Alix had not even mentioned half of the things that Billi had done to her and she could go on and on all day but these people could care less about them. None of the things she mentioned had fazed them in the slightest and they were determined to see her marry Zhang Caishen.
Who in the country did not know what happened to Zhang Caishen a year ago? He got into an accident on the Nanhe bridge. Fifteen people had died when a part of the bridge fell in. Zhang Caishen had barely survived but he lost all movement in his legs. It was said that he was permanently crippled and he would never walk again.
Even Zhang construction had been affected in his absence because he was the current CEO, governing the company after the death of his father six years ago. The news was everywhere that Zhang Caishen's era had come to an end.
Billi had made herself inconspicuously absent from Zhang Caishen's life ever since his accident, vanishing from the country. She was constantly competing in music competitions from one country to another. She did not shy away from exposing her musical journey from everyone, sharing it on every social media platform of hers.
She had returned to the country two months ago when the Zhang's set a wedding date. She was fitted for a wedding gown and then she left the country again.
Now, Alix realized that Billi had been buying time while she and her mother came up with another plan to allow her escape the marriage, after all how could the diva Lin Billi marry a crippled man whose financial status was hanging in the balance? Billi was probably hunting for another man, one who was just as rich and influential as Zhang Caishen was.
Someone banged on the closed door loudly, "It's time for the bride to make an entrance, why is the door closed? Bride, are you okay in there? Should we call someone?"
"She is fine." Jing Hee replied loudly and rudely.
The three people looked at each other and their desperation set in again. Zhang Caishen might be crippled now but he was still a magnanimously more influential than they were. The Zhangs had a business that went back four generations, their connections alone could cover the sky in the country and to deal with a small family like theirs would be very easy for them.
Lin Qianfan became even more desperate because he wanted to be associated with the Zhang's and he would do all it took to accomplish this. He did not really care which daughter of his married into their family as long as she had the name Lin. It would help his business if he was viewed as a relative of the great Zhang family.
He stood up and grabbed Alix by the arm really hard. Looking at her with unfathomable rage, he said through gritted teeth, "You will not ruin this for me. You marry Zhang Caishen or I will feed that old nanny who raised you to the sharks. Don't think that I don't know that you have been looking after that wicked old wretch after I threw her out of my house. I have people watching her and they will move if I give the order."
Alix felt her heart dropping and its beating quickened. He knew!! She thought in alarm. How did he know?
Nanny Luo Ling was the only one who cared for her in that house. She had been hired by her mother before Alix had been born and she had stayed on after her mother died. Her father had stopped paying her wages but nanny Ling stayed. She got a part time job cleaning one of the houses in the neighborhood just so that she could stay with her. But even she had not survived Jing Hee because she was accused of trying to poison Billi and thrown out of the house.
"Father!" Alix said in disbelief.
"Put on the dress or she dies, it's your decision. " Her father told her coldly.
For the last time, Alix looked at the two people who should have been closest to her, her grandmother and her father. They were going all the way, it seemed. There would be no stopping this train once it started moving. She wondered why she had struggled so hard to keep them in her life. What was so good about family that did not love you or care for you? Wouldn't it be better to do as her friend Shi Holea had said; cut herself off from them and live a good life?
"Marry Zhang Caishen and double the rewards from the infinite luck gaming system." A voice in her mind said.
This was a voice that she knew quite well; it appeared one day out of the blue and started rioting in her mind for a week asking her to accept the gaming system.
She finally grew tired of the ruckus and accepted it yesterday, and immediately she received a weird fruit that she ate and it restored some sensation in her lame fingers. The excitement she felt could not be described by words because it was out of this world.
Finally, she had hope that all the experts she had ever been to in different countries had failed to give her. If the system told her to marry him, she would do so immediately as long as it cured her.
Suddenly, she stood up and took in a deep breath. As she did so, she noticed her grandmother raising that cane of hers to hit her back as she did often. Her father's grip on her arm tightened painfully to a point of making her wince.
She laughed dryly, feeling sorry for herself and she made up her mind. She wiped her eyes and shook her head.
"I will get married," she said. "But, I don't want to ever see any of you again in my life. Don't ever come looking for me for anything because I, Lin Alix will never come looking for you. Father, from now on you can consider it that you have only one daughter and the other one is dead."
"You insolent bitch, you are just like that harlot mother of yours." Her grandmother yelled and sent her cane flying through the air, making a loud whoosh as it approached her.
Alix, for the first time in her life caught the cane, stared coldly at her grandmother and threw it right back at her. It went flying over her grandmother's head, hit the wall and fell to the ground.
The three colluders let out a collective gasp and stared at Alix in disbelief as if they were seeing her for the very first time.
Her father immediately raised his hand, aiming for her cheek but he was thwarted by Alix who caught his hand and said, "If you slap me Mr. Lin, I will return that slap as well. In fact, I might add some more for all the times you slapped me in the past. I don't think grandpa Zhang will be very happy to see the new bride with finger marks on her cheek."
Since her father was desperate for ties to the Zhang's he would not touch her so she did not hesitate to use it to threaten him.
"You unfilial wench." Her step mother shouted. "How dare you threaten your father?"
Alix raised took off her yellow jacket and her right hand opened the upper most button of her shirt. "I am going to undress and wear the wedding gown. The person who knocked on the door must be returning again with that help he spoke of, after all the bride is already late. Father, no Mr. Lin, unless you want to create a scandal, get out." She said coldly.
Her father clenched his jaw and eyed her like a viper that wished to strike out at her.
"Watch her." He told his wife and mother and then he left the room.
"Hurry up, take it off." Her grandmother shouted.
Before their eyes, Alix took off her clothes and changed into the wedding gown. The long white dress with a sweetheart neckline made of lace was very beautiful. It had these intricate patterns, pearls and sequins which caught the light winking like little stars dancing in the sky at night. On the right bride, it would be a vision to behold but on her, it was a tight fit which made it hard for her to breathe. She was taller than Billi, so the gown appeared to be ill fitting in a way.
"You cannot even do the dress justice, tsk, tsk, Billi would have looked so much better in it." Her grandmother said.
Ignoring her grandmother's snarky comments and Jing Hee's smug look, she placed a veil on her head covering her face completely.
"Put on the shoes." Her stepmother told her.
"Billi's shoes don't fit me." She said.
"Just squeeze your feet into them and stop making trouble. Who told you to have manly feet?" Her grandmother shouted. "You said that nanny Ling is like your grandmother so picture her and wear the shoes to save her life."
Ah, so they had all colluded together long before she was dragged into their trap. It's okay, I will get you back for all this, she thought.
Forcing her feet into the white shoes, Alix endured the pain as she was escorted out of the dressing room by the two women. Her father had not even gone far; he was standing outside the door like a bodyguard.
They literally shoved and pushed her to the wedding hall; her father forced her arm in his and walked her down the aisle.