The Rise of the White Lotus

"Ah, yeah, assistant Lin, Miss Yang is with me."

Just as Ethan Lu entered Morris Liu's office, he was immediately welcomed by Morris's cold pair of aloof eyes depicting his discontent. Though Morris Liu's office was soundproofed and not a sound could pass through his office from the outside, alas, he clearly heard Ethan's declaration.

"Hey, brother, don't look at me like that!" Ethan Lu raised his hands as he feigned innocent. He pretended to ignore the blizzards that Morris Liu was producing as he took a seat on one of the sofas inside Morris' office.

Soon, the door silently creaked opened once again, revealing the elegant and proud beauty of Lexi Yang. However, Morris Liu was unfazed with her gorgeous front as he peered her with nothing but disgust.

Lexi, on the other hand, gulped by the familiar cold stare coming from the man she loved the most. She must admit though that it still pained her to face Morris Liu and feel this heart-wrenching coldness from him. Regardless. Lexi swore before arriving there and before she came face to face with him—Lexi pledge not to lose her composure and would face him like a matured adult.

Ethan Lu who's smelling the silent tension as both Lexi and Morris stared at each other without a word made him quite entertained— which caused him to let out an audible whistle.

"Out." After some time, Morris Liu's cold voice resonated like a clap of thunder on Lexi's ear as he scooted her away like usual. This one word alone made her clench her hand into a fist— digging her manicured nails into her palms.

"It's okay, chu~" Churu who was silently sitting on Lexi's shoulder comforted her as her expression slightly change a little. It was as if Churu could feel the agonizing pain and burden Lexi was experiencing in front of her beloved.

Whether it was Churu's thoughts of trying to give her moral support or Lexi's determination to save her family on the brink of bankruptcy, she managed to keep her head high and grit her teeth— keeping her raging emotions at bay.

"I won't."

"Why did you bring her here?" Morris Liu cast a quick icy glare at Ethan Lu who had a complex grin plastered across his face—revealing his ill-intention of annoying his dear friend. 

"Huh?" Still, even if his expression exposed him, Ethan Lu feigned innocence as usual.

"Brother Mo, if you don't want to see me again, please let my family go and stop pressuring our company." Lexi interrupted, still standing to where she was. It took her a great effort to sound proud even though her heart aches just staring at Morris Liu's stoic front.

Hearing her bold and arrogant statement, Morris Liu turned his emotionless gaze back to her. The room temperature instantly dropped as if it suddenly turned winter inside his office. Ethan Lu, on the other hand, felt a cold shrill run down his spine, yet, it only thrilled him to anticipate what would happen next.

'Geez, I think I'm about to witness world war 3.' Ethan Lu excitedly mumbled internally.

"Miss Yang, I don't have to do that if I don't want to see." Morris Liu with his ever cold voice was akin to a dagger, piercing Lexi's heart even deeper.

'I can't... It still hurts...' Lexi gritted her teeth as she held the tears that were starting to form on the side of her nut-brown eyes.

She thought she was ready to face him without breaking down, but she was completely wrong. No matter how much she prepared herself, just one word from him cost her another piece of her already shattered heart.

"You're a bastard, chu! Churu hates you, chu!" Losing her cool, Churu stumped her cute little feet in the air and pointed her super tiny finger at the iceman seating on his office chair.

With that distraction, Lexi glance at Churu's now crimson face due to anger which made her bit her lower lip— hard, trying to stop the urge to laugh seeing the steaming dumpling on her side. Somehow, Lexi who was on a verge of crying and knew that the moment she opened her mouth again, her voice would crack and she might break down. If that happens, she wouldn't just humiliate herself knowing Morris Liu would never pity her but also, break her oath to herself.

Inhaling and heavily letting it out, Lexi relaxed her tensed shoulders as her balled fist loosened its grip. Her pair of sharp, nut-brown eyes stared back at Morris Liu's perilous, jet black ones. Her long curled lashes fluttered along with her lids as she swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Without a word, Lexi slowly bent her knees until it landed on the shiny tiled floor— lowering her pride. "Please, I am begging you."

For a moment, Morris Liu and Ethan Lu were both startled by her sudden action. It was as if their own eyes were deceiving them seeing her on her knees— Lexi Yang on her knees! Well, who wouldn't? After all, Lexi was known as an arrogantly proud person and would not back down until the very end. No one could blame them, especially Morris Liu as her threatening words three weeks ago were completely opposite of what she was spouting now.

Blinking a couple of times, Ethan Lu frowned as he was quite disappointed. Since he was away for months and was enjoying life, Ethan Lu didn't get to witness the said drama that Lexi did from the previous weeks. Therefore, part of him wanted to see for himself how Lexi made Morris Liu lose his cool to the extent of making an order about destroying Lexi's reputation and the Yang family to a pulp— the very reason why he allowed her to follow him.

Still, part of Ethan Lu was a little impressed by Lexi's courage which really caught him off guard. 'So, she's not that naive as to what they say.' He mused inwardly.

*Ting! +0.1 allure points!*

Suddenly, inside Lexi's mind, a notified number that she never saw before abruptly popped out of nowhere which confused her.

"Wow! Great job, chu~! It seems like you impressed Mr. initial task, chu~!"