Neptune

Chapter 17 | The Boy

Am I looking at the same person? Because here, I see Lucas Klein laughing with a little boy who looks at him like he's some kind of angel.

And right now, anybody would believe that. Luke's cold exterior and ruthless personality suddenly melt away like ice into water as soon as he sees the boy.

I rub my eyes to make sure I don't have any problem with my sight.

Luke puts down the boy, whom I assume is Aiden, onto the ground. Aiden turns to me, and now I can take a good look at him. From what I'm seeing, he's probably around six or seven years old.

He's brown-haired and has a pair of big and beautiful eyes, the color of which is close to Luke's hazel but more brownish. No, it's not hazel—it's amber.

When he smiles at me, I think that he has the most adorable smile in the world. Well, it seems that good looks run in the family's genes.

Aiden approaches me, and I bend down. To my surprise, he hands me a drawing, and it takes my breath away.

No, it's not a drawing. It's a painting of a brown-haired lady wearing heels in front of a house, which imitates this exact house—whoever painted it has done a really good job.

In the picture, smaller figures stand by the house—a tall man, a little boy, a woman wearing a maid uniform and another man wearing a driver uniform.

Above the house, there's a writing that reads, Welcome Home.

My lips form into a soft smile even when I don't remember moving them. I look up from the painting and gaze at the adorable boy. He looks so happy, smiling from ear to ear.

"Welcome to our home," Aiden says.

My heart feels like exploding because of his warm welcome.

Cupping his cheek, I say, "Thank you, Aiden." He blushes when I return his smile with a big one. "Did you paint this yourself?"

He nods.

"It's beautiful," I tell him truthfully, with all my heart. "I love it so much. Thank you."

I embrace him in a hug, feeling his tiny hands wrap around my back. When we pull away, I ruffle his hair, making him grin.

We enter the house, and just like I expected, it is spacious. The interior is extravagant. The walls and fireplace speak luxury. There's a swimming pool at the back, across the living and playing room.

When I pass the music room, a small gasp escapes from my lips. I halt and step into it. What takes my breath away the most is the baby grand piano standing in the corner of the room next to a tall window overlooking the back garden of colorful gerbera daisies.

I see my guitar already set in place—Peter and Paul hired assistants to move my stuff into Luke's house before the wedding so that I wouldn't have any trouble moving in.

I bet they've already had my other stuff and clothes settled inside my new bedroom too.

"Aiden has been dying to see you play the piano," Luke says, while Aiden appears beside him.

I beam at Aiden. "Of course. We should play music together, Aiden. I will play your favorite songs."

"Really?" Aiden asks, his eyes glinting with excitement.

I nod and notice that Luke smiles, watching us.

Again, this is a rare sight. Luke smiles. Smiles. Not a smirk. Or scoff.

I quickly brush my good thoughts away. He might not reveal his devil's horns because of Aiden. He's such a good actor, isn't he?

I suddenly feel a headache again just from thinking about how much he can irritate me now that we live in the same house.

"I think that I'm going to take a rest for a while first," I say, wanting to take a warm bath to relax my muscles and lie down after the long journey.

"Well then, let me take you to the room," Luke says, and I follow him, smiling one last time at Aiden before walking off.

Luke leads me to a spacious bedroom that has another breathtaking view of their garden, and I notice that it's the master bedroom. The room feels masculine and so much like Luke.

"Excuse me?" I echo, still following him as he walks further into the room. My eyes widen in shock as I see my beauty essentials already settled on the dresser.

Did they really put my belongings here?

I shake my head in disbelief. Luke turns around, and that mischievous smirk is back again on his face.

See? What did I say? I want to pull my hair out in frustration.

"What?" Luke tilts his head, amusement in his eyes as he enjoys the sight of me getting fed up again. "Since we are husband and wife, I don't have any problem with us sharing the same room."

"I have a problem with that," I say. I can't believe that he apparently thinks that I would sleep with him. "No way. I will have my stuff moved out of this room right away."

He scoffs. "I'm not staying away from my wife. You should do the same."

"Wife?" I bark.

OK, we might be legally married, but did he forget that it's just a contract between us?

"Husband and wife, you said?" I scoff. "That's funny. You don't even know me that well."

He sighs before shaking his head in disbelief too. A small laugh of frustration escapes from his mouth. "Try me."

"Really?" I challenge him. "I bet that you don't even listen to my songs. Do you even know what music I make?"

Silence falls.

"'On My Way,'" he says, making me go silent.

"What?"

"'On My Way,'" he repeats. "That's one of your songs. "'Every Breath.' 'Believe,'" he mentions the titles of my songs one by one, and I'm surprised that he knows my old songs.

I'm taken aback, but then I blurt out, "What about my new songs?"

"I don't find them interesting," he retorts. "They're boring. Lack of originality. Can't feel anything listening to them." He shrugs.

And I feel like opening my mouth to yell at him, but nothing comes out. It's because I know that he's right, no matter how much I hate to admit that.

I didn't really put my heart and soul in my latest tracks—I was too busy trying to understand what Morgan wanted, what the producer wanted, the latest hits and what people wanted to see of me.

I wasn't myself when I wrote the songs. So, Luke can see all of that? One more thing I've learned about Luke is that he's someone who won't do sugarcoating when he voices his opinions.

He does it bluntly.

"So, how many songs should I get right to have you sleep in my bed?" His playful tone is back again as he teases me, making my cheeks heat up.

"In your dreams," I hiss before walking away from his room.