The Rise of the White Lotus

Soon, Lexi and Ethan Lu arrived at Beauty DR's headquarters. Receiving bows and respect from the employees in the lobby— Ethan Lu's presence has been a normal occurrence to them as he would drop by from time to time. 

Perhaps, these people were the only ones who would not believe it if a rumor about Ethan Lu and their big boss Lexi were splitting up. After all, although it was stated in their contract to keep the privacy of Beauty DR, especially their boss' private life, would not come out from the establishment, what they are certain of was that this power couple would never separate. 

Why? Because it was evident in anyone's eye that both of them were completely head over heels with one another— with how they look at each other, the smile that only they could bring to their lips, and the lovely atmosphere surrounding them whenever the two were together. Hence, there's no doubt that they would believe that they would just fall out of love just like that. 

"Good morning!" Greeting some employees good morning, Ethan Lu was a completely different person whenever he was in his wife's company than when in the Lu Corporation. If the employees in the Lu Corporation see him, they would surely be left flabbergasted as Ethan Lu was mostly cold and nonchalant.

The two headed to the lift as Ethan Lu was still carrying Lexi's handbag which didn't go well with his pin striped tux. Regardless, he didn't mind as it was one of his ways to show how much he takes care of Lexi and he didn't want to let her exert effort under his watch.

"Miss Yang!" The moment the elevator opened, Andy Chang was inside. Seeing that her boss was together with her husband, she immediately bowed her head down.

"Andy, I'm relieved that you arrived home safely last night." Lexi offered a meek smile upon setting her pair of eyes onto the beautiful woman before her. On the other hand, Ethan Lu smiled as well as he slightly waved his hand towards Andy Chang.

Fortunately, Lexi wasn't as petty as him as she accepted Andy Chang with open arms despite the oddness of their first encounter. Regardless, as long as Lexi wasn't uncomfortable being a good samaritan, then, he has no rebuts to it since Andy Chang was just a sexy cleaner of his in the past.

Andy Chang just smiled as a response before she courtly went outside while the two went inside the lift. She waited for the lift doors to close as Andy Chang bowed once again before it completely shut.

To her, although Lexi was kind, however, she just saw the news early in the morning. She didn't expect that so many people would be involved which didn't effectively reduce her fear towards the woman. She was just glad that she wasn't foolish enough to sleep with Ethan Lu or else, she was afraid that her future would be just as vague as Cherry's.

*****

When Lexi arrived at the floor where her office was located, they were welcomed by Ethan Lu's gang idling around Nico Zhuang's post. Seeing them, Lexi could not help but smile. Granted that she always sees the two loyal subordinates of Ethan Lu, for some reason, it was safe to say that she was glad that they had the time to idle with Nico Zhuang. 

'They must be glad to reunite for several hours.' Lexi thought inwardly. Little did she know, the three were just talking about her and squeezing every bit of information that Nico Zhuang knew about this juicy gossip getting it ready to be tattled to their master.

"Good morning, gentlemen!" Drawing closer to the three, Ethan Lu cheerfully greeted which snapped Jarred Guo and Lyrick Jiang from their 'serious' discussion. Meanwhile, Nico Zhuang already noticed his master's presence so, he wasn't as surprised as the two.

Narrowing his eyes, Ethan Lu instantly went suspicious seeing the reaction of his subordinates. He was sure that upon his arrival, Lyrick Jiang would nag him like an angry mother. Alas, he just flinched and turned his attention to him before Lyrick Jiang glanced at Lexi's smiling front— the same reaction was seen of Jarred Guo, the only difference was that his eyes were twinkling in awe.

"Why are you staring at my wife like that?" Ethan Lu thrust his chin a little forward as he squinted his eyes into a thin line. 

"It's not what you think master!" Snapping out of his reverie by the overwhelming, unspeakable aura emanating from Ethan Lu, Jarred Guo snapped as he cleared his throat and shook his head sideways.

"They were just stunned to see Madam's beauty early in the morning." Emotionless and stoic, Nico Zhuang uttered— pushing the two to their early deaths.

"What?!" Scrunching his face up, Ethan Lu instantly glared daggers at Lyrick Jiang which made Lexi chuckle that resonated across each wall. Although it was evident that Nico Zhuang was just trying to shoo the two away or rather, avenging himself for their constant pressure regarding the breaking news, it was still effective one way or another.

"Stop giving Rick a scare." Shaking her head sideways, Lexi chuckled as she could not really believe her ears when she heard Nico Zhuang's statement. Now, she wondered what these two did to have Nico Zhuang have the urge to deliver them to hell. Regardless, whatever it was, she was certain it was probably because of Lyrick Jiang's nonsense gossip.

With that, Lexi was about to leave them and go straight to her office. Alas, just as Lexi took a step forward, a song "careless whisper' suddenly reached their ears. This ringtone abruptly caught everyone's attention as their gazes followed where the music was coming from.

There, everyone had their eyes set on Ethan Lu who was as shocked as them. Then, their gazes shifted to Lexi's handbag which made them turn their eyes to her. For a moment, neither of them uttered a single word as their ears could not believe what they were hearing.

