The Rise of the White Lotus

When Ethan Lu heard Lexi's last remarks, he was snapped back into reality. In an instant, Ethan Lu held the little boy's shoulder and lightly pushed him away from him.

"Woah, Woah! What Daddy? I'm not your daddy." Dismayed, Ethan Lu was aghast as he claimed while his face distorted to a whole other degree. Of course, his actions made the child to be on the verge of tears as he chewed his bottom lip to restrain himself from sobbing.

"Mommy…" Tugging his mother's jacket sleeve, the little boy looked up to her as if asking for backup. 

"Ethan… he is—" Just as the woman stuttered, Ethan Lu's eyes widened in dismay and sassed.

"Woah, woah, Vic! Stop right there!" 

"What's going on here? Who is this woman and this child?" Just then, Lexi finally snapped from her stupor and took hurried strides towards them. Her piercing gaze altered from the woman Ethan Lu called Vic and the child that hid behind her, afraid of Lexi's sharp eyes.

A scoff escaped Lexi's mouth as different conclusions hovered in her mind. The very first thought she had when Lexi saw the woman and the child, she already assumed that it was Ethan Lu's ex-girlfriend. 

Granted that Lexi wasn't mentioning nor did she show interest in Ethan Lu's dating history, deep down, she was just afraid to know how many women had touched him and vice versa. Lexi perceived that knowing about that part would make her heart split in half and give her the insecurities she never had before. Moreover, knowing about it, it wouldn't be healthy in their relationship.

However, Lexi hadn't thought that one of them would show up one day with a child! How could she deal with this now? Just the thought of that, Lexi felt conflicted as her breathing began to get heavier.

"Ethan… you—!" Grinding her teeth, Lexi was on the verge of suffocation which made Ethan Lu panicked.

"Love! Wait, let me explain!" Panicking, Ethan Lu frantically glided to Lexi. Alas, as soon as his hands were about to reach her, they were harshly slapped away.

"Explain what?!" Glaring daggers at the pale Ethan Lu, Lexi snarled. By then, Ethan Lu transferred the glare to the woman in front of his doorstep that was the cause of this crazy misunderstanding.

"Vic! What the…!" Pausing from cursing, Ethan Lu glanced at the child peeking behind the woman, he gritted his teeth. "Stop playing games with me for god sake! My wife is pregnant! I swear to god if she has a miscarriage, I won't forgive you!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." Surprised, Victoria Tang blinked her eyes as she slightly bowed her head towards Lexi as if she was apologizing. She then looked down at her child before she smiled, "Darling, it's okay. Don't cry, that's your uncle Ethan."

"Uncle?" At the same time, Lexi and the little guy both had question marks on their cloud of thoughts. On the other hand, although Ethan Lu didn't know why Victoria Tang was there in front of his doorstep at this hour, he assumed that his good friend would like her child to address him as his uncle.

"Tch, come in." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Ethan Lu invited them in as he had a slight headache for the unforeseen event that occurred in a short amount of a few minutes.

*****

"Love, this is my old friend, Victoria Tang. Vic, this is my fiancee, Lexi Yang." Under his breath, Ethan Lu gently rubbed Lexi's back as he introduced the woman to her. Casting the child with an uninterested look, Ethan Lu then returned his gaze to Victoria Tang.

"You have a kid that big… how?"

"Hi, I'm sorry for startling you, really. I just wanted to get my revenge on him for all the pranks he pulled on me in the past. I didn't know that you're conceiving a child so, I am deeply sorry." Ignoring Ethan Lu's obvious criticism, Victoria Tang apologized to Lexi first as she knew she needed to sincerely ask for her forgiveness.

"I see…" Nodding in understanding, Lexi felt that a thorn was picked out from her heart upon hearing that the child wasn't Ethan Lu's. "But, may I know why you are here at this late hour?" 

"Right, why would you drop by here now instead of tomorrow?" Backing up Lexi's inquiry, Ethan Lu knitted his brows in confusion.

In retrospect, Victoria Tang would never see him if it was not important. Even that one time she had left the country, she didn't say a word to anyone about it. She just left, just like that. If not for the fact that Ethan Lu reached out to her asking what happened, he would not know that she left the country to study. However, by the looks of it, Ethan Lu somewhat understood that Victoria Tang's reason wasn't about that but to hide her pregnancy.

Still, what he could not understand was that, why Victoria Tang decided to bother him the moment she arrived in the country. Hence, both Lexi and Ethan Lu patiently waited for her response that seemed to take forever.

Victoria Tang just smiled before she turned to face her little one sitting beside her. Placing her hand on top of his head to pat it, she then returned her head to Lexi and Ethan Lu before she slowly opened her mouth.

"We wanted to meet the father of the child."

"Yo! I said to stop that!" Distressed, Ethan Lu glared at her as he thought Victoria Tang was teasing him and Lexi again. On the other hand, Lexi attentively waited for her explanation and how she would meet the father of the child in Ethan Lu's place.

"Silly," Chuckling, Victoria Tang lightly shook her head as she continued to tenderly pat on her yawning child's head. "I heard Lou is in the country so, my first thought was that that cheapskate was probably staying here."

The moment they heard her last remarks, the whole villa fell into a deep quietness as Lexi and Ethan Lu's eyes tried to process her words. Blinking numerous times, Lexi and Ethan Lu were evenly stunned and gasped at the same time upon realizing who was the father.

"Lou is the dad?!" In unison, Lexi and Ethan Lu asked as a priceless reaction gradually displayed on their faces.

"Pizza delivery!" Just then, they heard the doorbell ring again and a loud declaration outside the manor. Perhaps, it was the silence that stilled the whole surrounding of the villa that they had heard the delivery guy from the outside.