Fragments

Murphy's Law

Arranged marriage had never been high on her list of priorities, if Xiaozi was perfectly honest with herself. She liked to think she could snag a man without her parents interference, thank you kindly. In fact, if you had spoken to her not three days ago, she would have insisted you go speak to a psychiatrist, as clearly you must have suffered a brain injury had the subject of betrothal been broached. He Yuanzi, the heiress to an unfathomable fortune, was many things, however, desperate was not one of them. She could get any man she wanted; she was amazing, an absolute catch! She knew who she was; she was beautiful, she was funny, she was interesting - it was what her parents had always told her, after all! True, she didn't have many friends, in fact, she had no friends her own age, but that wasn't her fault! They were all jealous of her beauty, her money, her confidence - her papa always told her she was a princess, and as a princess, she was sure she came across as intimidating; they probably were all too scared or jealous to approach her.

However, it did mean that she had been unlucky in love; in fact, despite being 21 years old, Xiaozi had yet to have a serious boyfriend. Sure, she had had several casual flings, a carefully guarded secret she kept from her parents at all costs. What she tended to find, inevitably, was that the passion quite often fizzled out after a few months - Xiaozi was notoriously high maintenance, hard to impress and her attention never remained static for long. The man who captured her heart would have to be....well, he would have to be exceptional. She had never, ever expected to be forced into an arranged marriage by her parents, to be sold off like a piece of land purely to better her father's foothold in the business world. The audacity of her family, how dare they assume she would blindly go along with this insanity! In fact, she had been positively spitting with rage when they had unceremoniously dragged her to the 'impromptu' get together with her supposed fiancé. He Xiaozi was not a pawn and she had been fully prepared to destroy the entire meeting out of sheer pettiness. However, all of her convictions had flown out the window the moment she had laid eyes on Daoming Si.

He was enigmatic, charismatic and let's face it, drop dead gorgeous. His hair, it was dark and lustrous, his skin, it was just the right shade of tan and he was tall and muscular; she had to admit, her parents hadn't done a bad job in selecting a prospective mate - he was certainly a looker. However, what caught her attention most was his eyes; they were as dark as onyx and just as hard - she still shivered in delight when she recalled them fixed on her with a flinty glare. Xiaozi had always had a weakness for men with attitude, and Daoming Si (or Ah Si as his mother had insisted she called him) had that in spades. He made her tingle all over and it confused her as much as it delighted her.

Xiaozi rolled over onto her side, contentedly hugging her soft, downy pillow gleefully as she recalled their two brief encounters. On the first encounter, Ah Si had seized her hand, completely bypassing the small girl who had also been invited for some reason (who she had since learned was called Shancai) and took off with her like a bat out of hell. His fingers had been so long and strong around her own, and sure, his grip had been biting and awkward, their fingers not quite interlaced, but it had been her he had chosen to run off with. Not the other girl who had been looking at him with suspiciously wounded eyes. It didn't matter what he said, how vehemently he denied it; he had chosen her. There was hope for them after all! Admittedly, the mood had been slightly soured when he had left her alone to fend for herself, barefoot and penniless, however, she was sure he had just been overwhelmed by their sudden intimacy - she had seen how hard he had blushed when she bit his ear. No man was immune to her charms and Daoming Si was no exception, she told herself smugly as she lay swaddled comfortably in her Egyptian sheets.

And then there was today. Once again, Xiaozi had run into that tiny girl Shancai, the one with the huge eyes and the questionable fashion taste. Those sweaters were a crime against humanity, however, Xiaozi wasn't sure she knew her well enough to rescue her. There was something about small little innocent looking Shancai that made Xiaozi nervous for some reason. She wasn't sure why; was it because the other girl was so tiny and delicate, whereas she had always felt tall and awkward, slightly off kilter like a baby giraffe? Was it because of the way her huge eyes were so expressive, her every emotion flickering in their depths for all to see - even Xiaozi, who could be as blunt as a spoon at times, had realised that something was bothering this girl, and she didn't know her from Eve! Or was it the way Daoming Si, her fiancé, had looked at this diminutive girl, the strangest expression of frustration written all over his handsome face? His eyes had been unreadable, so unlike Shancai's, and regrettably, Xiaozi didn't know him well enough to even hazard a guess as to what he was thinking. Like it or not, Shancai and Ah Si clearly knew each other in some way, and the He heiress was determined to figure out why Ah Si had looked so enraged and so desperate. Perhaps he was annoyed that once again, Shancai had been around when Xiaozi had been in his presence, interrupting what could be quality time. She was sure he was eager to spend time alone with her, after all, most of her previous conquests couldn't wait to get her alone... Yes, that surely was it!