Chapter 4 - A star must be there for hopes to exist.

Dongmei, after a while, took a long breath and pulled herself back; she looked at the faces of maidservants and laughed. Then, she hit the pillow and slapped her thighs as her laughter seemed genuine.

However, none of the seven maidservants dared to accompany her in this weird behavior. She was mocking her dumbness to believe such an absurd thing. A moment later, her face went straight from all joyful to straight and dipped in seriousness.

The sudden transition gave the maidservants chills; they looked at each other as if saying, 'She has lost her mind.'

Dongmei looked at them, rubbed her thighs, and asked, "Will he kill you? You all will lose your job at the very worst, Don't worry! Though I don't have money or power, I can ask the butler to take you all into our servant group."

The maidservants did not react to her as they all were lost in thoughts like, 'Is she unaware of our Master's personality?.'

'How can the Only Miss of Bai family be so broke?'

'How can she have no power or money? We were expecting some bonus tip, privately from her.'

Dongmei snapped her fingers to pull them back and said, "I know your thoughts."

"Don't worry! I will ask my brother to lend me some money." She said in a joking manner as she leaned down on the comfy bed.

One of the young maidservants' jaw dropped, and she asked, cleaning her eyesight, "Do you have an older brother?"

Dongmei made a weird expression and said, "I wish I had one. What's wrong?"

"You mean you will ask for money from young master Bai An?" the maidservant returned to her position disappointed.

"Who else?"

"Why all of you are acting so unprofessional inside my room?" She said, getting annoyed by their expressions.

The maidservant who had first hurried to explain said, "Miss Bai, Please don't be offended by us. You may not know Mr. Lin. But trust us, we have seen servants dying before us."

A horror wrapped Dongmei's face as she turned blue and hopped up, "What nonsense? You know you can be imprisoned for defaming people."

The maidservant said as she knelt on the ground, "May I die the worst death if I am saying anything wrong to defame him."

"He is a cruel Mafia boss; We wished that once you marry him you could put some control on his action." She said with her utmost sincerity.

"Maaaa.....fiiiiiaaaa whattttt???" Dongmei's lungs were pushed into her mouth.

"Why don't you report to the police?" she stuttered.

"Miss Bai, The world is not that easy; the people working for him, including us, are criminals. Working for him gives us some days to live otherwise; we are people with no family or friends. We don't simply fit in the society."

Dongmei could not believe she was about to marry a killer; She was a sensitive girl who could not even that the sight of blood. Anyway, the entire world now seemed to be dancing on her bosom,t ears again ruled her fair cheeks.

She pushed the maidservants out of her room and closed the doors again as she asked them not to wait for her. She laid her little body down on the furnished floor and did not move for hours. All sorts of thoughts gathered in her mind.

'He is marrying me to kill me.'

'My grandfather is sacrificing me?'

'Why my parents are not standing up for me?'_____' Like in Meteor Garden?'

She laughed, remembering the scene; She watched it when she was feeling down after being beaten by her grandfather for attempting to leave the house with her little brother in the car.

But it did not last longer than a few seconds, Her eyes were puffed from crying, but the tears did not stop as she thought to herself, 'They do not love me.'

'They said I was too delicate to face the real world.'

'Homeschooled me! They never let me go out to find my true or my first love?'

'Do I remember meeting a man of my age? Never!!"

'I wonder what kind of woman I would have been if I was to face the world?'

'What kind of friends would I have if I were given the freedom to go out?'

'I hate Rapunzel!!!'

'After everything, she got to go on an adventure and find true first love and her real parents.'

'If I did not look like the old man and my father so much like a female version of them. I even thought I was adopted. What if I am?'

'My mother!!! Why don't you come to visit me? I need you.'

After lying down for hours, She stood up, looked outside her window, and measured the height of the first floor, which didn't seem high to her as there was a huge tree just a few steps away from her window. She put one leg out and gripped the edges of the window.

The next moment she brought her leg inside and moved away from the window, "No! No!"

"What if they are not pranking me but speaking the truth?"

"I will put them in danger."

"I can't run away. Even I won't survive alone out there."

She went back to her bed and closed her heavy eyes. However, Dongmei could not have a sound sleep as she tossed and turned all night, repeating the same weird thoughts, praying all night to send her a savior.

The next day, all the maidservants lined up before her room as she opened her door after cleaning herself up for breakfast; she screamed at the sight, "Don't you have guys anything to do?"

"It's a part of our work." The maidservant 1 said.

"To scare me? The first thing in the morning?"

"To monitor your diet." The second one spoke.

They forced her to take reverse steps and sit back at her study table for breakfast. "You cannot leave the room until our master arrives here to take you."

