Page 55 of Neptune

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CASSIE

Seven years ago

I 'm pregnant.

I was sitting on my toilet. My hand was shaking when I stared at the result of the test pack in my hand. It was positive.

Now I knew why I'd missed my period for two weeks. I'd never thought that this would happen to me, that I would be carrying Luke's child.

He'd pulled out when we made love last time, but I was aware that we hadn't been completely safe. Despite that, I hadn't taken the morning-after pill—how reckless.

Oh, God, what should I do?

I would take the test again—I'd bought three packs—but there was a low chance that this test result was wrong.

My whole body was trembling. I'd never been this scared my entire life.

???

Four Months Pregnant

I'd decided to keep the baby. I would never have the strength to do the abortion—I didn't have the heart to do it.

There was another life inside me, and this was mine and Luke's. This was ours. I wanted to keep our child.

When I came back from Hallstatt at the beginning of the year, I was still in the holiday period after my high school graduation.

I hadn't raised any suspicion from anybody. Morgan had never pushed me to go into college, and with this pregnancy, I doubted that I would be able to prioritize my studies.

She'd always wanted to shove me into Hollywood and make me a celebrity, and I was terrified to tell her the news, because that would make her dream vanish into thin air.

But now that my tummy was getting bigger after I'd passed the first trimester of my pregnancy, I couldn't hide it anymore.

Even though I'd tried to hide my morning sickness, Morgan finally found out that I was pregnant. I'd been wearing loose clothes, but who was I to fool?

My tummy had always been Morgan's concern. It needed to be flat, even when I wasn't pregnant.

And she was livid. The nightmare that I'd feared all this time finally came.

She landed a hard slap across my face, making me collapse onto the floor, my hand automatically pushing on the ground to prevent the crash because I didn't want my baby to get hurt.

"You little slut," she boomed, her loud voice echoing inside the entire house, her eyes bloodshot because of her rage. "You fucking whore. What have you done? Did you think that you could just sleep around and get pregnant?"

Tears rolled down my face as I touched my swollen cheek. I turned to her and cried, my lips trembling.

"You're a stupid, useless piece of shit," she hissed, her whole body shaking because of anger. "A baby will not do any good for our future. You're a fucking idiot. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Then maybe we could have done the abortion."

I abruptly shook my head.

"No," I stuttered. "I want to keep my child. This is my body and my child that you're talking about. I want this."

I stared at her with begging eyes, but it seemed to anger her even more .

Morgan pushed me against the wall, gripping my shoulders so tightly that it hurt. I winced in pain.

"You really have nothing in that useless brain of yours, don't you?" she bit out, her voice cold as ice. "If you keep the baby, what about our future? What about the career that I've already prepared for you? You could just kill the child, Cassie."

"No, please, let me keep this child." My tears streamed harder down my face.

Morgan's glare became more piercing the more I tried to argue with her.

"Do you even know the father? I haven’t seen you talk to any man these past few months." She snickered. "He must have wanted you to get rid of it too. Am I right?"

I let out a soft cry. "No, I know him," I whispered. "We made a promise."

But Morgan's words cut deep through my heart. Had Luke known about this, would he have hated me too?

Would he ask me to kill this child? That thought made me shudder. Luke wouldn't do something like that, would he?

And so I told Morgan about Luke, leaving out his name because there was no point telling her who he was—I didn't even know his last name.

By the time I finished my story, Morgan could only stare at me in utter disbelief.

"That was the stupidest story that I've ever heard," she spoke through gritted teeth. "Did you really believe him? He's a liar. He just wanted to fuck you. How could you be so stupid?"

I froze. Was I that stupid? I'd been thinking that I was crazy as well.

Had Luke only wanted to use my body and play around with me? But I still remembered how he detached himself from me right after he hugged my almost frozen-to-death naked body.

In fact, I'd been the one who lured him, and he'd kept asking me whether I wanted to sleep with him .

If he'd just wanted a casual fuck, why did he bother to make a vow and gave me a promise ring after we fucked and right before he left Hallstatt?

He could’ve just left without doing all of that, and we would never see each other again.

But then, he didn't even tell me his last name. Oh, God.

My heart felt like it was being stabbed from knowing that Morgan's words might be right. But my heart also told me to trust Luke, because what we had couldn't be explained by words.

It was something that only the two of us could feel.

Morgan's gaze darted to the ring on my finger, and disgust crossed her expression.

"Is he the man who gave you that ugly ring? What a fool you are, Cassie."

