The Rise of the White Lotus

When they reached Lexi's hotel room, Ethan Lu harshly dragged Lexi inside before he slammed the door with a loud bang. He didn't stop there as he immediately resumed to head towards the bathroom.

"Stop." Upon reaching the bathroom, Lexi finally spoke to him as she pulled her wrist from his clutches, but to no avail, she didn't fully retrieve her hand as his strong grip has locked her. Still, her action caused the two of them to stop in their tracks.

"You're hurting me." Staring right in his clouded eyes, Lexi uttered. Her tone wasn't someone who was hurt, but commandant. Well, her wrist was indeed in pain as one could see the red marks caused by him. Regardless, that wasn't important to her at the moment.

"Am I?" He looked at her dead in the eye and replied. Ethan Lu didn't let go of her hand but loosened it a little. "Will you listen if I tell you to strip?" Not caring if his words could bring harm to her, Ethan Lu inquired.

When Lexi heard his last remarks, her jaw tightened and before the two of them knew it, her hand already landed on his cheek. Her slap was unreserved that made his head tossed to the side a little. Still, hearing his mocking and mindless demand, that one slap wasn't enough to quench her anger.

"Huh," Scoffing, Ethan Lu wiped the speck of blood from the corner of his lips that was caused by her ring. "Why? You don't want? Should I do it for you then?" Slowly, he returned his eyes to face her displeased front.

"You…" Seeing that he wasn't out from his clouded judgment, Lexi raised her hand again but before she could launch another slap, Ethan Lu stopped it by catching her other hand. Now, both her hands were held by him, tightly.

"I told you, I am angry as it is." With that said note, Ethan Lu pulled her on him before he swiftly let go of her hands, as his arms circled around her waist while his other hand positioned on the back of her hand — stilling it for a rough, raw kiss.

Lexi's fist tried to push his chest away, but her strength wasn't comparable by his — it wasn't even close to him. The gap was just too vast. He was just too strong for her to break away from a painful and bitter kiss she never thought she would feel from him.

Out of the painful mockery, he made her feel, Lexi resorted to biting his lips until it bled. Both of them tasted the iron flavor of his blood. Still, despite that he inflicted another injury, Ethan Lu could not care less as he pressed his lips even deeper before lifting her body back to bed.

No matter how much she struggled, Lexi could helplessly feel her fragile body be carried before she was laid on the bed. She had slept with him numerous times, she couldn't even count. However, why does she felt so violated?

Was this the man she loved? Was this the Ethan Lu whom her heart trusted, the father of her children, and her husband that she chose to spend her entire life with? Did she make the right decision?

Lexi didn't care if Ethan Lu was the most wicked man on earth as long as he loved her. But she doesn't want their love to end in destruction. She couldn't bear it.

As she was having her sentiments while being harshly undressed by him, tears formed on the side of her eyes as she stopped struggling. Her heart ached. It was beating so fast that it was painful.

However, what was more painful was the reason: HIM. There was no love or passion, their current situation was just oozing with bitterness. That was what her heart was crying about.

Soon, she felt Ethan Lu stopped forcing himself to him as he slowly leaned back. Staring down on her sweating eyes, his brows knitted into a painful crease. 

"I hate you…" Lexi's voice cracked as tears fell on the side, staining her temples as her vision got more and more blurry by the amount of tears forming and falling from her eyes. She could not properly see his pained glint that flashed across his eyes.

"I hate you…" She muffledly repeated. His gaze stared at her face before it moved down to her exposed collarbones and disheveled blouse that was half-opened. If someone else was in his position, they wouldn't show any mercy despite that Lexi began crying. 

In a sick-minded man's perspective, they would find her more alluring in her current state. Even her hateful remarks weren't enough to stop any man from doing what they wanted to do with her fair and fragile figure.

"Have you ever thought about this?" Still staring at her, Ethan Lu slightly calmed down as he lowly asked. "Throwing yourself to someone, have you ever thought that they might do what I am doing to you right now?" He swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he slowly helped himself to sit on her side.

"Are you being reckless and dumb or did you just underestimate a man's strength?" Loosening his tie, Ethan Lu heavily sighed his frustrations. "I am mad at the thought of you in another man's arms but, what truly made me mad was that you don't seem to think of your actions." Looking down, Ethan Lu murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Baffled at what he was blurting, Lexi slightly wiped her tears as she hiccupped. She turned her head to the side where he perched before she bit her lower bit and helped herself to sit. She then leaned on the bed's headboard while covering her almost bare body with the blanket.

"Even if it's not Morris, someone will always take advantage of you if you mindlessly throw yourself at them. You have Nico, yes. But, can you protect yourself if he's not around? No. You can't even break free from me, even if you use brute force and I am still trying not to hurt you. Imagine if I struck you, you won't even know if I already violated you or not." Ethan Lu exasperatedly turned to look at her and how she was trying to hide her body from the shame he had caused her.

He knew he would hurt her one way or another. However, if he wanted to demonstrate the consequences of her heedless action, he must be a little rough. After all, crazy enemies surrounded them and it would only take one wrong step for him and her to fall to their traps. 

He could not let Lexi repeat this again. He trusted her, yes. But, how could he fully give his trust if Lexi would do something stupid and couldn't even protect herself afterward? He was not always with her all the time. So, what if he knew about it late? He could kill and avenge. Still, he could never return the thing that they took away from her if that happened.

That was his biggest fear: not being to protect her or give her enough knowledge to protect herself.