The Rise of the White Lotus

"Hahahaha!" When Mr. Tang finally recovered, he cracked up, filling the whole hall with his pearls of laughter. Because of the indirect message of his good friend of what he wanted to relay even from kilometers away, Mr. Tang could not help but clap his hands as he laughed. 

"I see, I see! Now, that's eight! Hahaha! Please send my regards to Mr. Lu, Miss Yang." Grinning from ear to ear, Mr. Tang remarked as he turned his head to the crowd. Since Lexi stood out among the rest, he instantly caught her figure standing on the side. 

'His possessiveness sometimes is amusing.' Chuckling inwardly, Lexi nodded her head a little to Mr. Tang's direction as a response. 

With that said and done, Mr. Tang gestured the men to leave the presents on the side as he didn't open them in front of everyone since it was a lot, and there are still people lined up. Soon, they resumed to finish the acceptance of gifts. 

Regardless, after that skit Ethan Lu's men did and proclaimed, the majority attention of the guest were turned to the indifferent Lexi. Despite the gazes she received and indistinct murmurs, Lexi remained nonchalant as she could not care less. 

What's important to her was that her love, her husband dearest was just too charming. Perhaps, it was the wine that she had the sudden urge to cling on his neck and shower him kisses until they go to the next phase.

Now, with that thought in mind, Lexi finally retracted her back from the wall as she needed to give her husband a call. Considering his kind gesture, it tempted Lexi to flirt with him through a sweet, loving call. 

Meanwhile, as Lexi left without care from the many eyes on her, their murmuring grew louder. 

"Am I the only one who noticed that they addressed her as Madam? As in Madam without Lu?" 

"Gosh... just when I thought they secretly split."

"So, does that mean — wait, Mr. Liu is here, right? OmO!"

"Ha?? What's all the fuss? It's just an indirect confirmation that they are still together, so what?"

"Stupid! Do you really think it's as simple as that? Let me explain: first, for the seven gifts that were supposed to be eight which means 'good things come in pairs', Mr. Lu purposely gave seven then added Miss Yang's present to make it eight. In other words, he meant that Miss Yang and Him, was one — so Miss Yang's gifts were his and vice versa.

Second, regardless if Mr. Lu knew that Mr. Liu is here or not, I'm pretty sure that it was also a threat not to touch what's his. And what's his is none other than Miss Yang, obviously! You get it now?" One small lady rolled her eyes at her friend as she explained in full detail as if she was told about the whole story. 

"Huh? How did you know that?"

"Heh, I wrote the same scene in my book, the rise of the white lotus!" Proud at her work, the woman patted her chest. "Kidding aside, it's all my speculations. Well, just be glad that you didn't pick on her, anyway." Shrugging her shoulders, the woman scanned the area to look for Lexi's former fiancé out of curiosity. 

****

After Morris Liu gave his gifts to Mr. Tang, all the gossip going around and the odd stare that were set on him, he treated them all as noises — irrelevant noises. He completely understood why Ethan Lu did what he did; to remind him not to go overboard.

Well, he was afraid he already did and could imagine how he would react tomorrow. Still, that was not important right now as he caught a glimpsed Lexi drinking wines. Thus, he was worried that she might drink a little too many. 

Looking around, Morris Liu could not track Lexi's shadow hence, he discreetly headed out while keeping his cold front. As he exited the place again, he slid his hand inside his pocket suit and picked up his phone to call someone. 

"Where is she?" The moment the line connected, Morris Liu emotionlessly inquired. 

"She's on her way to the east wing of the place. Sir, Miss Yang seemed she had drunk a little too much and stagge—" Even before the man on the other end could finish his report, Morris Liu ended the call as he rushed his way to Lexi's current location. 

What was she doing? A little too many? How? He caught her earlier downed two glasses of wine. But, knowing Lexi, that was not enough to intoxicate her.

'Lexi, Lexi... what are you thinking?' On his way towards the east side of this hotel, Morris Liu's mind was filled with worry as he knew a thing or two of what was going around. He once again contacted his informant to know her current location. 

After God knows how long, the moment Morris Liu turned to one corridor, Lexi was standing in front of the elevator as she abused any buttons she could press. 

"Lexi!" Out of worry, Morris Liu called her out to catch her attention. He saw her slowly turned her head to his approaching figure before a huge smile slowly brightened her face. 

"Hey!" Waving her hand in the air, Lexi unreservedly greeted. 

"You...! What are you doing?" Morris Liu gritted his teeth as his eyes darkened. By the looks of it, Lexi was indeed drunk as her face was flushed and he got a whiffed of her breath. 

"Hehe, you said you're not coming? Ethan, you—!" Still grinning from ear to ear, Lexi pouted before she suddenly threw herself to him. 

That instant, Morris Liu stiffened as his eyes widened. Her sudden hug, it immobilized him as if he was undergoing some shocks. His plans... what was she doing?

"Stop..."

For a while, neither of them moved until Lexi buried her face on his shoulder. Fortunately, no one was around or rather, they saw no one spying on them. 

"Alright, I'll drop you in your room — you're really cruel." After some time, Morris Liu hanged his head low and murmured. At the same time, the elevator slowly opened, and he assisted Lexi to step inside. 

They didn't see the smirk on their sole witness's lips, nor did that person saw the smirk on Morris Liu's lips when he turned around. Still, none of their smirks would compare to the terrifying sneer on Lexi's lips as her face was buried in his biceps.