Chapter 6- A soul hanging on hope can only cry.

Bai Dongmei had lost the will to fight against her poor fate, she had given up. All she desired was for her mother to come and comfort her. She wanted her to say, 'Dong'er, he will not mistreat you. If he does, don't be afraid to divorce him. I am here for you.'

But her beloved mother, for an unknown reason, did not visit her even once. So Dongmei became a soulless doll, with which the seven maidservants of the Lin Family played without being considerate at all. She indeed was a lifeless doll for them.

Three days later, On the wedding day.

"Miss Bai, Allow us to dress you up."

"It's the time now." Maidservant 1 spoke heartlessly.

"How many times do I have to tell you all?"

"I won't go until my mother comes to see me." She yelled and threw her perfume bottle away on the bed; the bottle was half open and drenched her pillow, leaving a strong smell in the room.

Selena, Dongmei's maidservant, opened the door, came inside with light steps, and said in an icy and cruel tone, "Madam is currently getting ready for the wedding.

She does not have time for you.

She also has to leave a good impression on Lin's Family as the bride's mother.

Why are you so selfish, Miss?" she seemed to be not the same Selena.

"The old master has ordered you not to throw tantrums, Or he will throw you out!"

Selena then returned after making a disgusting face and a rude comment, "No one has time for you."

Dongmei's mouth was wide open to hear all this; she turned around and pointed her index finger at her ungrateful maid, "You, double-faced, selfish woman! How dare you call me selfish!"The maidservants tried to take her back on the seat again and pulled her back to sit on the chair. Dongmei pushed them one by one and yelled, "Stop!!!"

"If not, you people had threatened me with your life at stake. I would have been freed from all this."

"You can be freed." one of the maidservants said.

She then pushed her to sit, looked into her eyes, and said, "If you die!"

Dongmei could not believe how disrespectful they were to her. She again lost hope in meeting her mother and letting them doll her up for the wedding was not a choice she wanted to make.

'Since I am nothing to my mother. How can I expect these people to respect me?'

....

One of the maidservants came running to Dongmei's room; she was panting and hardly could take in air. "They....."

"They....."

She was so out of breath that Dongmei thought she might die and hurried to give her a glass of water, "First, calm down, then speak."

She gulped down the water in one breath but was still panting. Finally, a moment later, she spoke breathily, "Mr.Lin is here."

"The old master Lin accompanies him."

"Nobody else from the Lin clan is here. Only dozen of servants."

Dongmei turned around to look at her reflection in the mirror and said, "Who did you expect then?"

"Any young master from Lin Family whom you have a crush on?"

The maidservant moved her hands in disagreement. "I mean, no lady from Lin Family is here."

Maidservant 1 replied, "Keep your opinion to yourself. There is no female member in the Lin family for now. You know this marriage is being done secretly. No one in the Lin clan knows about it."

Dongmei caught the heavy headwear which she thought was about to fall and said to herself, 'Did he kill all the female members?'

'Will he sacrifice me as well?'

'They must not have been able to stand his tortures.'

'The men of the Lin family are scary.' First, she got a chill in her bones imagining being alone with Mr. Lin. Then, a scene crossed her mind: Mr. Lin's shadow was whipping his belt on her back.

She shook her head and said, "I am not marrying him."

Maidservant 1 held her back, pressed her shoulders to make her sit still, and said, "There is no going back." Her evil smile scared Dongmei more and her eyebrows twisted in fear.

…..

The entire mansion was decorated with red ribbon and flower knots made from green stripes. Since the wedding was held in traditional style, masters to servants were all in different traditional Hanfu and Qipao.

Paper cuttings of longevity and happiness were stuck on the walls. A substantial translucent red curtain divided the sitting part of the hall. And long strands of beads were on top of the curtain at each distance.

"Mr. Lin, I hope you don't mind the curtain." Bai Shouyi said with a huge smile on her face. She wore blue and white contrast Hanfu, hand-embroidered with dark blue silk threads. She was holding a fan that had a painting of a peony flower. Her short straight hair was somehow tied in a bun.

Lin Xie immediately stood up and said, "Mother-in-law, It's your choice. How can I mind it?" Bai Shouyi laughed and said, "Okay! Okay! Sit down, or my father-in-law will scold me." So she left from there to bring her daughter down.

Knock...Knock...

"Dong'er! How long will it take to get ready? Your husband is already here." A maidservant opened the door, and her mother made her way inside and found Dongmei standing with puffy eyes, which seemed to have not stopped crying for almost three days.

Her mother saw the fan thrown at the floor and Dongmei taking long breaths. Her eyes were resenting the presence of her mother. Bai Shouyi picked up the fan and forcefully handed it to Dongmei. But she again threw it. Finally, her mother lost her temperature and screamed at her, "Why are you being stubborn again?"

"I made the right choice not to come to see you all these days."

Dongmei looked at her mother's eyes; the pain of betrayal was just too much for her. She had no idea what made her mother or her closest maidservant this way. They had become so cruel and cold to her. The little world inside her mansion was falling apart, but her eyes were frozen.

She fell to her knees, not considering her expensive bridal dress. She subsided the fall with her palm and got it bruised. She groaned as the tears did not stop. The pain of her palm did not hurt, but the wound in her heart did.

A few seconds later, she looked up at her mother with sore eyes and asked her, "Do you love me?" She was waiting for her answer, but Bai Shouyi did not know how to respond. She was her mother, and Dongmei was her only daughter. She loved her. For Dongmei's sake, she had toiled herself for this marriage.

She squatted down to her level and held her injured palm; she indicated all the servants to leave and looked straight into her daughter's eyes. she did not speak but checked her daughter thoroughly.

Then, Dongmei did not desire anything but her mother's voice to be heard saying, 'Yes! Dear' But her silence only brought more pain to her heavy heart.

Once the maidservant left the room, Bai Shouyi spoke in a feeble voice, "I do love you, Sweetheart."

"That was the why I could not bear to see you, preparing for the forced marriage."

"I guess it's the time to tell you."

"Lin Xie is marrying for the sake of his grandfather."

"Lin Jingwei, the old man, is your grandfather's bosom friend. He had betrothed you to him when you were born."

"You were meant to marry him at eighteen only. But some things at Lin Family delayed the marriage, and then your father thought you were too young and we should wait for a few years."

Dongmei's entire world fell, she asked hesitantly, stuttering her words which could hardly be spoken, "Grandfather locking me up in the mansion was one of their demand. Isn't it?"

Shouyi's neck could not move, but she somehow managed to nod. Finally, Dongmei stood up and said, "My life was ruined because of their dominance. I can't marry a man who will always control me."

"I will die in suffocation."

"Mother!!!"

"Please let me run away. I may survive in the world though I have never been there by myself; I can't survive in his hands."

Dongmei was moving left to right and back to forth. She could not accept that the existence she always questioned belonged to a killer. She yelled, "He is a murderer. MAA!!!"

Her mother could not deny that. He was a ruthless mafia. She was helpless, too; she grabbed Dongmei by her shoulder and whispered something which made her silent. She did not cry a single tear after that.

She took her down, and Dongmei obediently climbed the stairs as three maidservants helped her long-tailed coat, which extended to three meters. She had covered her pretty chubby face with that same fan.

Lin Xie looked at her in astonishment. But he wasn't the only person who was taken aback by her presence. Everyone else froze as she came down like a fairy.