Dongmei raised her eyebrows in astonishment to find only a bowl of porridge seasoned with dry fruits and tiny pieces of chicken. She tasted with her ceramic spoon and immediately sprayed it all out on the face of Maidservant 1 who froze right at the spot as another maidservant hurried to wash her face; she wiped so gently that it did not look like it had just experienced the hot porridge being rained on.

Dongmei panicked as she tried to stand up, "Forgive me!!!! Sorry! Sorry!"

"I did not mean that." she hurried to explain herself.

Another maidservant said, "Miss Bai, If the food is not of your taste. It would be best if you could keep your hands away from the plate and do not unnecessarily spoil the entire serving. It could have been used to feed another person. One must be thankful for the hard work of farmers and an empty stomach must sympathize. Though Lin Family is not as reputed as your family. We do have certain rules that everyone must follow."

"Don't disrespect food." Another maidservant warned.

Dongmei was embarrassed as she was about to complain that she did not like dry fruits and chicken to be mixed in porridge. She was used to drinking milkshakes for breakfast.

However, knowing how scary their boss is, she raised the white flag, accepted defeat from her fate, and reluctantly started following their commands.

.....

An hour later, they brought a treadmill and made her run at the speed of an electronic scooter. The reason given by maidservant 1 was, "You are supposed to burn up whatever you ate for breakfast, right? Only then will we give you lunch."

For lunch, she was given fruit salad; she never ate fruits or dry fruits mingled. On top of that, they poured honey as if it was oil, she swallowed it after nine attempts as she never liked honey. Even after eating the hated serving of fruit salad, maidservant 1 called her, "Picky Eater!"

She had a good temper and complied with everything they did so that they didn't get killed by Mr. Lin. After lunch, They brought in over a dozen of books, Dongmei was interested at first sight, but her interest died when she read the titles.

'How to manage a big household?'

'Madam 101'

'Virtues of a woman.'

'How to get pregnant quickly?'

'Talents to overcome business crises.'

There were more like these books Dongmei wanted to throw away but at the thought that they were complex works of their respective author and lastly, they were books. Therefore, she could not dispose of them. However, Her stubbornness played well this time. They could not force her to read as she acted before them reading the book while daydreaming.

Whenever they asked her questions about the book, she would change the topic or entangle them in stories of the novel she had read recently. They were, after all, maidservants and were easily distracted and had no interest in the complex language of the books.

The midday passed, and boxes of creams and parlor treatment kits were loaded in her room. She had never seen so many products, even in her mother's stock room.

She was bewildered after checking their prices. She knew a few expensive ones her mother used but had never seen so many of them at once. Then, they asked her to change into a bathrobe and lie down on the bed as they placed a polythene sheet on it and then covered it with a soft white blanket.

One of the maidservants pulled one of the boxes and started applying the cleanser to her face. Then, she jumped off her bed and asked, "Will you apply all that to me? Today?"

"No, this box is for today's cleaning, spa, and facial. Those boxes are for tomorrow." She pointed at the boxes piled up in a corner.

"The makeup for the wedding day is yet to arrive. Your mother has ordered customized makeup for your sensitive skin." The maidservant 1 said as she entered the room.

She kept a water bowl on the long table they had placed to keep the stuff. She was about to leave when Dongmei got a hold of her hand and said, "Can we skip all this?"

She shook her head and tried to leave, but Dongmei did not let her go. Instead, she yelled, "Didn't I already agree to marry him?" Maidservant 1 pulled her hand as she saw Dongmei loosening the grip.

She turned to see her whining and said coldly, "We must make you look beautiful inside out so that Mr.Lin is pleased with you and our service. you are not a beauty he would be head over heels for."

"Don't you understand?"

"You have been complaining that you have not seen him."

"So what? I am a thousand percent sure that he hasn't seen you either. As your family refuses to let he look even at your picture."

"For the same, our phones have been taken away."

"Since he hasn't seen you. We must make you turn into an angel. So he is not disappointed."

Dongmei could not stand this anymore and yelled, "That's the case? Huh? Then why is he marrying me? An Ugly and dumb wife?"

"Get a model or actress for him. No! How can you all do that? An independent woman cannot put up with the torture of a Mafia CEO! Am I wrong?" Dongmei was furious as she tried to run out of the room.

But they have locked it with fingerprints. Except for her, all seven could open it. She leaned against the door and slowly squatted down on the ground as her brown wavy hair covered her entire body like a cocoon.

"Since you understand this much. Don't make things difficult for us." The maidservant 1 said as she stood there waiting for her to get back on the bed.

"I am not heartless. But you all are too cruel. I don't stand a chance. Do I?" she mumbled as her chilly gaze run-up to face maidservant 1, she again shook her head. Dongmei again dropped her neck to the ground, shedding bitter tears of fate.