The Rise of the White Lotus

When Lexi arrived in the kitchen, she saw Ethan Lu's distressed state as he stared at the epic fail of a dinner that he had made. Lexi chuckled upon seeing that he was near the point of cursing all of his ancestors before she decided to approach him. 

Lexi glanced at the soggy pasta noodles and then to the burnt, not so white meat. Lexi took a spoon and had a taste of the sauce— it instantly made her face scrunch up by its bitterness, probably because it was overcooked as well. 

"Ugh! This is frustrating!" Ethan Lu grumbled as he turned in Lexi's direction and witnessed her reaction after eating the food he made. 

"It's fine. We can cook some more anyway— there's no need to be frustrated about it." Trying to make him feel better, Lexi proposed as if she wasn't feeling gloomy at all earlier. 

"Urgh!" Still, despite her pure proposal, Ethan Lu felt like a failure. He had been learning to cook and was doing great at it. However, he actually forgot this responsibility that he had volunteered for, as he was reminded about the keychain. Hence, he fetched from inside his car and headed straight to the bedroom where Lexi was resting earlier. 

He swore that he would just give it to her, but Ethan Lu was too delighted that the keychain did its purpose— leading him to stay longer by her side than he expected. Therefore, all this food for their dinner was spoilt. 

"No, I'll just ask Lyrick to bring some food here." Ethan Lu shook his head as his assistant could save the day or rather, this night. 

"Hmm? You don't have to bother him— it's too late." Knitting her brows, Lexi was baffled as to why Ethan Lu would bother his assistant with this trivial stuff. After all, he never bothered Lyrick Jiang no matter what mishap they had inside their house. 

"Uh, right..." Realizing that she was uninformed about his brief call earlier when he began preparing dinner, Ethan Lu explained. "Lyrick, is already on his way here— I asked him to come because I want to tell you about something."

Lexi only knitted her brows more as her curiosity intensified. Still, no matter how she asked him about the details, she only got a response from him like this: "I will tell you when they arrive."

Therefore, Lexi stopped asking him and headed upstairs to take a hot bath and freshen herself up. 

****

As soon as Lexi finished bathing and doing her skincare routine, she went downstairs with the thought to wait for their visitors to come. However, just as she was on the stairs, she caught a glimpse of Lyrick Jiang, Ethan Lu, and Nico Zhuang in the living room. 

"Nico?" She muttered in disbelief. Lexi then saw three washboards near them which made her brows creased even more. 

"What's going on? And why's Nico here?" Lexi resumed in her tracks and before she could even arrive in the living room, she raised her voice to reach the said figures in the living area. 

The moment the three of them heard her, Lyrick Jiang, Nico Zhuang, and Ethan Lu flinched before they panicked. In an instant, Nico Zhuang grabbed the washboard and prepared it in front of his boss and to Lyrick Jiang before he stood in front of one of the washboards that was meant for him. 

The next second, in sync, the three of them knelt down on the washboard with their hands held high. 

"Love, we are here to come clean." The first who spoke was Ethan Lu who was in the middle— Lyrick Jiang on his right side while Nico Zhuang on his left side. 

Lexi was unable to process the scene before her as what had baffled her in an instant was Nico Zhuang's presence. She was rendered speechless and could only alter her gaze from her boyfriend, then to his assistant and then to Nico Zhuang. 

She wanted to ask so many questions as she felt lost about the whole ordeal. However, words seemed to be stuck in her throat as she could not utter a single word. 

"I want to tell you about the truth— Nico is one of my men. I sent him to take your classes as well in order to protect you from any harm." Despite the pain that was slowly creeping up on his knees, urging him to stand up for it to stop, Ethan Lu was determined to come clean. 

Indeed, after seeing her cry and hearing her statements about 'everyone could lie to her but not him', Ethan Lu contacted Lyrick Jiang and asked him to bring Nico Zhuang to his house as soon as possible. 

Of course, he didn't go into details and only noted that they should bring three washboards before adding a note for a take out food. Hence, without knowing what the reason was for the abrupt call, Lyrick Jiang rushed to the villa and dragged Nico Zhuang with him who was, by the way enjoying his night off from work. 

"What..." Lexi altered her gaze to the three of them until she felt a little dizzy. Massaging her temples. Lexi found it hard to process any more revelations at the moment. 

"Wait— what do you mean Nico is one of your men that was looking after me? Also, why is he also kneeling?" Distressed, Lexi inquired due to Lyrick Jiang, who she could not understand as to why he was also there kneeling— Lexi's unfocused mind was distracted. 

'Madam, that was what I have been meaning to ask! Master, why am I kneeling as well?' Upon hearing Lexi's question and seeing her point at him, Lyrick Jiang wept inwardly. 

However, he could not speak his mind under his boss's watch. Hence, Lyrick Jiang could only purse his lips into a thin line as he raised his gaze towards his savior goddess. His expression was screaming: 'my savior goddess, please save me! I am innocent!' Alas, the next second upon hearing his master's response made his heart sank— unable to recover and could only reflect on his life through the years of hardship being an assistant. 

"Because he's my assistant— my accomplice— and an accessory to the crime!" Stating his reasoning, Ethan Lu announced which made the other three's under-eye twitch.