The Rise of the White Lotus

He wasn't terrified about the danger they might stumble upon or riotous problems they might face in the future because of the whole Lu clan. Ethan Lu had never thought of leaving her because of it as he would wreak havoc if it means to protect her. However, his main concern was her— would she tolerate something like that?

Granting that the outcome of this courtship was uncertain, Ethan Lu had already sworn to all the Gods that he would only marry one woman named Lexi Yang. Hence, he wanted to know beforehand what would she think about his question.

"Is it necessary to be a wicked man?" Her gaze fixed on the man that was looking down while rubbing the back of her hand. Even though Lexi didn't know the main reason behind his question or what was exactly he was pertaining, she still had the gist of it. 

For some reason, when he was being like this, she could not help but compare Morris Liu and Ethan Lu, again. At the very least, Ethan Lu always stayed unfiltered and honest with her— whether it was a piece of good news or not.

Morris, on the other hand, never said a word to her. He just transformed into a different person and breaking their engagement without explaining the reason. To her, she would understand whatever reason he had as she loved him that deeply. However, if it wasn't for that faithful day that she caught the ambiguous message Mia Chen sent that day, Morris Liu wouldn't tell her that he had another woman.

"I don't know what's happening to your Lu family but, don't let anyone bully you. If being wicked was your last resort, do I have the right to judge?" Softly breaking the silence, Lexi subtly smiled as she shared her hindsight.

She wasn't a kind person nor has she turned into a complete angel. Lexi never prayed for world peace or have the kindest person around— as long as he treated her right with respect and love, she actually didn't mind how cruel he could be to others; that's just how his world works after all.

Ethan Lu slowly raised his head to see her gentle, understanding smile. Seeing beautiful face and hearing her considerate words, his heart raced much faster than it was. That instant, he felt absolutely lucky that his heart beats for her. It gave him an extreme reassurance that Lexi had this vast insight towards things.

By instinct, Ethan Lu lowered his head again and without realizing it, his lips placed a soft, gentle peck on the back of her hand.

On the other hand, when his breath brushed her skin before a delicate kiss was placed on the back of her hand, she stiffened as if for a brief moment, she was unable to move. Granting that she already embraced him, held his hand longer than anyone, almost let him kissed her on their first date— Ethan Lu never directly kissed her, ever. Therefore, this sudden more intimate physical contact caught her off-guard.

By the next second, just when she thought Ethan Lu would stop and look at her with a more flabbergasted look— she thought wrong! After that first peck, Ethan Lu placed another tender kiss. 

One… twice… thrice… slowly going up to her flawless arms as if he was losing his control.

His action gradually alarmed Lexi as he showed no sign of stopping. She would be lying if she says she didn't feel a little scared as she wasn't ready for it just yet. Hence, with great effort, her slightly trembling lower lip, opened.

"Ethan!" Her call snapped Ethan who was acting by his instinct as he stopped.

Realizing what he was doing, his eyes slowly gaped open in shock. Bit by bit, he raised his aghast expression to meet her utterly shocked front. For a minute, both of them stared at each other as both of them were beyond speechless.

After some time, Ethan Lu let go of her hand before he ruffled his hair in dismay. Whether he was too moved and grateful for her existence or his desire to shower her with his bottomless love— he knew it was not enough reason to justify his action. 

He was careless. He had controlled himself for a long time yet, he still acted out of instinct. "Sh*t…" He lowly cursed as he had the urged to bang his head to the steering wheel. 

"Love, I'm sorry… I know there's no excu...sed." Facepalming, Ethan Lu apologized as he closed his eyes in distress. He then turned his head to look at her, but to his surprise, Lexi's face was crimson red. It was as if all her blood rushed to her head as she unmovingly sat there.

To his understanding, his action traumatized her which urged him to go back to the temple and meditate so his soul could be cleansed. Unbeknownst to him, Lexi's dilemma wasn't what he thought it was. 

Currently, her heart was beating so fast as she could still feel his heavy breathes and soft touches on the back of her hand. This made her heart thumped louder and faster— it was so fast that it was somewhat painful. She could hear Ethan Lu and his apologies, however, her mind was malfunctioning as of the moment and she could not respond.

'What is this…?' She thought inwardly as she held her hand on her chest.

Seeing her acting like this, if only Ethan Lu could kneel on a washboard this very instant, he already did with his both hands raised in the air. 'She's traumatized… stupid, stupid me!' He cursed over and over again with an added insult inside his mind.

****

[Inside a grand villa]

Churu stared at the icy man that she hated ever since the beginning of her journey as the system's guide. Since her interest was piqued when she spent a day with Wren Tanaka and witnessed a variety of exciting scenes that day, she still hadn't gathered enough answers from him.

Therefore, asking for a day off from Lexi, she attended the meeting they held. Of course, she would be lying if the dangerous aura from inside the desolate restaurant didn't excite her. But, to her surprise, when Morris Liu entered the room while Churu was snuggling on Wren's lap, she immediately noticed Chris Yu— that made her swoon over the man.

As Churu was busy hopping from Wren Tanaka to Chris Yu and vice versa— showering them with love, her ears were still attentively listening to their discussion. When she heard Wren Tanaka uttered "...no wonder you have to push Miss Yang away." she stopped and turned her head to the two conversing men.

As Churu listened to their conversation up until the person who was sleeping on the long couch that had the most dangerous aura woke up— Churu fixed her gaze to the stoic front of Morris Liu. Alas, the flying dumpling remained silent until she heard Seraphina Yue says;

"Kidding."

"Hey, you're not kidding— your strong bloodlust, I can smell it!" Churu sassed as she looked at the lax woman in dismay.

"No need for the head, Miss Yue. As long as he would disappear— I don't care." Morris Liu bluntly responded with his usual flat tone.

"Nice. hehe,"

"Oi, you sound like a hitman or something. Please have some decency— your drool!" Wren Tanaka murmured but seeing that there was still dried drool on the corner of her mouth, his stress level reached its peak.

[Present Time]

"I can't say I sympathized with you because on how you treated Lexi but…" Churu sat on top of the small table as she looked at Morris Liu who was silently drinking a strong whiskey all by himself.

"Huh, I did horrible things to her… I thought that if I pushed her away, she will eventually get tired and leave, but, I never thought that her means of leaving would be, death… I'm pathetic, don't sympathize." 

"HUH?!?! Did you hear me?! Can you see me?!" Shaken to the core, Churu jolted from her seat as she flew closer to his drunk figure.