I swallowed.

"You'll be sorry for keeping that child."

???

Six Months Pregnant

I stared at the dinner that Morgan had prepared for me. It was rare for her to prepare the food—she usually insisted that I should be the one who cooked even though the smell from the kitchen sometimes made me nauseated due to my pregnancy.

Tonight's dinner for me was an over grilled steak. I knew that eating it wouldn't be good for my pregnancy, because the over grilled surface of the meat was carcinogenic and would harm my baby.

Sighing, I slowly cut the outer part of the meat until it was safe for me to eat it.

At least the steak was fully cooked. I still remembered the time Morgan prepared raw fish for me, which I hadn't eaten at all.

I loved sushi, but it was better for a pregnant woman to eat something that was well cooked, especially for seafood.

The case might not be the same for every woman, but I'd decided to play safe.

I didn't know whether she knew all that information, but if she did, then she might purposely try to make me lose my baby, and that thought frightened me.

After I finished eating my steak, Morgan's voice echoed from the living room, "Don't forget to wash the dishes."

I obeyed her. After cleaning the table, I walked to the kitchen to wash the dishes, but just as I was about to put the plate into the sink, I slipped.

My heart thumped hard as I quickly gripped the edge of the counter for support. That, however, made me drop the plate and it shattered on the floor.

My breathing was short and fast when I carefully stepped back to avoid the sharp pieces of the broken plate.

While my hands were still shaking, I let go of my grip on the kitchen counter and slumped against the wall in the corner.

I stared at what just happened before me, and my eyes widened as I saw an oil spill on the floor. It was no wonder that I'd slipped just now.

Who the hell had spilt the oil?

???

Seven Months Pregnant

I couldn't believe that I'd entered the third trimester of my pregnancy. No words could explain how joyful I was every time I could feel my child actively moving inside me.

Relief washed over me from knowing that my baby was healthy.

One day, I was entering my room when I saw Morgan standing beside my nightstand, staring at a glass of water on it.

I stopped short, watching with eyes wide as she slipped something into the glass. It looked like a tablet, which quickly dissolved in the water.

When she noticed me standing by the door, she abruptly turned around.

"I just wanted to check that you have enough water to drink in your room." She smiled too sweetly. "It's better to stay hydrated when you're pregnant."

I was too shocked to respond to her. Was she going to tell me about the tablet? I guess not.

"Make sure to drink plenty of water." She patted my shoulder before walking off, leaving me stunned.

When she closed the door behind me with a soft thud, I grabbed the water, rushed to the bathroom and threw all of it into the sink.

I walked back into my room, staring blankly ahead, panting.

What the hell just happened?

Morgan was really trying to kill my child. I let out a shaky breath, and a soft cry left my mouth as I collapsed onto the floor.

I leaned my back against the wall, unable to stop the tears that started to fall one by one.

It wasn't easy for me to have this baby. I was completely alone with no one to turn to, and to have Morgan trying to harm me and my baby was even worse.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, thinking about Luke.

I missed him. I missed him so much that it hurt.

I wished that he was here with me, but the only thing I could hold on to was his word. His promise. I hoped that he wouldn't change his mind if he knew that I was pregnant with his child.

He would come back for us, wouldn't he?

Seven years was a long time. How was I going to survive that? How was I going to survive Morgan?

Thinking that she could attempt to harm my baby again was enough to make me go crazy. I couldn't let that happen.

What should I do? I didn't know anything about Luke. I didn't know how to find him. If I stayed with Morgan for seven years, which I could imagine would be hell, was it all worth it?

Would Luke really pick me up after seven years?

I touched my belly, feeling great pain in my chest. I had to be strong for my child. If I was sad, my baby would be too.

I shouldn't feel stressed. The movement inside my tummy became rapid, and I gently caressed it. I soothed, trying to calm down.

I sang a lullaby even though my voice was shaking. It did work. My baby calmed down. My tears kept pouring down as I silently talked to my child.

Don't worry, my baby. I'm here for you. We're always together. I can't imagine my life without you. We're going to wait for daddy together.

He'll come back for us.

He would love you just as much as I do if he were here with us. You don't have to worry about anything in this world, because I will protect you no matter what.

Your daddy is my Neptune. Just like the story in mythology, he makes me feel as though I'm in dreams and illusions, sometimes with vagueness and uncertainty.

He's my Neptune, but you are my sun.

You're the light that gives me hope. You're the strength that keeps me going .

You're my everything .