1 Bride for Sale
It had been seven years since Feng Xuan was last seen in Chengshi. She stretched out her long limbs that had gotten stiff from her fourteen-hour flight, breathing in the slightly polluted air of the city.
A shiny black limousine slowly skidded to a stop in front of her and out came the driver with a familiar smile. "Welcome home, Young Miss."
Feng Xuan returned the driver's smile and stepped up to engulf him in a quick hug. "How are you, Mr. Chao?"
Mr. Chao had been Feng Xuan's father's driver since she could remember. The driver used to drop-off and fetch her from school when she was in elementary. Feng Xuan's father was really generous with his employees, the reason why they last so long with him. "I am good, Young Miss. How was your flight?"
"Energizing," she answered. Feng Xuan slept most of the flight and only awaken a few minutes before its landing. The driver opened her door and she got inside, where there was a white box wrapped with a ribbon waiting for her. It was a brand new phone.
After Mr. Chao placed Feng Xuan's baggages in the car trunk, he came back to the driver's seat. "Your father is waiting for you at The Kingly Hotel. You are going to have lunch with him."
Feng Xuan nodded at the driver through the rearview mirror as she was transferring her contacts from her old phone. She took in the rapidly rising city near the airport. The last time she had been in Chengshi, the road to the airport had almost been a desert except for the few starting establishments and construction near the area. As she looked, there were more buildings styled in modern architecture—a mix of angles and geometric shapes.
Which one is it? Feng Xuan asked herself.
Feng Xuan knew very well why she had been sent back to Chengshi when she was meant to stay overseas for another couple of years.
She was going to get married.
The problem was, she didn't know to whom.
Does it really matter? She asked herself again.
It was not like she had an opinion on who she would be getting married to. Once her father and another negotiator struck up a deal, it will be end game for her.
I could marry anyone! She thought to herself.
Just please don't be old, Feng Xuan followed up with a thought.
She did not want to end up like her great-grandmother who had been sold off by her parents to an old—almost dying—rich man when she was just twenty years old. Her great-great-grandparents were normal citizens. They were ordinary people, but when this old business tycoon spotted the beauty of her great-grandmother in an office gathering she had been forced to come to, it was game over.
Feng Xuan shrugged a shoulder in her mind. She wouldn't blame them for selling off their daughter. People would do anything to get out of the working class, and their daughter had been their one-way ticket to it. Besides, the old man had died in less than three years, just long enough to leave a daughter, her grandmother.
With their new acquired status, her grandmother also had an advantageous wedding. But of course, they had chosen the richest of the bunch trying to woo her. Ever since then, the women in Feng Xuan's family had been known as "The Brides For Sale". The same fate happened to her aunt and her mother, and her older cousin, and now it was Feng Xuan's turn.
She did not think that her father would've chosen her an old groom. But there was still a slight possibility of that happening. They never really knew in the business world. Everyone shuts up when the money talks.
It was a short drive from the airport to The Kingly Hotel. Soon enough, Feng Xuan was staring at its glass-covered walls, the two tall buildings looming like skyscrapers trying to fork the sky. The rays being reflected back to the sun looked blinding.
She had been in The Kingly Hotel when she was younger, it had just newly opened the first building and her father loved celebrating occasions in the said hotel. Aside that it was almost isolated from the rest of the world that time, it was also close to the airport and her father loved being in the casino with foreigners.
Despite knowing her inevitable fate, she felt this sinking feeling in her stomach. As if something heavy was placed on top of it. She couldn't help but swallow when she saw that they were almost near the driveway of the hotel. Her heart almost stopped beating the same time the tires halted.
"We are here, Young Miss," Mr. Chao smiled at her from the rearview mirror.
"Thank you, Mr. Chao," she said as a bellhop opened her door. Feng Xuan stepped out and muttered a thanks before making her way to the entrance.
She could feel her heart hammering against her ears and everything in her seemed to scream DO NOT GO. But she battled her way through it, put one foot in front of the other while trying to control her breathing.
She couldn't imagine the relief she felt when she saw her father sitting alone in a table. There he was, the great Feng Lizhao. She frequently saw her father even when she was overseas; he would come to see her once in two months. But seeing him, in that gray one-sitter that almost matched the color of his hair, holding a tiny white cup that made him seem larger than he already was, a small smile on his lips as he took a sip, it melted Feng Xuan's heart that her father looked so excited to see her.
But behind Feng Lizhao's eyes, Feng Xuan knew that there was something else he was excited about.
Feng Xuan told herself, "I really am getting married."
*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE: (This is the third time I am posting these warnings so everybody could read it before diving into this book)
WARNINGS: (If you comment anything about this, I will direct you to read these AGAIN)
1. This is a slow-paced story, because of this ROMANCE CAME LATE FOR THE LEADS. I'm saying this again, LATE. There's a huge reason behind this, if you will be patient you'd get there.
2. Male Lead is weak AT FIRST. As this story is slow-paced, character development took a while.
3. Female Lead will start to reawaken around Chapter 80 and ML will rise into his full potential shortly afterwards--once you start reading you'll know why it took this long.
4. This book is not just about the romance part, it is also has a lot of mystery and later on, action in it.
