The Rise of the White Lotus

Scrutinizing his pondering front about her question, Lexi added. "It's really a surprise that Lou has a child. I never really thought that that guy can manage to have such a romantic relationship."

Indeed, no matter how Lexi thought about it, she could not envision Louis Lu being lovey-dovey with someone else. Instead, she imagined a very boring date that she would not like to have from then and now. No one could blame her though because her man set the bar so high that she thought no other man could ever reach it if they tried in their lifetime.

"Well…" Resting the back of his head against the bed's headboard, Ethan Lu slightly lifted his head as he peered at the corner side of the ceiling. "If it's Vic, then I think those two really match each other." 

"Hmm?" Lexi couldn't understand what he meant by that and why he made such an assumption. Therefore, after humming a tune, Lexi patiently waited for his explanation.

"I never really noticed that there was something going on between Lou and Vic but in the past, the only person who could change Lou's expression was her." In a matter of fact tone, Ethan Lu recalled all the times he spent with his cousin and Victoria Tang that has a close relationship with Dylan Lu: Ethan Lu's cousin and Dennis Lu's son.

Only when Victoria Tang was around, Ethan Lu would see Louis Lu's human side aside from his usual weirdness. Actually, he would be more like a normal man when she was around. Although the change by other's point of view could be considered unnoticeable, still, to someone that was close to Louis Lu, that change was already enough to make their eyes bulge.

"Also, Vic really made a bad decision by keeping her pregnancy a secret." 

"I know right?" Shrugging her shoulders, Lexi bit the slice of pizza, unaware that she was not on the same page as him.

"I mean, knowing Lou, he would not touch a woman by accident." This time, Ethan Lu languidly turned to Lexi who was chewing the pizza Louis Lu ordered using his money with confused knitted brows. "My love, do you really think Lou will make such a mistake? That meticulous, health-conscious, and opportunist of a guy? Even if you injected him with the strongest drug, Lou will probably ask her to drive him to the hospital if he's not interested in her or, even if the scenario was both of them were drunk, it was only rational that Lou would just sleep it off. Also, even if Vic was the one who initiated it, he would totally refuse— he always refused anything in regards to sexual company in his meetings." Laying down possible scenarios and Louis Lu's obvious action in each of them, Ethan Lu watched how Lexi's eyes widened as her stuffed cheeks stopped from chewing.

If there was a person who knew Louis Lu inside and out, that would probably Ethan Lu. After all, they had been close since childhood until they grew up. Although their interactions weren't as cute just like when they were children, their bond was still there… forever.

"Uh huh… I just don't want to mention it to Vic so as not to raise any hopes if there is." Seeing that Lexi's face was screaming 'you mean Lou also liked Vic'? kind of expression, Ethan Lu enlightened her and explained why he held back from saying anything to Victoria Tang.

With great effort, Lexi finally gulped down a mouthful of pizza that she shoved inside her mouth before drinking a mouthful of water. The moment she regained her breathing, Lexi snapped.

"You mean to say, Lou might not think what Vic thinks?" Like a gossiping girl, Lexi's eyes lit up as an interesting glint flashed across her pair of nut-brown orbs. Now, there's no doubt that Lexi and Ethan Lu right now were like having a girl's slumber party as they shared their conclusion and gossiped about other people's matters.

Understandably because they can only be this verbally transparent to each other as they wouldn't be judged with this little secret they had at night: sharing gossip and opinions.

"Yeah, though I can't say if he intentionally impregnated her or not but one thing is for sure, Grandpa has gained another great-grandson— good for him." Ethan Lu didn't jump into too much of a conclusion as he believed that Louis Lu was not that irresponsible. Yet, there was also a possibility as he was sometimes selfish and only thought about his own well-being without asking the involved parties. Regardless, he already sent an invitation to Louis Lu to drop by in his home two days from now giving him a vague idea of what he should expect.

The two lovebirds continued to exchange deductions before Lexi finally downed four big slices of pizza before she finally threw the white towel indicating that she gave up. Then, after cleaning up a little, Lexi shamelessly nestled in Ethan Lu's arms like a pampered little princess that she was and fell asleep with a happy tummy.

On the other hand, Ethan Lu could not fall asleep as he kept thinking about Louis Lu and Victoria Tang's matter. Most importantly, he reflected on his past actions and how useless of a friend he was. Lexi was right, although Ethan Lu admitted that he tried to avoid being entangled with other people's problems, alas, he never really tried to correct it.

Granted that he didn't owe anyone anything, but still, all his friends have helped him one way or another. Morris Liu, Chris Yu, Elliot Gong, Kevin Woo, Louis Lu, Victoria Tang, and many others. He knew that what he was today, these people helped him get through the hardest days of his life— whether big or small.

'Well, maybe not charging Lou for arranging a meeting with his child and Vic is enough… I guess.' Throwing the active thoughts that were keeping him awake to the back of his mind, Ethan Lu still engraved a little something in his heart, that one day he would return the favor, starting with Louis Lu, then to the suppressed Woo family.