. "It's all for you. Gosh, I missed you." He pulls away and studies me. "Damn. You're glowing. You look happy living here."

I blush. After that little celebration with Aiden just now, how could I not beam with happiness? Moreover, the birthday presents from Aiden and Luke have a very special place in my heart.

"I'm doing good." I smile, while the rest of them walk closer to me.

"Happy birthday, Cassie." Mike offers me a fist bump, which I gladly accept. He gives me a hug too.

"It's good to see you again, Cassie. Happiest birthday to you." Peter hugs me, and I hug him too, patting his back in a sisterly manner.

"Happy birthday, my dear star." Oscar spreads his arms before pulling me into a hug.

After we pull away, I can see that there's relief in his eyes, as if he's been wondering whether I've been doing okay or not.

"We've been anticipating this day and this kind of surprise.

Luckily, Luke called us a few days ago. It turned out that we were on the same frequency. "

I snap my head toward Luke and find him smiling. So, Luke has invited all of them here to surprise me. I feel like the ice in my heart is slowly melting.

Geez. If only he was like this every single day, I wouldn't have to think much about choking him to death.

Wait, maybe this is just a one-time thing. Maybe the devil edges away only for today and will be back once my birthday is over.

Oh, no. What if it's like that?

I stare at my team again, feeling grateful that today, on my birthday, I'm surrounded by love. But then something bothers my mind.

"Where's Morgan?" I blurt out.

Immediately, I regret voicing that question. I know that it will ruin everything. But I just can't help it.

Oscar sighs, guilt and sympathy on his face. "I'm sorry, Cassie. We did try to talk to her and tell her to come with us, but you know her, she wouldn't budge."

I should have expected that answer. Still, my heart sinks, and disappointment washes over me.

"But that's not the point, right?" Paul's voice snaps me out of my trance. He has a sad smile on his face. "The point is that we're all here for you, and you don't need to think about something that will only make you sad. Come on, Cassie, you deserve better."

The rest of the team nod in agreement, and I sigh. Little do they know that I'm feeling a hole in my chest from Morgan's absence. Morgan has never missed my birthday before.

When I was younger, Morgan never forgot my birthday because she would always promise me sweet things for my birthday present if I did what she wanted me to do.

Even when she gave me a dress that was too small for my body on my thirteenth birthday and I ended up grounded in my room because she thought that I was too fat, she didn't miss my birthday.

When I grew older as a superstar, people threw me a surprise party every year, and even though Morgan wasn't the one who initiated it, she was always there to join the celebration.

This is the first time that she isn't here.

However, I can't just let her ruin the moment—these people here have put in effort to make me happy.

"Of course." I smile at them. "Thank you for being here."

???

After the second surprise party is over, I lie on the couch inside my bedroom. I stare at the new picture that I just posted on Instagram—it's a picture of my team, Luke and I chilling in his living room, drinking wine and joking around, celebrating my birthday.

In that picture, I'm sitting on Luke's lap, both of us looking at the camera with a smile on our faces—our acting was pretty good for this kind of public display of affection, wasn't it?

I scroll down the comments, and many of my fans are wishing me a happy birthday. I log out of Instagram and check my text messages.

I've got plenty of wishes from my friends in the music industry. Jude even sent me a text too, but I haven't opened it.

Still, there's nothing from Morgan.

I scoff. This is crazy. Everything has been wonderful today—it was even too good to be true that I felt like I was in a dream, especially the moment with Aiden.

Why should Morgan ruin my mood just because she doesn't care about me?

Why should I be sad just because she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore? That she never thought of me as her daughter?

I feel something wet drop onto my cheek, and I startle. Wiping my tear, I let out a soft sigh.

I hate it. I hate that I still care about Morgan after all that has happened. I hate that I'm still crushed from feeling how much she hates me now.

But how could I not be heartbroken when I’ve always seen her as my mother?

For years, I did everything she wanted me to because I wanted to make her happy, to make her proud.

I love singing, but I went the extra mile because I loved her, because I wanted her to love me back.

But then, she cut all ties with me because I fired her. She only wanted me for business, not as her daughter.

What a fool I am.

Movement from the door startles me, and I realize that I forgot to close the door properly.

"Cassie," Luke's voice echoes as he knocks on the door. Before I have the chance to stop him, he slides the door open. "We still got some slices of the cake. You might want to put these into your refrigerator in case you're hungry later—"

He pauses when he notices me silently crying, hugging my knees. Abruptly, I stand up from the couch and walk toward the window, wiping my tears.

"What's the matter?" His voice is firm but filled with unmistakable concern.

"Nothing," I lie, hearing him put the plate on my dresser before approaching me.

He stops right behind me, but I'm too embarrassed to face him.

"You're no good at lying," he says.

I shake my head in denial.

"Cassie," he insists, his voice filled with impatience now. "What's eating you?"

I go silent. Seconds pass, and I appreciate it that he waits until I'm ready to let out my feelings.

"It's just..." I falter. "It's crazy that I'm still thinking about my stepmother—"

"Morgan?" he asks in disbelief, anger in his voice. "Come on, Cassie. Everyone else knows that she's not worth it. "

Oh, I beg to be like them. I wish I didn’t disagree.

"It's just—" I choke, still looking out of the window instead of facing him. "It's frustrating that she's not here when everyone was."

"Even if she'd been here, I wouldn't have let her step into this house." There's so much fury in Luke's voice that it sends shivers down my spine.

Luke holds my shoulders and slowly turns my body around so that we're now face to face. His beautiful hazel eyes bore into my broken, teary eyes.

Even though he doesn't speak anymore, I know what he's trying to say.

It's time for me to let Morgan go. To accept everything. To forget her, and to move on.

I know all of this, and that's why I was crying. Because it hurts so much to let her go, to forget the only person I’ve been holding onto since I lost my parents.

Why is it so hard? Why can't I just let go?

The same pain crosses Luke's eyes, and the next words that he utters surprise me.

" Cry ," he whispers.

Just one word, and it's enough to make my chest feel like exploding. All this time, I've always tried to be strong, to mask my face in front of the world, to maintain a perfect image as a public figure.

Just one time, I need to hear that word.

Before I know it, tears are streaming down my face, and Luke pulls me into a tight hug. I cry, I cry and I cry on his chest, hugging him back.

I've never completely let go in front of anybody, and it's ironic that Luke is the one holding me now while I'm breaking apart like this. My shoulders are shaking. My sobs echo in the room.

I don't know how long I've been crying like this, and there are times when I'm afraid that Luke will just abandon me. But he doesn't. Instead, every time I cry harder, he tightens his hold on me .

He must notice that my energy has been drained out of my body, because he then carries me, heading toward the couch.

He sits on it and places me on his lap, still hugging me tightly as I sob on his chest.

And slowly, I begin to let go.