The Rise of the White Lotus

Without waiting for Ethan Lu's response, Lexi placed a soft peck on his cheek before skipping outside the villa— leaving Ethan Lu with knitted brows. 

'Send him out?' He thought inwardly that made his mind slightly perplexed for a while. He looked at the direction where Lexi went, "Hey, young lady—" but the door was already shut closed even before he could finish his sentence.

"That's odd." He mumbled as Ethan Lu contemplated whether to follow his future wifey or let her talk to Louis Lu since it seemed she wanted to talk to him. After pondering for a while, Ethan Lu decided not to follow suit as he knew Louis Lu wouldn't harm her. Moreover, his shadow was surely on-guard. Thus, Ethan Lu decided to respect Lexi's privacy and set a timer for her to talk to his cousin. Well, at least, if they were taking too long, he had an exact excuse for how long they had been conversing.

"Is five minutes a little long? Tch, whatever." He mumbled setting the timer on his phone and then jumped out from the sofa and headed to the house's entrance but he didn't completely go out. He just remained there, walking back and forth while waiting for the timer to ring.

****

"Hey— wait!" As Lexi jogged her way to catch up with Louis Lu, she called out which caught his attention. He stopped in his tracks as Louis Lu turned to look behind him. There, Lexi stood several steps away from him. Tilting his head to the side, Louis Lu waited for whatever she wanted to say.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Slowly taking a few more steps forward, Lexi slightly raised her brows as she asked, seeking for an honest reply. 

"Hmm?" Knitting his brows, Louis Lu was puzzled at her vague questions. 

"That night... the first person who comforted me that night was you, right?" Scrutinizing his front, Lexi unconscionably swallowed an ample amount of saliva as she patiently waited to see if it rang a bell to him. 

Well, although her memories were rather cloudy and was hard for her to understand, there are some parts that she remembered; for example, the pats on her back that night she broke down without knowing the reason. Still, Lexi was curious if Louis Lu heard anything that night that might help her to know the cause of the untouchable void in her heart. 

"And what if it's me?" Arching his brows, Louis Lu inquired without breaking his stare with her. It was evident that his interest was piqued as he never expected her to remember. After all, from what he heard, Lexi was also unaware of the cause of why she broke down. 

"Are you here to ask me why I comforted you? Don't feel moved though." Louis Lu added and mildly shook his head sideways as he concluded her next inquiry, but to his dismay, Lexi only rolled her eyes as she clicked her tongue in annoyance. 

"I am not but I owe you a thank you for that— thanks. Well, back to my initial intention, did you perhaps hear me that night? I know it might sound crazy, but it's actually slowly turning me mad that I am forgetting something... vital." As Lexi goes on with her sentiments, her voice turned more distressed as this matter resurfaced again.

No matter how hard Lexi tried to forget or throw it into the deepest part of the back of her mind, she just could not let it be. She knew, inside her recuperating heart, she was missing something or someone. Her heart was certain that it was something even more important than what she thought it was, which was silently stressing her to another degree. 

"Sissy," Staring at Lexi's exasperated front, Louis Lu emotionlessly muttered which made her raise her head and stared back at him. 

"That's what I heard, you said something, 'Sissy, don't go,' like that." Louis Lu clarified, hoping that it would help her a bit but to no avail, Lexi remained silent as those words kept on repeating on her mind. 

"I see..." Slowly nodding in understanding, Lexi meekly smiled. "Thanks, it means a lot." Unlike her insincere appreciation earlier, this time, Lexi was more candid as she expressed her gratitude. 

Granted that hearing what she said that night still didn't ring a bell in her head, still, her heart felt closer to her lost memories. Therefore, she appreciated Louis Lu for giving her empathy despite his disapproval towards her. 

"I still don't like you though." Nodding once, Louis Lu's 'welcome, no problem' made her pursed her lips on a thin line to suppress the threatening chuckles urging to escape her mouth. 

'I guess the Lu family is filled with a weird bunch-- or not.' She thought inwardly as she already noticed Louis Lu's peculiarities, especially now that she had a short conversation with him. Nonetheless, Lexi realized that the guy wasn't as unlikable as she initially thought. Still, there was a line she had set just for any cases that Louis Lu was also coming after her boyfriend. 

"Don't worry about it-- no one here is getting the wrong idea. As I said, the feeling is mutual." Nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders, Lexi didn't allow the yearning that her heart desired as she modestly chuckled.

Louis Lu didn't respond any more as he resumed to go to his car. He didn't even give Lexi a second glance as he hitched onto his vehicle and started revving up its engine. 

On the other hand, as Lexi watched the sedan start moving, she unhurriedly made her way back to where her lover was. After all, he was probably waiting in anxiousness. Indeed, Lexi guessed that much from Ethan Lu as he would say and act things but scheme and make excuses at the same time. 

Just thinking about it, a subtle smile formed on the side of her lips. 'Thank God, I have him... He makes things a little bit better for me, more tolerable.' 

Meanwhile, inside the black sedan, Louis Lu glanced on the rearview mirror where he had a glimpse of Lexi's back as she headed inside the villa. "Weird... like always."