The Rise of the White Lotus

"What? She's going to attack me? It's self defense." Arching his brows, Ethan Lu shrugged his shoulders as he glanced at Kevin Woo's flabbergasted front before he shifted it to Lexi's. 

By the looks of it, Ethan Lu felt no guilt of hitting a woman on the face! Of all people, none of them would have thought that he raised a hand to a woman. And yet, they were wrong because even if he said it was 'self-defense', he seemed to have been meaning to do that if an opportunity surfaced. 

"Although it seemed I went overboard. My bad. Nico, send her to the hospital and tell Rick to tell his people to wait for her to wake up again. Do what needs to be done. I don't want her causing trouble again." Ignoring the fact that his wife and friend were astounded by his aggressiveness moments ago, Ethan Lu ordered Nico Zhuang as if he didn't do something shocking. 

Nico Zhuang just wordlessly nodded his head as he received his orders. And contact Lyrick Jiang who was on standby. 

Ethan Lu then looked at Lexi who carried this disbelief gaze. He wasn't surprised that his wife looked at him like this but, the moment their eyes met, Ethan Lu also bore this unusual coldness beneath his eyes.  

Count to think of it, Ethan Lu and Lexi didn't interact from the moment the two came. They just shared a few seconds of stare before both of their attention turned to Mia Chen. 

The usual sweetness wasn't seen in both of their eyes as if they weren't there in the first place. He was mad, Lexi instinctively thought, and so was she. 

She never saw him this mad yet, he wasn't saying anything as both of them knew, deep down, they needed to settle it in private. If, they wanted to settle it. 

After giving out his orders bearing a poker face, Ethan Lu slid his hand inside his pocket before he began walking out. 

"Ethan, you—!" Snapping from his stupor, Kevin Woo gritted his teeth as he rushed towards Mia Chen's lying figure. Seeing that she lost a tooth and her lips were bleeding, Kevin Woo's grip on her shoulder tightened as he turned his sharped gaze to Ethan Lu's back. 

However, just as he was about to protest, Ethan Lu looked back bearing a never before seen glint that flashed across his eyes. He never saw him like this hence, he instinctively swallowed the words he was about to spout. 

"If you decided to accept that woman despite what she had done, I don't care. Just make sure you don't ever show your face or even your shadow to me, ever again." Ethan Lu warned. His voice was void of any emotion yet, everyone of them felt that he meant what he said. 

Heartless. He just forced Kevin Woo in a tight situation. A situation where the man should decide whether he wanted to keep his friendship with them or, continue being a lover to a soon to be convicted woman. 

With that said note, Ethan Lu resumed on his tracks and cast Lexi a glance. 

"Let's go," he ordered before he completely left the room without waiting for Lexi to obey. 

On the other hand, Morris Liu narrowed his eyes as he observed Ethan Lu's retreating back until he could no longer be seen. He then moved his eyes towards Lexi who showed no expression on the surface. 

Surely, these two needed to settle something as Lexi went overboard last night. However, he could not fully understand why she did what she had done.

Meanwhile, Nico Zhuang and Chris Yu just stared at each other before they looked at Lexi's figure at the same time. Both were clueless on what was going on and didn't want to know. 

It was a problem between husband and wife this, prying about it was not a good idea. That's why Nico Zhuang decided to execute the orders that was given to him instead of being a busybody. On the other hand, Chris Yu lended his helping hand to carry Mia Chen back to bed. 

"Nico, cancel all my plans for the day." After a minute of silence, Lexi commanded before she glanced at Morris Liu's worried eyes. However, she didn't say anything as she also left the room without saying further. 

"Lexi..." As Morris Liu whispered out of worry as he watched Lexi leave bearing an inexplicable aura. 

*****

Lexi knew where Ethan Lu could have gone: to her room. Even so, despite knowing that, she chose to take the other way— opposite her room's way as a protest to him. 

However, as she turned right, Lexi's steps came to a full halt as her sharp eyes raised to the figure leaning on the side. 

"Trying to escape?" Ethan Lu turned his head to her direction as he slowly retracted his back from the wall. 

"Escape? From you? Oh dear, I just want to cool my head." Lexi scoffed as she let him approach her. 

"My love, you sure know how to make me happy and mad at the same time." Stopping in front of her, Ethan Lu kept his distance as he stared at her face before traveling his eyes on her neck down to her body and hands. 

In his eyes, he could see the invisible traces of Morris Liu's marks that he left on her. He never felt his blood boil like this and he hated it. 

His pettiness was already known to everyone, even if it's a simple thing. How much more if someone dared touch his wife, and his wife voluntarily throwing herself to another man?

Indeed, he was updated about everything as he told Jarred Guo to report to him. Even the photos taken on the pavilion, and the cctv cameras where Morris Liu was carrying Lexi— he saw everything. 

He doesn't care if it was Morris Liu or any other man because his anger would always be the same. 

"Love, I'm near my limit. Don't anger me further." Deep and intimidating, Ethan Lu warned which made her tighten her jaw and ball her hands into a fist. 

"Follow me," Ordering her, Ethan Lu took a step forward and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I know you're mad and I am too. Don't drive me crazy even further, my love." He whispered as a smile formed on his lip yet, it didn't reach his eyes. 

With that said note, Ethan Lu held her on her wrist and dragged her back to her room.