"What…" Knitting her brows, Lexi's initial thought was that Ethan Lu pulled a prank on her. However, recalling how they never left each other's embrace last night, she was reminded she has Cherry's phone which Nico Zhuang passed to her before they went separate ways.

"Master, how deep did you take madam to corrupt her like this?" Shocked, Lyrick Jiang covered his mouth to cover his whole aghast expression. For a second, his heart ached for his goddess as it seemed to him that Ethan Lu's lewdness corrupted her to the core for her to use such a seductive tone as her ringtone.

"Nonsen—" Of course, despite how low Lyrick Jiang's comments were, Ethan Lu clearly heard him. Hence, he was about to defend himself but before he could finish, he was interrupted when Lexi rushed to his direction.

"Give it to me," Hurrying him up, Lexi searched for the ringing phone because she knew it was the call she was waiting for all night. Upon spotting the phone, she picked it up and saw an unknown caller that made the side of her lips curl upward.

Her reaction, while letting the ringtone of the phone fill the whole floor with its music, caused slight bafflement to them. Why does she seem happy? Why was she not answering the call? And, when did she change her phone?

Those were just their individual questions that hovered in their heads which would be answered in the next several minutes when Lexi raised her head and scanned the three's front.

"Come with me— you as well." Smirking, Lexi invited before looking at Nico Zhuang's direction before she strode to her office. With this, despite their immediate curiosity why Lexi wanted them to follow her, they still did with tons of question marks over their heads.

****

On the third call attempt, Ethan Lu, Lyrick Jiang, Jarred Guo, Nico Zhuang, and Lexi perched around the office. Obviously, Jarred Guo and Nico Zhuang chose to stand on the side while Lyrick Jiang was asked to sit on the long couch across his master while Lexi was in the head seat.

Staring at the phone placed on the small table, they saw it ring again for the fourth time. Now, Lexi leaned closer as she unhurriedly answered before putting it on speaker. When the line connected, both her and the person on the other end of the line didn't utter a single word— both waiting for the other to speak.

Arching her brows, Lexi tapped her fingers as she showed no sign of impatience. She knew, deep down, that the person wanted her to speak but, she wouldn't do that. After all, the person on the other end was the one who needed this talk and not entirely her.

"Miss Cherry…" After a minute of silence, a man on the other end finally broke the silence which made Lexi smirk. Meanwhile, upon hearing a man's voice, Ethan Lu along with his subordinates knitted their brows at the same time.

"Ohh… sorry, Miss Yang. I forgot for a second that you are now the holder of the phone." Right after, the man playfully chuckled as he revealed the thing he already knows. Still, despite that, he still made a call— whether to frighten Lexi or other intentions he has.

Upon hearing the man knew that she now holds Cherry's phone, Lexi was kept unfazed. Rather, her smirk never left her lips once which wasn't overlooked by Nico Zhuang who was observing the current situation.

"I must say, you are impressive." Still bearing an amused front, Lexi complimented as she must give it to the man. Well, having him entrapped was her first initial plan but now that it came to this, there wasn't really anything that would change with the things she wanted to tell him— it just reduced the fun of surprising him.

"Hehe, what an honor it is to impress you." Upon hearing this statement, Ethan Lu was instantly irked as the man seemed like he was audaciously flirting with his wife! Turning to Lyrick Jiang who gasped with the last remarks he heard, Ethan Lu slightly nodded his head as if giving him a silent task.

'Yes,' Responding inside his head, Lyrick Jiang slid his hand inside his pocket before typing in it for several seconds and then placed it back into his pocket.

"But you know, what you did— I didn't see it coming. I'm defeated." Continuing, the man uttered his defeat in a nonchalant tone as if he didn't truly care about it. "But it was fun playing with you— that former manager of yours is no fun. I hope there's a next time." He added in glee which made Lexi sneer.

"Next time? Why would I play with you again if you lack wit and humor? You are, I'd say, truly boring." Lexi faintly scoffed as she unhesitatingly insulted the man for the challenge he cooked up, that she didn't have to use even ¼ of her brain to solve.

"Anyway, if you ever cause another problem, I'd still probably enjoy it for a second but you won't. Don't let me catch you, hmm?" Resting her jaw by the back of her hand, Lexi's eyes softened yet, the glint that flashed across it sent malicious intent.

"If it's you, I'd probably let you catch me, hahaha!" Still at it, the man humored which slightly disgusted Lexi as if she was being physically molested and then, the line was cut short.

With that, after hearing the beeping noise indicating the man was gone, Ethan Lu raised his pair of dark eyes to meet Lexi's viciousness that was emanating from her softened eyes. His initial thoughts were: "she was thrilled", which he never saw until now.

He didn't ask who it was as he was certain Lexi didn't know as well and neither did he press about what her plan was. To him, this was enough evidence that his wife was not a pushover. Hence, Ethan Lu averted his gaze to Lyrick Jiang but said nothing.

"Love, did you happen to recognize him?" After some time, Lexi glanced up and inquired. After all, she asked them to listen with little hope that they could recognize the voice.

"No, but I am inclined to meet him one day. Anyways, you really amuse me every day." Shaking his head, Ethan Lu gently smiled at his discovery to a new side of Lexi was something that could make his heart race.