Entering the lion's den

Alix was so startled that she almost dropped her purse.

"Mr..Young master, sir." She said in a small voice.

Caishen did not respond to her and instead, he turned his wheel chair around with the expectation that she would follow him immediately without resistance.

Trapped for the moment, she had no choice but to unwillingly follow him all the way to the car. It had been decorated as well and the words newly weds covered the license plate.

"Take those things off." She heard Zhang Caishen ordering the driver who was holding the car door open for him.

"Yes young master." The driver answered obediently.

Caishen's secretary helped him into the car while she stood on the opposite side wondering if Holea had found anything.

"Young madam, please get in." The driver told her.

Alix looked around first, and she saw the Zhangs and her former family all standing outside the hotel. The angry Zhangs were getting into their cars while her father run after grandpa Zhang shouting explanations and begging for a minute of his time.

She sneered and smiled satisfactorily when grandpa Zhang shut the car door, effectively cutting her father off.

She entered the car then, without any further request from the driver or prompting from her fake husband.

As the car set off for a location which had not been shared with her, she could not help stealing small glances at Zhang Caishen, wondering what he was thinking with his eyes closed. Was he sleeping? Or did he have a headache? He must have an opinion about all this so why isn't he saying anything?

Looking at his handsome face upclose, she felt pity for him. Aside from his business acumen, he was well known for his good looks. Zhang Caishen could have been a model or actor with that face alone. Her eyes traveled to his long legs and she thought, it's such a pity. Such a handsome man has to sit in a wheel chair for the rest of his.

"The infinite gaming luck system has all it takes to cure restore him to his former self. Host should the system start setting up now?"

"Yes." She responded immediately. It would be foolish to reject this gift which was capable of many wonders.

She felt a light buzz in her mind and a series of dings as if a computer was operating inside of her head.

While that happened, she decided to grab the bull by the horns. She cleared her throat softly, trying to get Zhang Caishen to look at her.

"Mr.Zhang."

She got no response and assumed that she had spoken so softly. She called his name again, louder this time as if she was a teacher addressing a class of loud students.

"I can hear perfectly." He responded.

"Oh, sorry." She apologized. "I thought you were sleeping and I didn't want to bother you ..."

"But you are." He said, cutting off the rest of her words.

"Hmm?" She responded slightly confused.

He looked at her with indolent eyes and said, "You are bothering me."

"I can't help it, we need to talk." She answered boldly. "We both know that I am not the bride you expected. My sister was the one you were supposed to marry today. Don't you have anything to ask me about the switching of the bride? I am a fake for crying out loud."

He laughed lightly but his eyes had a fierce and piercing gaze. With revulsion on his face, he asked her, "Did you think that I really expected your sister to show up for the wedding? A part of me was already expecting to be stood up. I have been informed that she is participating in a small amateur music competition in Venice. But I guess you Zhangs are so greedy that you still want my money and connections which is why you accepted to marry me in her place. I will warn you right now, do not expect anything like that from me. And for the humiliation your father has brought upon my mother, I will make him pay."

"Aah, so a wedding without a bride would have been better than a wedding with me. I must say that I am disappointed Zhang Caishen. I married you because I wanted to, not because I was forced or because of your status. I did it because I have always admired you, young master Caishen."

"Don't patronize me." He said slowly through gritted teeth.

Alix however had no plans to back down. The system had said she could double her luck if she married him and she needed all the luck she could get. She had no money, her small music school was on the brink of being shut down, her life was empty and she had cut ties with her family. The system was all she had to rely on now, him and the system. If walking into the lion's den changed her luck, she would close her eyes and do it.

"I was engaged to you first and I was jealous because she stole you from me." She told him.

Caishen who had already looked away from the woman that he thought of as a gold digger scoffed. He tilted his head slightly to the right, looking into her defiant eyes and he said, "I have no recollection of that engagement. I also have a headache, don't say another word."

Alix lips moved around mimicking his words in a whisper. "I have no recollection of that engagement, tch,as if I believe that." She mumbled.

He was fourteen when the engagement was proposed and she was his fiance for a while before it was turned into Lin Billi. There was no way he did not know.

That was not important anyway, she looked at her phone and sent a text to Holea, no words, just question marks. What was going on?

Caishen, even though he had his eyes partially closed had seen that woman mimicking his words. His lips thinned and he took in a deep breath, the doctors had told him not to be overly stimulated. He had to reign in his anger.

Did she think him so foolish that he had not noticed the bruise on her forehead or the ill fitting shoes during the wedding? He knew that she was the unloved daughter and he had already sent his people to investigate what happened in that dressing room and how she became his wife.

Inside of a bathroom at the hotel where the wedding had been, Jing Hee was on the phone with her daughter Lin Billi. She had a broad smile on her face as she said, "Our plan worked perfectly Billi, that wretch Alix married Zhang Caishen in your place."

On the other end of the phone, Lin Billi laughed and answered, "Mother, thank you for saving me. I would not have known what to do without you."

Jing Hee replied arrogantly, "How could I allow my precious daughter to marry a crippled man? Alix on the hand makes him the perfect wife. One has crippled fingers and the other has crippled legs. They are the perfect match."

Both women laughed like witches, delighting in their plot which they believed had ruined Alix's life.

"Oh, even better news is that Alix declared that she is no longer a member of our family. You should return quickly and get your father to give you a significant number of his shares in the company. We must strike while it's hot, Alix must not take anything from you."

"I will return tonight mother."

Jing Hee left the bathroom, concluding her phone call. After she left, a woman in a black and white suit came out of one of the stalls and left as well. In her hands was a phone and on her face was a smile.

"Looks like I will make some money from this." She said to herself.