The Rise of the White Lotus

As Ethan Lu drove himself to his appointment for the day, silence soon went along with the chillness of the inbound breeze of the air conditioner. He didn't avert his gaze away from the road yet, whatever emotions he showed to the Yang family— the remnants of it slowly dissipated. 

It was as if every passing meter, Mr. lover boy slowly hid in the deepest pit of his heart and only a blank masquerade remained. Pictures of Lexi's smirks, Frederick Yang's dignified front, and Lillian Yang's gentle giggles flashed across his head which made his face more stoic than ever. 

He had no family to protect aside from them. After all, his biological family and immediate family members weren't deserving of any affections. If any, the emotion he had towards them was wariness. 

"Not good..." Ethan Lu blankly murmured as he recalled his progress inside the Lu family. 

Granted that he had been gaining power and supporters, he also had the authority to mobilize some men of the Lu family under his order, Ethan Lu was still dissatisfied. He needed more power and broader connections to secure his spot. 

He still felt bothered by the fact that Morris Liu was now lying on a hospital bed because some people were after him. Hence, he was quite paranoid about Lexi's safety and her family's well being. 

It wasn't that he was insincere when he told Frederick Yang about keeping Lexi safe. However, he could not help but feel restless unless his other Lu family members stopped from troubling him and it will only happen if he became the family head. 

Just as Ethan Lu was deep in his thoughts and was planning what steps he should make to the Lu Family, he was snapped back to reality when his phone rang. Without turning his gaze away from the road, his hand slipped inside his suit pocket and retrieved his phone. 

Getting a glimpse of his assistant, Lyrick Jiang's name on the screen, Ethan Lu reached for the wireless bluetooth from the inside door handle and then placed it on his ear. After a few swift presses of buttons, the call reconnected through the wireless earpiece. 

"Young Master, Mr. Yu's colleagues have arrived." Short and precise, Lyrick Jiang sternly reported. 

"Alright— nothing funny happened?" 

"One tried to break free and go on a killing spree but with our elite men's presence, he was restrained again. Nothing happened after that." Without a second's hesitation, Lyrick Jiang reported their mishap as his boss only cared about the end result— whatever happens in the process, if its a job well done at the end of the day— that's what's important to Ethan Lu. 

"Good. How about Chris? Not there?" 

"He was..." Lyrick Jiang turned around and saw a car approaching. Since the plate number of the car was Chris Yu's, he resumed. "Mr. Yu just arrived as well."

"Alright, I'll see you later." With those said remarks, Ethan Lu was about to hang up but halted when he heard Lyrick Jiang stopped him. 

"Wait— Young Master, Mr. Yu seems as if he wants to talk to you." Lyrick Jiang watched Chris Yu frantically hitched out from the driver's seat and shouted: "Don't hang up!" Hence, he halted his boss from cutting the line short despite his confusion the reason why Chris Yu would rather talk to Ethan Lu via his phone instead of personally calling him. 

"Pass him the phone," Confused and curious at the same time, Ethan Lu commanded. He waited for a minute before Chris Yu's voice was heard on the other end of the line. 

"Eey!" Chris Yu greeted, sounding a little refreshed after taking a short nap and hot shower before going into the place where the criminals were held. "Why didn't I bump into you earlier, eh?"

"What do you want?" Decelerating his speed, Ethan Lu subconsciously turned attentive as he anticipated whatever Chris Yu's intention was as to why he wanted to talk to him. After all, they already discussed whatever should be discussed earlier that morning. Hence, he was certain that Chris Yu wouldn't just want to greet him. 

"Err," Scratching the back of his head, Chris Yu looked up in the sky and scrunched his face up due to the blinding brightness before he asked. "Are you perhaps friends with the Yue Enterprise?"

"Yue Enterprise?" Furrowing his brows, Ethan Lu tried to speculate why Chris Yu asked this out of the blue but no matter how he concluded about it within a short span of a few seconds, he was in a dead-end. Thus, Ethan Lu responded honestly. "Well, I was invited when the new chairwoman took over the company but I can't say we're friends— Mr. Tanaka, maybe."

"I mean the Lu and Yue family— they didn't have any ties before?" Chris Yu probed further without giving any hints on what's going on in his mind. 

