For a brief second, the instant Ethan Lu heard Lexi"s explanation, his brows slightly arched. His gaze that was on her examined her inquiring front as if trying to read her, to see if she knows more than what she stated.
"Hmm? Are we?" Receiving no response from him, Lexi mildly tilted her head to the side as she raised her brows while blinking her eyes. She saw him heave a heavy sigh which made her knit her brows.
"Love, don"t talk to bad people anymore. It"s not safe." Frowning a little, although Lexi explained that the encounter with Mr. Gan, who she spoke about was unintentional, still, he was upset that Lexi might get entangled with bad people without her knowledge. After all, most of the bad people he knew were untrustworthy and cunning.
"I said, I went to see the artist"s father and he happened to know bad people. I don"t know how bad they were but, my instinct is telling me to be concerned, especially if it"s something to do with my husband." Shaking her head, Lexi knew his worries and why he had said such a statement. Hence, she repeated her explanation for him to move on and dive on the most crucial part.
"Please, love. Be honest— are we in trouble? Aside from that woman?" Going back to her original question, Lexi added as her gaze set on his downturned lips.
"Uhm..." Clearing his throat, Ethan Lu pondered for awhile as he held onto her slender fair hand. "I am always in danger, my love." Taking a deep breath, Ethan Lu muttered in conviction.
"I also received a tip that someone put a large cash bounty on my head in the underground." Pursing his lips on a thin line, Ethan Lu studied her reaction as he didn"t mention this to her before now.
After all, when this happened, the twins were only four months old. Hence, Lexi has a lot to think about including being a mother to the twins, being a great wife, and a strong business individual.
Therefore, since he was able to fix the problem, he didn"t want to give her unnecessary worries. Surely, sometimes, even being husband and wife, they could be completely transparent and not at the same time.
Marriage, it wasn"t a happily ever after. To them, it was just the beginning of the bigger picture and an unending test of their love.
"I didn"t tell you about it since I don"t want to worry you on top of tending to the kids. I"m sorry." Once again, Ethan Lu heaved a heavy sigh as he apologized. He watched Lexi"s reaction and what thoughts she could have by her expression but to no avail, she just stared at him as if waiting for a deeper explanation.
"I..." For several seconds more, Ethan Lu scrutinized Lexi"s unchanging reaction which made him pause before clearing his throat again and continued.
"Well, after receiving the tip, I asked Rick to check if it was true— it was real though. Luckily, Lou is acquainted with several of the big names in the underground society so only those small gangs accepted the order which made things a little easier. I was able to secretly put up my bid about the bounty on my head. That"s the least I can only do and bribe those of Lou"s acquaintances so requests like that will not resurface again." Summarizing the details of what happened, Ethan Lu"s eyes never once left Lexi"s. For a moment, he hesitated to drop his cousin"s name as it would reveal his involvement in the underground world.
However, before that, her eyes that were seeking for the truth, Ethan Lu could only be completely honest. Moreover, she might not appear upset but, he knew deep down that there was still a slight frustration for keeping this matter from her.
"Lou..." Nodding in understanding, Lexi whispered. Unlike what Ethan Lu thought she felt, Lexi was way more understanding in this matter. Rather, she should thank him instead for not telling her immediately as she could imagine herself overthinking and being paranoid on top of experiencing a momentary bout of postpartum depression.
Still, hearing that Louis Lu was acquitted with those kinds of people, Lexi could not help but knit her brows. She was reminded of her encounter with Seraphina Yue; the time she told her that she"s friends with Louis Lu and then, the encounter where she warned her about Louis Lu"s father.
"Did you know where the tip came from?" Suddenly, instead of asking if Ethan Lu found out who the person was that wanted to physically harm him, she asked this instead.
"No. I can"t contact the number after that and the location where the place was sent to used a fake location. Still, I owed him a huge one because if I was a day late, Lou"s friends might get tempted— that will be a different case." Shaking his head sideways, Ethan Lu didn"t mind why she asked such a question as he truthfully answered.
"Oh..." Nodding in understanding, Lexi smiled as she shrugged the subject on the back of her mind as it wasn"t important. "Well, don"t worry about that woman— I can handle her." After knowing the full story of what happened between Avah Tong and her husband, Lexi was confident that Ethan Lu must leave that woman to her.
"No, love. I should be the one dealing with her." Refusing, Ethan Lu shook his head sideways as he frowned. He disagreed about the idea because Avah Tong was an insane person. He would never let his wife deal with that kind of person.
"Ethan," Lexi firmly muttered as her eyes slightly sharpened.
"No, love." Not bending to her intimidating play, Ethan Lu continued to shake his head sideways as he refused.
