Page 59 of Fathom

The best possible life for any children Eun and I might have would involve getting off this planet and away from these people as fast as possible.

My stomach fluttered again with that low edge of panic-tinged excitement, and suddenly, I knew.

I knew it from the way I craved him, the way his mere touch could light me up and make me scream his name. I knew it deep down in my very bones, and if I was right, in a few more days, I would feel it as a strangeness. An older friend of mine had told me she felt it the moment the hormones started to shift, when she went to do yoga in the morning, and suddenly the stretching became all too easy to the point that it felt dangerous.

I put my hand on my belly again and lifted my chin, still holding her gaze.

"Eun and I will go home to our apartment tomorrow," I said. "Let's set up an appointment here, in a month, to have me checked by a doctor; you pick the one, as I know you will select the best of the best. We will have more excuses to come by, and eventually our visits will become so frequent that it will be second nature to move in. If we try to force this on him too quickly, I will lose my hold on him. It needs to be gradual."

"That is an acceptable plan," she said. "But the doctor's appointment will be in two days' time, and you'll return tomorrow for the photoshoot. If you give Eun time to think about this, he will run away. You need to press your advantage."

"Four days for the doctor and two days for the photoshoot," Isaid. "I snagged Eun, didn't I? I know what convinces him better than you do. He will need time to calm down. He is upset by all of this."

All four of her eyes narrowed. "Tomorrow evening. He is used to operating under pressure."

She was getting suspicious.

"You can get that fitted to me properly by tomorrow?" I asked as I gestured towards the tiara. "If I am going to be pushing Eun to come back faster, I am going to need an incentive, and ill-fitting gems won't do. I need things that will look good in my closet."

The tension of her suspicion left her body as soon as I mentioned a desire for wealth again.

"You can't keep expensive things like that in a slum," she said.

"Then I expect by the time we move in here, I will have a good collection waiting for me," I said, putting the weight of my expectation in my words.

I wanted her to believe she could buy me.

Her ear twitched towards the door.

"Your husband will be here soon," she said. "I will see you back here tomorrow evening."

"In that case, we will be leaving tonight," I said. I glanced over at the servant, still standing there with a tiara in an open box, like a piece of furniture. "You there, make sure a car is ready for us to leave."

His mother gave me another long look, and I stared back at her, refusing to drop my gaze as I tried to project the image of a strong, determined predator who would do whatever it took to marry into wealth. As long as she saw my agenda as lining up with the things she understood in the world, the leash would be slack enough for us to slip free.

"Do as she says," his mother said.

"I look forward to seeing what my new family gives me as the first of my wedding presents," I said as I lifted the gown again, inspecting how it was constructed, pulling it apart in my mind to see how I could create something in that style and make it mine. It would really make the gems' gorgeous blue pop.

"Don't push it, dear," his mother said with a soft growl, her threat undisguised. "If you can't control Eun, we will find other uses for you."

"I promise you Eun will do exactly what I tell him to do," I replied as she moved to leave. "You can count on that."

TWENTY

EUN

I stood at the door to my suite, my hands limp at my sides, my stomach churning like I’d swallowed glass, my wife's words crystal clear as the servant exited the room.

Everything I knew about her was a lie.

My father had laid it out like a feast I never asked for: the leadership of one of his companies, full support, resources, protection. I wouldn't have to marry Barathice, but I would pass that obligation on to my future children, dooming them to a life I grew up in and wanted to escape. And the worst part, the part that twisted the blade, was that the company he wanted me to helm was focused on manufacturing artificial meat for predators.

It was everything I’d dreamed of wrapped up in everything I hated. A way to change things from the inside. A product that could shift the balance, ease suffering, and replace blood with somethingclean.

And I hadn’t even known it existed.

He’d started it for me, as a way to reel me back in. He had listened to what bothered me, what the public was clamoring for, and pivoted. Now that I had a wife with traits they deemed desirable, the worst of my complaints, the forced marriage to Barathice, was no longer a requirement. I could have wealth, power, and the utter privilege to run a company that produced something that could do good in the worlds.