Chapter 9 Try On The Wedding Dresses

Nathan called the doctor to prescribe antipyretics for Christine. Her high fever had subsequently gone down.

In the past few days, she had been frequenting the hospital, taking in various medicine to allay her fever and body pain. However, as soon as she was on the path to recovery, she would then be subjected to all kinds of inhumane torture.

The collapse of her body was bound to happen; after all, Christine had physical limitations as a human, even if she possessed an indomitable will.

And it did not help that no one was there to hold up the weight of the sky with her. In her misery, she tried to console herself with the fact that she was still alive. It was useless to rely on her family; her father was her biggest abuser and everyone else was afraid of him, and her fiance, Wesley, was a ruthless man.

That night, Christine could only lie in the bed, staring at the objects in her room. The moonlight streaming from the window cast a silver glow on everything it touched. She dared not to get sick again.

She would marry Wesley in two days. She gave up hope on any miracle that might stop her from marrying that arrogant and ruthless man.

At this point, she could only rely on herself to escape. She must keep herself as healthy and sane as possible if she wanted any chance of escape.

Christine silently looked out of the window. As she stared at the night sky, her mind drifted to thoughts of stealing her passport so she could fly abroad and look for Barrett.

The only person she could trust and make her feel at ease was Barrett.

After sleeping for a while, Christine pretended that she wanted to go out for a walk. Her real plan was to sneak into Nathan's room when the coast was clear. She intended to recover her passport so she could flee the country.

She had openly expressed her desire to cut ties with her family and this accursed house. She had had enough of staying in the Ji family, and she would surely not miss Nathan's torture.

Christine was not stupid enough to think that marrying into the Helian family would be a turning point in her life. For Christine, the Helian family was a more horrible existence than the Ji family. Wesley was more cunning and resourceful than Nathan. Of course she had to escape if she could.

She must break free for herself, and for Barrett.

But Nathan was not a fool. He saw that Christine's attitude drastically changed within the last several hours. She turned from a cold and spiteful woman to someone who was purposeful, even suggesting to take a walk around. It was really odd for her to do so.

She was akin to a small animal trapped in a cage, suddenly getting excited and restless at the prospect of an escape.

Nathan sneered as he looked at her pale face. "It's okay if you want to go out for a walk. I'll ask the guards to stick with you."

Christine protested, "What? They're men. Do they have to go to the bathroom with me?"

A sly smile appeared on Nathan's lips. "If that's the case, you'd better stay in that room. It's convenient for us both, and you don't have to embarrass yourself in front of the guards when you go to the toilet.

Christine, make do with it."

Christine felt like a fool. How could she hope to weasel her way out of this prison when faced with a devious adversary?

She had no choice. Right now, she was still part of the Ji family, and she had no ability to disobey Nathan's words.

All she could do was stay locked up in her room. However, she still didn't give up.

Time went by slowly. Finally, it was the eve of the wedding.

No matter how reluctant Christine was, she had to try on these wedding dresses, and Nathan would not let her have her way.

There were so many gorgeous wedding dresses there. Each of them was like a princess's wedding gown in fairy tales.

If Christine did not know that Wesley loved someone else, she would have thought that he was looking forward to the wedding.

When Christine was trying on the wedding dresses, Wesley was nowhere in sight. At that very moment, inside the fitting room, she was partly free of Nathan's watchful eyes as well. Her father was afraid of the Helian family's power and he did not dare to monitor Christine on this occasion.

That evening, Christine tried on a lot of wedding dresses. She took advantage of the privilege she was given even though she still harbored the desire to escape.

When she married Barrett in the future, she could easily pick a design that she liked because of this excellent opportunity.

Although Wesley had low expectations for the wedding, he still prepared a lot. After all, he could not bring shame to the Helian family.

In this respect, Christine was very satisfied. Not only did the wedding dresses match her taste, but Wesley's power made it impossible for Nathan to cause her any trouble.

After trying on the wedding dresses, Christine got her long lost freedom.

Nathan had sent two bodyguards to keep an eye on her, afraid that she would cause trouble. But he didn't dare to do so when Christine was trying the wedding dresses at Karl's behest.

Meanwhile, Christine appreciated Karl's kindness towards her even though it was most likely that he was the one who orchestrated this ploy. She believed he pulled the strings so that fateful night would happen, and she and Wesley could get married.

Christine deliberated a plan to retrieve her passport on her way back to the house.

When she arrived at the Ji family's house, it happened that Nathan was absent. This was an excellent opportunity to put her plan in action.

It was easy for Christine to sneak into Nathan's room when no one was keeping an eye on her.

Nathan was distrustful of others. After all, he had been living in such a dangerous environment for a long time which made him vigilant around friend and foe alike.

As his daughter, she was sure of this fact. When he was a drug dealer, there seemed to be a sharp blade hanging over his head. If he trusted others too much, he could end up in prison, or worse, dead.

Even after Nathan left the drug trafficking business, he did not change this habit. In Nathan's perspective, it was still better to stay safe than sorry.

It was inevitable that Nathan despised Christine, who knew and had the evidence of his crime. He wanted to kill her as soon as possible. He could not tolerate having anyone around that had dirt on him, even his own daughter was no exception.

This made Christine confident that she would find her passport inside his room and nowhere else outside the house. After all, he only trusted himself.

Once she got inside the room, the only sound she could hear was her heart drumming. She quickly and silently checked every nook and cranny. She rummaged through his clothes, the drawers of his cabinet and bedside table, and she even checked the dull painting hanging on his wall. At last, her efforts paid off. She noticed a strange hole, the size of a finger in one of the corners of the room. Hidden underneath the floor board was a small compartment. It contained various documents which included her passport.

Fortunately, no one came in when she searched his room.

She was ecstatic to get her hands on the passport, but she had to pretend like her regular self in front of her father.

Since she had returned to the Ji family quite late, it was very difficult to leave now.

Christine thought to herself, 'Have a good rest today and find an opportunity to leave here tomorrow.'

When Nathan came back, he was very satisfied to see Christine quietly staying in her room. She finally did not cause him any trouble for the rest of the evening.

"If only Christine could always be so obedient." But Nathan knew it was just a fantasy.

The next day, Christine came to Nathan and told him that Karl asked her to help with the preparations for the wedding. The old man wanted the wedding to be perfect.

Although Nathan still distrusted his daughter, he did not object after Christine mentioned Karl's name. It was not the right time to offend the Helian family, and Christine knew this perfectly well so she used the old man's name as an excuse.

She only brought a few belongings, so as not to arouse Nathan's suspicion. After stepping out of the gate, Christine hailed a taxi and went straight to the airport.

Finally, she could go abroad, leave her family behind, and escape from Nathan's clutches. As she took in a deep breath, fresh air filled her lungs, and she grinned. She spread her arms wide and felt warm sunlight on her skin. It was the sweet taste of freedom.