"Love… love…" Ethan kept repeating the word inside his mind as if a broken recorder. He could feel his brain short-circuited that made him hear every beat of his heart. Like a robot turning his head towards his friend Chris Yu with Kevin Woo and Elliot Gong still on the line, Ethan murmured in an aghast tone.
"Bro code…"
"Huh?!" As confused as they could be, the three were rendered baffled in unison. Did they hear him right? Which code of the bro code was he referring to?
"Uh, this is bad -- really bad." Upon realizing something, Ethan Lu hastily stood from his seat in panic. In the midst of understanding his feelings even further, Ethan was reminded that Lexi, the woman who he seemed to like was his best buddy Morris Liu"s ex! How dare he forget that important part?
"This can"t be --"
"Hey, where are you going?! We still have to meet brother Mo later…" Seeing that Ethan was rashly leaving while mumbling, Chris Yu called out. To no avail, his reminder was rendered shun as Ethan didn"t slow down and left -- just like that.
Kevin Woo: "He"s getting weirder by the day. *sigh*"
Elliot Gong: "Did he said bro code?"
"Aiya… Tsk tsk," Chris Yu clicked his tongue in disbelief. Though he didn"t understand whatever his friend was mumbling about, however, based on Ethan"s personality -- he"s probably going to confess his feelings; which is a very bad idea.
"Good thing I didn"t phoned brother Mo for this." On the brighter side, Chris Yu heaved a sigh of relief for not pestering Morris Liu from this. Well, he was certain that he wouldn"t even bother to answer unless it was an important one.
When Lexi and Abigail Fan arrived home, they instantly settled at the mansion"s garden to discuss the matter further.
Sipping her freshly served hot tea, Lexi"s eyes raised to see Abigail Fan"s calming front across her. Putting down her cup of tea, Lexi spoke.
"Well? Can you do it? Be the CEO of your own company?"
Abigail Fan gulped a mouthful of saliva as her grip on the tea handle slightly shook. Fortunately, Lexi chose to discuss it here and not on the road or else, they might not make it home.
Fixing her pair disoriented downturned eyes to the elegant woman across her, Abigail Fan"s lower lip trembled as she warily clarified,
"You mean, you are willing to invest? But…"
"Ha…" Letting out a faint chuckle, Lexi was reminded of someone who would probably say the same thing she would about to utter, she resumed.
"If I think you can, you should as well."
"But, why? I mean, it"s too sudden for me to start my own entertainment agency and you, of all people, would willingly sh.e.l.l out money without any guarantee that this business would be profitable!" At this time, Abigail Fan didn"t have time to filter out about what to say as she spoke her mind out of bewilderment.
"Hmm? Me out of all people?" Detecting the keywords on what Abigail Fan was pointing out, Lexi arched her brows. She already knew what kind of person she was in others eyes. However, Lexi didn"t quite expect that in this discussion, her manager would heedlessly speak her mind; which is somehow not the manager she used to know.
"Ahh… I mean --" Realizing the ambiguous wording she used, Abigail Fan"s heart raced as she looked at Lexi with great caution. Neither of them spoke as Abigail pondered on how she could sugarcoat her words. On the other hand, Lexi faintly sighed as she peered at the conflicted expression of the manager of hers.
"You must have heard that after those malicious scandals blow up, I attempted to hang myself…" Lexi broke the stifling silence as she began to tell a story that she didn"t dare to share with anyone before; even to her parents as it could only reopen the wounds in their hearts. She continued,
"Actually, now that I think about it… those scandals, our family business being pushed to the edge -- they were not the root cause, they were just the last straw for me to make such a rash decision." Thinking of those times, Lexi paused and after a beat, she resumed once again.
"I was already a mess before that. Even now, when I look back, I find it silly because that Lexi… huh, I don"t recognize her. But, in those times… the days that I was entirely blinded by revenge and love -- I overlooked and ignored the people who are being genuine to me despite my unconventional, unstable emotions." Without realizing it, the corner of Lexi"s lips curled into a subtle smile as her she looked down on her tea and traced its mouth by the tip of her index finger.
"I am grateful that I didn"t die back then because I wouldn"t have to see these angles in life. I cannot say I have changed and became an angel… but, what I know is, I can now appreciate the little things and the people who had silently believed in me." With the short conversation she had with Abigail Fan, Lexi with her heightened emotion felt the sincerity on her words which slightly moved her.
She never expected that Abigail Fan would defend her while Lexi wasn"t looking and yet, she had always believed that she only had her parents to side with her until today.
Actually, Lexi already had this thought in mind when she encountered rising star rookie Nadine. That, the people she expected to believe in her instead of baseless rumors that ruined her career were the least people she expected. Hence, Lexi wanted to encourage them to take the path that they will regret if they didn"t -- just like that goofy guy she knew.