Something was wrong, Zhang Caishen thought, things always went wrong at weddings and he knew that his would be no different. He never wanted to get married in the first place. After all, which woman would willingly tie herself down to a crippled man except for a greedy one that wanted benefits?
Lin Billi was not the selfless kind of woman; he knew this from the few times that he had met her. She chased her own glory so it was very unsettling to him that she would consider going through with this wedding.
Still, to alleviate his mother's broken heart and his grandfather's fears, he accepted to marry the bride that was arranged for him when he was still a boy.
His mother had put so much effort into the wedding, spending so much money to prove that the Zhang's were still wealthy and connected.
She booked an expensive wedding hall and employed the most artistic decorators who turned the hall into the closest place to a fairy world if one existed. From the chandeliers, artistic centerpieces, drapery, table settings to heavy and unnecessary floral arrangements, everything was on point.
The guests were very much impressed, expressing their sincere or insincere good wishes to the bride and groom. Everyone had a smile on their face, real or fake except for the groom whose still and calm face gave away nothing.
Caishen neither looked happy or sad, he was just uninterested. He wondered why nobody seemed to notice or care that the bride had been delayed. Then again, they were all taken in by the luxuriousness of the wedding hall and other things.
Eventually, he was pushed to the front by his elder brother and informed that the bride was coming.
Right from the onset however, he noticed that something was off. It was slight but it almost looked like the bride was being dragged to the altar by her father.
And then, there was her height, she was taller than Lin Billi. He also noticed the nervousness of his father-in-law which the man tried to cover up with a forced smile.
Something was wrong with the bride, but he did not want to dwell on it because of his mother's beautifully relieved smile. As they took the wedding vows, he got his answer finally; she was not the real bride and he did not need to take off the veil covering her face to know who she was.
He had investigated the Lin's thoroughly and he had an understanding of their family. The oldest daughter had been involved in some kind of accident and her left hand had three damaged fingers. Two fingers barely moved while a third one was slightly bent inwards.
These were the fingers of the oldest sister and not the younger one.
So, the Lin's had actually dared to play a fast one on them by having him marry the oldest and unwanted daughter of their family. Very good, Lin Qianfan, I will teach you a lesson for daring to think that you can treat me like a stupid man. Even though he did not care who he married, he was still offended by what the Lin's had done.
He looked at the Lin family members who were smiling and clapping with their fake smiles. The mother of the bride even dared to wipe fake tears away as if she actually cared about her step daughter.
Zhang Caishen smiled wryly when she finished saying her vows. He gripped her hand a little tightly as he slipped the ring on her finger and he sneered when she lowered her body and he took off the veil which resulted in the crowd gasping.
Many of them had a similar thought, this was not the bride. This thought was followed by the question, who has Zhang Caishen married? Not everyone recognized Lin Alix; she was the unknown Lin family's daughter, unlike Lin Billi who had national and some minor international fame.
The wedding hall was plastered with pictures of Lin Billi, she was the one they expected to see, not this stranger!
The Zhang's were taken aback as well, and they looked at the Lin's. What have you done? Their eyes asked.
Luckily, Zhang Caishen's secretary who was also acting as the host for the ceremony was very quick and sharp.
"Ladies and gentlemen, being introduced you for the first time as husband and wife, the groom Mr. Zhang Caishen and his bride Mrs. Lin Alix."
The Lin's were very eager to clap and the unwilling Zhangs followed suit which prompted other people into following suit however the damage had been done. The whispers were already travelling around the hall, faster than the wind could carry them.
"That is the oldest daughter of the Lin family."
"She stole her younger sister's husband, what a scandal!"
"The Lin's are so bold to double cross the Zhangs like this. There is going to be a blood bath in the capital city in the next few days."
Zhang Caishen was ruthless in the way he dealt with his enemies and competition; he decimated them and left them on the ground. Most people in the business world knew not to try and double cross him. If he had been fooled, he would not take it laying down.
Some of the guests looked forward to seeing the events which be following in the next days to come.
Still, everyone faked their reactions, congratulated the couple and stayed on until the end of the ceremony. The news however was out; the oldest daughter had stolen her sister's man.
Alix was so uncomfortable with all the stares and whispers that she excused herself and returned to the bridal dressing room. As she picked up the few pearls which remained of the bracelet her mother left her, she wiped away a tear again because Jing Hee had maliciously stepped on a few pearls, crushing them deliberately under her heels.
She vowed in her heart that she would use the fortune of the Zhang family which they wanted so desperately to crush on them as they had done to her.
She also found her bag which had been tossed in the corner and immediately called her old nanny. She got no response, which worried her. Had her father lied and he had already harmed her?
She called someone else, her bestfriend Holea and to her relief Holea picked up immediately.
"You, are you crazy? Why am I seeing images of you online as young master Zhang's wife? Some people are calling you a home wrecker. I warned you not to go for that wedding with the way they were insisting that you be there. What happened?"
"Holea," Alix called her friend desperately, "Please listen to me first. I need you to drive to studio apartments block B and check on the occupant of 33B. Please, go quickly and tell me if you find her. If you don't, find her, ask any of the neighbors what happened to her." She hung up quickly before her friend could ask anymore questions.
She kicked the ill fitting shoes off her feet, ignoring the blisters which had formed on some of her toes. The back of both her feet hurt as well and had slight wounds which were caused by the way the heels dug into the skin.
She hissed and squatted down. Then, she hit her yellow heels really hard on the ground, breaking the heels off and turning them into flat shoes.
She needed to leave and find her old nanny immediately.
As for Zhang Caishen, she would stay away from him for a while and see how he wanted to proceed. If possible, she would explain the circumstances which had led down this path.
The door swung open and she looked up quickly. Her eyes met with Caishen's cold ones which were looking at her with disgust.
"Let's go." he commanded in a cold tone.