The Rise of the White Lotus

"I'm coming— stop…!" Opening the door with the most annoyed expression across his face, Ethan Lu was faced with Louis Lu's inexpressive front before his gaze slowly shifted to his cousin's side… looking down a little to see the aggravate front of Evelyn Lu.

"Lou…?" Knitting his brows together, Ethan Lu didn't move his eyes back to Louis Lu despite lowly calling his name. "... and shorty?"

"Brother Tan! How could you call me that?!" Humphing in dismay, Evelyn Lu was nearly rendered speechless by Ethan Lu's address to her. Well, unlike the kind and composed Louis Lu, Ethan Lu, on the other hand, was the kind of big brother who would tease and annoy her but protect her in times of need. Even so, she hated that 'shorty' nickname that Ethan Lu would always address her as in the past.

"What are you doing here?" When Ethan Lu finally recovered and his thoughts finally believed that these two are indeed there in the flesh and not just in his imagination, he had a bad premonition.

"Big brother tan, aren't you going to invite us in first? It's cold out here." Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Evelyn Lu spouted. Meanwhile, Louis Lu seemed to see that he didn't need to do the talking as Evelyn Lu's mouth would only shut when she's sleeping.

"No, scram!" Without blinking an eye, Ethan Lu heartlessly rejected as he didn't want to welcome them inside his home, especially the troublemaker Evelyn Lu. 

"I will scram, but let her in and don't make her cry until I can no longer hear her." As usual, Louis Lu stoically responded and nodded as he didn't take Ethan Lu's refusal to the heart. Well, it was his home and it was up to him as to whoever he wanted to welcome. Still, Louis Lu had made great measures to keep Evelyn Lu silent by bribing her candies and chocolates.

"Bad, bad guy! Ugly big brother and a heartless iceberg!" As stubborn and pampered as she was, Evelyn Lu bellowed as she annoyingly spat her insulting remarks just to get back at Ethan Lu's heartless refusal.

Just then, Lexi appeared behind Ethan Lu as the commotion on their doorstep made her want to check on who Ethan Lu was arguing with. "Love, who is it?" Tilting her head to the side to get a glimpse of the people in front of Ethan Lu, Lexi immediately saw Evelyn Lu then Louis Lu who was standing in front of Ethan Lu.

When Evelyn Lu heard the familiar soft tone of Lexi and then saw her in the flesh, she gasped in awe which made her stop for a moment from prattling nonsense about how ugly and heartless Ethan Lu was. On the other hand, Louis Lu just slightly bowed his head to her as a greeting without a change of expression.

"Kyaaah~! My goddess~!" Snapping, Evelyn Lu immediately intruded inside as she fangirled in front of Lexi. Her eyes glittering while covering her gaped mouth— the complete opposite of her glares to Ethan Lu. She slightly jumped to ease her excitement as she could never get enough of the sight of her goddess, her idol.

"Eve, it's you." Seeing the same reaction the girl showed earlier when she saw her, part of Lexi had this kind of soft spot for her. After all, she shielded her earlier and bantered with Stella Du without any reservation. Moreover, aside from her childish nature, Lexi thought it was better for her to stay like this as she saw the environment around the Lu family.

"You remembered my name?" On the verge of tearing up, Evelyn Lu haltingly muttered in astonishment as her idol recognized her. God knows how she felt achieved by being recognized by her idol. Now, with this, she could flaunt her power as the president of the EliXi fandom to all of the other shippers that shipping Lexi to other male artists like Gael Zhang and Elliot Gong to Rika Song… and Elliot Gong to Gael Zhang.

"Of course, thank you for siding with me earlier." Offering her a warm smile, Lexi slightly nodded as she appreciated this girl. Unbeknownst to her, Evelyn Lu might seem a little younger than her age, but she was already a woman and a young adult!

"Come in, you too Lou." Gesturing the already trespassing Evelyn Lu, Lexi invited her in before coldly glancing at the weird Louis Lu and spoke without the same tone she used towards Evelyn Lu.

Evelyn Lu profusely nodded and seemed to entirely forget about the fact that this was Ethan Lu's villa. Hence, after taking two steps inside, she suddenly realized that this was her cousin's house which made her stop in her tracks and turned to Lexi with a shock front.

"Goddess, are you being held hostage here? Is my big brother taking you as his slave?!" Her remarks unexpectedly caught Lexi off-guard which made her unconsciously looked at the dismayed Ethan Lu. She clearly saw his under-eye twitch as if he was ready to kick her out of his house.

"This little—! Lou, why did you drag her here?!" Agitated to the maximum degree, Ethan Lu glared daggers at the culprit that drove Evelyn Lu to his humble abode. They should be resting and they were already planning to shower together, but why would they have to show up in the middle of the night?

"I would have to send her home tomorrow and the plane tickets are expensive. You are partly at fault as she attended your event, so you should shoulder our plane tickets." Nonchalantly shrugging, Louis Lu honestly said his intention which made a vein pop on Ethan Lu's forehead.

"Why are my cousins so weird? You could have just emailed me or Rick about it." Lowly grumbling his dismay, Ethan Lu pinched the bridge of his nose in distress.

"Goddess, you can tell me, I will save you from his clutches." Intently staring at Lexi as Evelyn Lu's expression was screaming 'I am here, you don't have to be afraid anymore'. To her mind, Lexi glancing at Ethan Lu meant that she was afraid to tattle on her captor. Just how much drama and novels has she read to have such a wild imagination?!

Letting out a faint chuckle, Lexi slightly shook her head as she altered her gaze from the distressed Ethan Lu back to Evelyn Lu. "No, I am not his slave nor I am being held captive… or maybe I am," Pausing, Lexi watched Evelyn Lu's reaction drastically change as she glared at her cousin.

"He captured my heart." Chuckling, Lexi humored that was akin to a dropped bomb that instantly deafened Evelyn Lu.