"Don"t forget that we are now married and we"ve already become one. I like being s.h.i.+elded but this time, all arrows are coming from every direction. Let me handle Avah and you keep an eye on Lou"s father." Lexi remained adamant as she sees this situation as not as easy as one two three.
Moreover, Ethan Lu had been protecting her and the twins with or without their knowledge. Therefore, she wanted to be his lookout and deal with small flies like Avah Tong. Alas, as Lexi clarified, her latter statement threw him to an ocean of question marks.
"Lou"s father? You mean Uncle Lin? Love, Lou"s father is not uncle Den." Knitting his brows, Ethan Lu a.s.sumed that Lexi might have mixed things up for a second. After all, they never had a conversation about Lou"s father as she only knows and was also irritated by Dennis Lu"s failed scheme attempt.
"I know but something about him doesn"t feel right as well. Please, love? For me?" Meekly smiling, Lexi softly pleaded to him as she slightly tilted her head to the side and lightly tightened her grip on his hand.
"Alright...?" Still confused, Ethan Lu still agreed nevertheless. Since she showed her concern on a certain person, it wouldn"t bring any harm if he does keep it in mind.
Soon, their heart to heart talk came to a peaceful end and they decided to resign to their bedroom. However, just as Lexi was preparing herself to bed while Ethan Lu was on the shower, she saw her phone blink from the corner of her eyes.
She turned her head to the bed"s direction where her phone was tossed before she headed to pick it up. Seeing that it was Abigail Fan"s number, Lexi answered without a second hesitation.
"Hmm?"
"Lexi, I"m sorry for calling you this late. I just returned and heard what happened." From the end of the line, Abigail Fan"s tiredness could be traced in her voice. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me out today. It"s really a great help since no endors.e.m.e.nt has withdrawn their contracts and only postponed it for now." Abigail Fan just came back to the country and the moment she heard how Lexi dealt with the meeting earlier, she wanted to thank her right there and then.
"Don"t worry about it." The corner of Lexi"s lips slightly curled upward because Abigail Fan was always like this. Well, actually, she just probably got this habit because Lexi always wanted people to apologize in an instant or thank her if they wanted to express their sincerity.
The reason why Jessica Dai also apologized to her hours after she mocked her and now, Abigail Fan expressing her grat.i.tude the moment she heard about how she rescued her artist and company.
"I heard from John about your instructions. I will do it well so as not to bother your schedule again." Bearing a pure intention, Abigail Fan a.s.sured her because she knew that Lexi was busier than her. Hence, she didn"t want to bother her on mundane things as AL entertainment should be her responsibility.
"About that..." Arching her brows, Lexi slowly dawdled. "I think I now have a reason to take part in AL entertainment." As she ended her sentence, the corner of her lips curled upward— displaying a smirk on her lips.
"Huh?" Confused, Abigail Fan creased her brows as she absorbed Lexi"s words.
What does she mean by that? A reason? Thinking of any possible reason that enticed Lexi to take part in AL entertainment"s affairs, Abigail Fan was left with zero clues.
"You"ll know. I will drop by at the agency tomorrow afternoon so we can talk about Hannah"s case. Also, make sure to drop by at her place and bring her some ice cream." Seeing the door of the bathroom slowly open, Lexi informed before she left her a note on how to comfort their money tree and then hung up without a second"s hesitation.
When Ethan Lu exited the bathroom with a towel clung on his waist while a small towel was placed over his head, Lexi turned to him and smiled. Her sweet and bright reaction the moment he came in made him narrow his eyes in suspicion.
"Love?"
"Hmm?"
"What scheme are you plotting? I can smell it from here." Ethan Lu humored. Little did he know, he was right. Lexi was indeed plotting something about Avah Tong and she just made the first step.
"Scheme? You mean..." Feigning innocence, Lexi placed her forefinger on her chin as she briefly looked up— appearing to ponder in a cute manner. The side of her lips then stretched into a smirk as she slid the strap of her nightgown off her shoulder.
As if on cue, Ethan Lu bit down on his lower lip as he heard her excuse as he only chuckled before striding towards her. Upon reaching her standpoint, he stopped in front of her and cupped her cheeks.
"G.o.d... my wife," Adoring every detail of her facial features, Ethan Lu could not help but be awed. With or without makeup, Lexi was the prettiest in his eyes in any aspect: be it, att.i.tude, personality, outer sh.e.l.l, mind, and soul— she"s just too perfect for him.
"I can make love with you all day." Using the tip of his fingers, he traced her jaw down to the side of her neck and then headed straight to slide off the other strap of her nightgown which immediately flew down from her body to lay unceremoniously on the floor.