The Rise of the White Lotus

Following Rika's suggestion, they went to a fancy restaurant where Rika already planned to pig out alone. 

Currently, Lexi sat across her somewhat newfound friend. As they wait for their orders to arrive, Rika giddily opened a conversation. "Tell me, tell me, are you and…" she paused as she examined Lexi's inexpressive front.

Slightly furrowed her brows, Lexi repeated in a questioning tone, "me and…?"

"Uhmm, Eli a thing?"

Upon hearing her question, Lexi's unchangeable front immediately turned to a dismayed one. "Eww, no way!" 

Her response cracked Rika up as she burst out laughing while lightly slamming her palms at the surface of the square table. After a two-minute good laughed, Rika recovered, or so she thought.

"I wonder what will his fans say if they heard you, pftt--! Hahaha! the nation's prince being 'eew-ed'! Pfft-! That was gold!" Rika stated in between her unrestrained laughs. 

"Really, what made you think that me and him… like, I can't even imagine." Unlike Rika, Lexi could not help but roll her eyes as that thought never flashed in her head. It was already surprising for her that Arnold Shen thought that their chemistry was pretty good.

"My, my, now there's two of us who think Elliot is not that great." Happy, Rika leaned a little closer and whispered her words of relief. She added,

"Like, yeah, Eli is good-looking but meh— not a prince at all." 

Lexi stared at Rika for a while before she tilted her head to the side and asked, "Did you two dated?"

Her question froze Rika as her eyes widened as if she didn't see that coming, "How did you know?"

"I didn't, that's why I asked." More shocked than the lady across her, Lexi felt like laughing at the ridiculousness of this conversation.

"Gosh… me and my stupid mouth. Well, I trust you anyway." Rika lightly smacked her lips before she shrugged as if nothing happened. Well, she wouldn't blurt this out to anyone anyway if she didn't trust the person.

"Uh…" Speechless, Lexi could merely nod her head with what she said.

'Trust? Me? Why?' She asked inwardly but even if she wanted to say that inquiry, they were stuck on her throat for no reason.

"Well, you see, me and Eli… We dated for a month because of a movie, like always. But, meh— he's too gentle for me." Nonchalantly shrugging, Rika evidently showed her indifference as she uttered the summary of dating Elliot Gong.

"Oh… but at least, you two seem alright." Nodding in understanding, Lexi stated because Rika and Elliot talked like normal colleagues as if they didn't have a history.

"Well, it's a mutual decision between us, and we decided to just be friends since we are better that way." Shrugging once again, Rika justified. 

"Also, I already set my eyes to someone but sadly, he seems he was taken. *sigh*" Rika added as she heavily sighed. She then took out her phone from her purse and immediately tapped a few times before showing the screen to Lexi.

"This guy,"

Lexi raised her head to Rika's screen and to her extreme surprise, the man that was displayed on the screen was Ethan Lu's Weibo account. Since Lexi wasn't active in any social media platform because of the constant criticism, she wasn't updated that Ethan Lu has been active with his account.

Retracting her phone from Lexi, Rika heavily sighed once again as her gaze looked at Ethan Lu's profile. "So sad, he's taken… I always wonder how fun it will be to tame a casanova."

Just then, the dishes they ordered finally came. They served it with care to their table as one staff conversed with them. This gave Lexi a relief because of her shock regarding Rika's inkling toward Ethan Lu.

Since Rika's attention was diverted, they never discussed 'taming a casanova' or anything of the sort. They continued dined and talked for more than an hour as Rika did live up with her illegal cheat day and ate with her heart's desire.

****

"Hmmm? You got a boyfriend?" Rika inquired when they entered the men's section of the huge famous boutique.

"Not a boyfriend. I'll be gifting a friend…" Raising her brows, Lexi didn't turn her head to Rika as she continued to scan the displayed watches.

"A friend?" Narrowing her eyes, Rika's expression was screaming with desire for gossip as she anticipated the response from her new bestie.

"A friend with ulterior motives," In a matter of factly tone, Lexi clarified which made Rika brightly grinned.

"You got a nice friend, eh?" Mildly elbowing Lexi, Rika giggled and smiled while raising her brows— up and down.

Lexi pointed at a variety of watches and the shop assistant courtly got the watches Lexi chose for her to see. As she examined each of them, Lexi suddenly spoke.

"Your inkling to that guy you showed me…"

"You mean, Mr. Lu?" Confused, Rika raised her brows showing a clueless expression plastered across her face.

"Yes, Mr. Lu… do you really like him?" 

"Well, he's my type, but he's taken. I don't want to be entangled with a third party scandal." Honest and indifferent as ever, Rika answered in a matter of factly tone.

When Lexi heard her reply, she murmured. "Good," 

"Hmm?" 

"Nothing," Smiling back at Rika, Lexi was relieved that Rika wasn't that extreme. Well, at least, her new friend knew her limits and wasn't as reckless just like now. 

Lexi then turned her gaze back to the shop assistant as she pointed at a specific watch before the clerk nodded and she began preparing everything.

Just then, Lexi's phone rang that mildly startled her. Reaching for her phone, she saw Ethan Lu's caller ID which made her brows slightly creased.

'Is his meeting done? This guy has too much free time…' Regardless of her thoughts, Lexi still answered the call after several rings.

"Hmm?" The moment it connected, Lexi hummed a questioning tune as a greeting.

"Hi, love love, how was your day~?" Despite sounding a little exhausted, Ethan Lu's first sentence was to know how was she.

"Good. My meeting with Mr. Tanaka was a success and I went to Liu Empire afterward." As Lexi passed her card to the clerk, she meekly smiled as she reported the highlights of her day to the other end of the line.

When Ethan Lu heard that she went to the Liu Empire, he frowned. However, he knew that it was inevitable for her to meet her former fiance since it was a deal between them. Yet, he could not help but be envious as he also wanted to see her that instant.

Lexi continued, "How was your meeting?"

"Aiya… as usual, my Uncle bullied me! It was tough attending several meetings in a day… love, can I see you? I need some energy." Pouting, Ethan Lu slightly grumbled before pleading to see his energy booster. On the other hand, Lyrick Jiang who was about to leave his boss's office could not help the lower of his eyes twitched.

'Young Master, aren't you the one who dragged your cousin to his father's mess?' Lyrick Jiang thought inwardly before leaving the office.

"Didn't I tell you not to leave anyone unkicked?" Rolling her eyes, Lexi shook her head as she imagined Ethan being bullied— just like what he claimed in distress.

"Hehe, of course, I won't let my future wife down so I also bullied them— hehe, I also drag his son in it." Sounding a little evil, Ethan Lu giggled that seethed with evilness.

Lexi arched her brows as she never heard Ethan Lu sound so scheming before. It was as if she was hearing an antagonist of a movie while they cooked their ploys. Nevertheless, it was much better that he could defend himself because she understood that if he didn't— Ethan Lu's status would remain a status with little to no value or weight.

"Well, that's good then." 

"Ahhh… I'm so tired and it's not the end of the day yet… Love, where are you? I want to see you even for just a minute, errr, maybe two, or three?" 

By this time, Lexi glance at Rika who was now busy looking at some of the lady's watch selections. "Aren't you busy?"

"I am… I moved my scheduled meeting in two hours because I missed you." Indeed, Ethan Lu's schedule for today and the following weeks was too tight that there's only so little time for him to pee. However, knowing that Lexi went into an important appointment, he deliberately made time to get an update and hear the person who pushed him to work harder for their future.