"I don't think so. I have met all of the close families that had ties with us— why are you asking this by the way?" Slightly annoyed, Ethan Lu had grown more suspicious by these questions about the two families. 

"Nothing, I am just interested in the chairwoman and I thought I should ask you to say a few good words about me." 

"Damn..." Upon hearing the petty reasoning that Chris Yu made it sound so suspenseful, Ethan Lu's under-eye twitched as he could not help but curse. 

"I am not doing that— I'm busy." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Ethan Lu was about to hang up in urgency but was once again halted with Chris Yu's interruption.

"Wait—!"

"What?!"

"Err," Contemplating what to say, Chris Yu carefully chose his words as he wouldn't want to cause trouble with any vague remarks that even he could not understand. 

After all, when he gave the information that Seraphina Yue was involved in this, his friend's life would be in great danger as the said woman gestured him a hush gesture with her index finger on her lips— placing him in a tight position. 

"I heard there's a land auction on the east side of the city— are you participating?"

"Damn Chris! Don't ask such nonsense! Didn't you check? Lou is participating— why would I even welcome him to my home just to fight him over a small piece of land?" Agitated, Ethan Lu unhesitatingly cut the line short and stepped his foot on the pedal— speeding away. He could not believe Chris Yu was delaying him to his appointment for such nonsense.  

Meanwhile, when the line ended, Chris Yu's brows knitted together as he slowly put the phone down. 

"Lou..." Chris Yu whispered that only he could hear. Of course, with his short free time earlier, he searched Ethan Lu's cousin Louis Lu. To his surprise, he was welcomed by the said man's achievements and his well-established company he led singlehandedly. 

He also stumbled upon information about the auction and Louis Lu's company joining. However, the reason he asked about it was that the auction would be held in a month and he was curious if Louis Lu was still overseas or in this city— coincidentally when everything happened. 

"Uh, this doesn't sound good." Chris Yu tapped his foot a few times as he mildly shook his head sideways. For some reason, his hunch left him feeling terrified with the thought of Louis Lu having any involvement in this. 

Indeed, Chris Yu might fully take this as pure coincidence as he could not rely on speculation and hunches. However, he must warn Ethan Lu about his cousin who was apparently living inside his own home. 

When Chris Yu was about to heedlessly dash back to his car, Lyrick Jiang's flat voice snapped him back. 

"Mr. Yu?"

"Uh?"

"My phone." Thrusting his chin to Chris Yu's hand where he held his phone, Lyrick Jiang raised his brows. 

"Oh, right, thanks." Handing the phone back, Chris Yu asked. "By the way, why does Louis Lu insist on staying in Ethan's place?"

"Huh?" Confused, Lyrick Jiang stared at Chris Yu for a while before emotionlessly answering him. "Because Sir Louis Lu is a cheapskate— that's what the Young Master's words were." 

Lyrick Jiang properly addressed Louis Lu according to the Lu family rules as they could only address the young master and master to Ethan Lu and Edward Lu since the heir was already named. The rest of the members, they were either called elders, directors and other terms based on the said rules. 

"Hah, what a lame excuse." Disbelief, Chris Yu could not fathom that Ethan Lu believed that kind of reasoning unless it was the truth. 

"Well, since Ethan's pissed at me and would surely not answer my calls— can you please relay a message for me?" Smiling, Chris Yu raised his brows and waited for Lyrick Jiang to nod his head once. 

"Can you please tell him these exact words: keep an eye on that guy." 

"Sir Louis Lu?" 

"Yes!" Chris Yu placed his hand on Lyrick Jiang's shoulder as his gaze went through the thin lenses of the assistant's transparent glasses. 

****

[What happened on the elevator earlier that day]

When Seraphina Yue skipped herself out of the elevator, she stopped in her tracks and turned to Chris Yu. 

"Edward and Louis Lu— they are my... friends." Seraphina mouthed. 

Placing her finger in front of her lips that were curled into a smirk she witnessed Chris Yu being tossed in a pool of question marks. She then resumed on her way with the addition of her sentence inwardly. 

'But, I call all fellas as friends— even the ones I sent to hell, heh.' Seraphina Yue's smile brightened even more for leaving a simple riddle that Chris Yu must solve.