The Rise of the White Lotus

'Something I don't know?' Ethan Lu's twitching brows furrowed as he could clearly hear the mischievousness in his grandfather's voice. Shaking his head, Ethan Lu regarded the last remarks of Edward Lu as invaluable because he was always like that—trying to pique his interest and then leave him hanging. Therefore, to save himself from the 'obvious' trap he assumed was a lie, Ethan Lu threw it to the back of his mind.

Ethan Lu then headed to the car where Lexi had been waiting for him. As he hitched inside the back passenger seat, Lexi's yawning was the first thing that welcomed his eyes. 

"Tired?" Gently smiling at her, Ethan Lu sprawled his other arm towards the other side of her head and carefully guided it to his shoulder.

"Not really… just sleepy." Lightly shaking her head, Lexi rested her head on his shoulder as her hand slowly traveled and soon intertwined around his slender hand. "Do you still have a meeting?"

"Huh? My love, what did you think I was doing when you were talking to grandpa?" Grinning, Ethan Lu marginally raised his brows as he boasted in a matter of fact tone. "I moved all my meetings near the main residence, and my last meeting took place in the main residence's garden."

"Isn't that a little bothersome?" Not really surprised, Lexi thoughtlessly inquired as her mind felt tired from functioning and it seemed like she was slowly losing control of herself to her desire to sleep.

"Not really. Inviting them into the main residence is something they can boast about." Ethan Lu didn't mind responding to something she would normally guess. In his mind, Lexi's hustling in the past months was taking a toll on her and her being a little tired was normal. He didn't have the slightest hint, that just maybe, it was one of the signs of her pregnancy that he has yet to be aware of.

"Baby, my love, you can sleep for a while. I will wake you up when we arrive." Ethan Lu lightly squeezed her hand before he loosened his grip as he offered. 

He already told her that he would take her to a dinner date with the reason that he wanted to celebrate their successful day yesterday with just the two of them. Well, although he said that, he had planned something big like putting the ring around her finger. Just when he thought that he had a plan to surprise her, Lexi also thought of revealing her pregnancy on that same dinner date that he had proposed.

"Say it again," Without turning her gaze away from their hands, Lexi meekly asked which made him crease his brows a little. "Baby… say it again, I like it." Clarifying her remarks, Lexi added.

When Ethan Lu heard her request, an uncontrollable gentle smile paraded on his thin red lips. For some reason, he felt that Lexi was extra clingy today and she was like a baby who wanted to be pampered.

Placing a soft peck on her head, Ethan Lu whispered. "I love you, my baby," After that, another light kiss landed on the same spot as he continued, "My Princess, my queen, my world, my sun and moon, my love." With every endearment he uttered, Ethan Lu placed kisses on her head that was resting on his shoulder.

Lexi could not help but giggle with his every 'mys' as her eyes grew heavier while a satisfied smile remained ever persistent on her lips.  Just when she thought he was done, Ethan Lu continued which made her speak in a low tone.

"My forever, my—"

"Stop… that's enough…" 

"But, I want to please my darling…" Pouting, Ethan Lu humored her which made Lexi let out a faint chuckle. 

"Whatever." Lexi lightly shook her head in defeat as she wanted to know how long will he keep doing it. Little did she know, Ethan Lu had never planned to stop saying endearments to her until she fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the victims from all of this dog food slowly placed their earplugs into their ears. Jarred Guo constantly blinked his eyes so he could see the road clearly because every "my valentine, my honey-cake" that his boss spat out made his under-eye twitch.

"Hey, will you help me put the earplugs in?" Giving Lyrick Jiang a side glance who was on the verge of having a mental breakdown even though his set of earplugs were already in his ear, Jarred Guo demanded with a whisper.

"They are not working…" Aghast by the malfunctioning newly bought earplugs, Lyrick Jiang's complexion was paler than usual. Slowly, he turned to Jarred Guo which nearly gave the driver a heart attack with his ugly and helpless expression. "It's a scam…"

"What's a scam…?" Still whispering not to interrupt the two love birds in the back passenger seat, Jarred Guo knitted his brows in confusion. He thought that his colleague, Lyrick Jiang, was overreacting since it was impossible that the earplugs wouldn't work. After all, their master was the person who personally bought them… it was personally given by their boss!

With that realization, Jarred Guo's quick assumption was confirmed as Lyrick Jiang swiftly put the earplugs in his ear and Jarred could still hear his boss's, endless endearments that were growing louder and louder.

"Scam… indeed." In that instant, Jarred Guo's sinking heart followed the already sunk heart of Lyrick Jiang. Surely, their master had found some entertainment for teasing and torturing them at the same time.

'Master, what have we done so wrong that you have to do this to us?!' Unbeknownst to the two, they had the same thoughts at the same time as they recalled what they had done so wrong for Ethan Lu to stuff them with all the dog food that was being showered inside this very car.

"I love you, my sugar pie. You are the most beautiful woman, my brightest star. The love of my life, a drug that I'm willing to take and get an overdose from…" Chuckling, Ethan Lu continued his series of endearments as if he was just now professing his love for the first time. At this time, he had guessed that his dear subordinates in the front had found out what he had just done. Therefore, he continued to run his flowery mouth for expressing his bottomless love for Lexi and make the two envious with his love life.

'Master, please have mercy! Your image… there's no image remaining!' Weeping from their boss's mischief, both pleaded inwardly as the journey to the said surprise proposal was filled with Ethan Lu's endless love confessions.