A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The sky began to clear up after several days.

Xia Ling was counting the days, wondering whether Feng Kun was done with his leg work. At the rate things were going, it would only get harder from here on; it was getting increasingly difficult for her to conceal the truth on her end. She called Chu Chen to send her to Imperial.

At the door was Pei Ziheng’s Rolls-Royce.

Pei Ziheng was a pretty inflexible guy. He was particular about his cars. Hence, he owned three identical models, just so that it would be convenient for him if he had to send any one of them for service, or in the off chance that it was involved in an accident.

Right now, one of the three identical cars was waiting for her at the door.

Chu Chen invited her to get on.

Xia Ling didn’t move from the door. “We are going to Imperial, on this?” It was ridiculous. Everyone in Imperial knew that the car belonged to their Boss.

“This is what Boss intends.” Chu Chen merely responded.

“I want to switch cars.” She insisted.

“I’m afraid this is out of my control. Boss is in an important meeting today, so it wouldn’t be convenient for me to convey your message. Alternatively, you could wait for him to get back and tell him personally.” He suggested.

Xia Ling fell silent. The baby she was carrying was slowly growing, day by day, and she had to make sure that the baby would be safe no matter what, and time was slowly running out. Not wanting to wait any further, she made the hard decision of getting on the car.

The car slowly made its way into headquarters, and the staff members began to bow in respect.

They meandered down this dark path for a while before finally pulling to a halt in front of a building. Xia Ling recognized this building, it was familiar because it was where the recording studios were located. Inside contained a variety of recording locations, each fitted with top class equipment for use by Imperial’s producers and artistes.

When she alighted, everyone was staring at her.

Fortunately, she had anticipated this outcome, so she was prepared. She had donned sunglasses, which blocked off a good top half of her face, but still, inside she was annoyed. Pei Ziheng’s instructions were meant to be a power move, to show off his authority over her in front of everyone. It would only be a matter of time before the entire company would be abuzz with new rumors of them both.

This was not important anymore.

She tailed behind Chu Chen and got on the elevator toward the 16th floor, where Feng Kun worked exclusively.

The door was tightly shut.

“We are so sorry about this,” the receptionist, a pretty, well-mannered young lady apologized. “Mr. Feng is currently busy at the moment. However, he said to alert him immediately if Miss Ye were to drop by. So, if you would give me a moment, I’ll go inform him immediately.”

Before she arrived, she had told Chu Chen to make an appointment beforehand. Now, she was already five minutes late. Seeing how he was still busy, Xia Ling reckoned that a serious bout of inspiration must have hit him. Xia Ling understood Feng Kun. While he wasn’t as intense as Wei Shaoyin, music was still an important part of his life.

“Never mind, then.” She told the receptionist. “I don’t want to disturb him. When he’s available, tell him that I arrived.”

The receptionist nodded in acknowledgment.

Chu Chen helped her to get the elevator, and the doors opened.

He let her enter first before he went in himself.

“Miss Ye,” his fingers were hovering over the control panel, and he was speaking in that consulting tone again. “Where do you want to go now? If you’re waiting for someone, there’s a small coffee place on the second floor. It shouldn’t be crowded at this hour, and the sofas are pretty comfortable.”

Xia Ling knew the place he was referring to. It was situated in a pretty place, the floor to ceiling windows overlooked the garden, sunny and pleasant; it was one of her favorite places in the past. Furthermore, there really wasn’t any other place for her to go either — Imperial Entertainment occupied a large amount of space, but it was a working environment after all. There weren’t many other places she could go to relax.

She nodded. “Let’s go there, then.”

Chu Chen pressed the button for the second floor, and they reached shortly after. He was a gentlemanly man, letting her out before him. It was remarkable, really, how when he was polite and refined, it barely seemed like he was a servant.

Xia Ling walked in front, finding the cafe easily working off her memories. It was just like she remembered, the gravel tiled floor, the vintage bar table, and chairs, even the bitterness that lingered in the air from the ground beans. The sunlight fell through the window slopes, and a beautiful calico cat basked in it.

“Long time no see, Mr. Chu.” The barista grinned. In Imperial, if Pei Ziheng was the emperor, then Chu Chen was his indispensable right-hand man. You just couldn’t afford to cross him, ever.

“What do you want to drink today?” The barista prompted.

Chu Chen turned to Xia Ling. “What do you want to drink? I heard that you don’t really like coffee, so how does lemon water sound? The lemon water here is made with special lemon flavorings, so it has a pretty unique flavor that you can’t find elsewhere on the market.”

Xia Ling was slightly upset by this.

He was right, she really didn’t like coffee, and much-preferred lemon water instead. But she didn’t like how he — he, of all people — knew her so thoroughly. It felt terrible.

She plucked off her sunglasses and coldly threw him a glare. “Whatever I want to drink is not your concern, Chu Chen. Since when was it your business for you to care?” She turned to the barista. “I want a Mandheling iced coffee, less milk, more sugar.”

The barista looked surprised. Presumably, nobody had spoken to Chu Chen like that before.

“Miss Ye…” He looked distressed and turned to face Chu Chen. “Mr. Chu…”

Given how he knew her surname, he must have known who she was. But even so, he still considered Chu Chen to be in charge. Who was the superstar and who was the manager here then?

Her mood took a turn for the worse. “I’m not having anything then.”

She turned and left.

Behind her, she could hear Chu Chen berating the barista. “Couldn’t you hear? Mandheling coffee, less milk with more sugar. Remember that!”

“Yes, I’m on it.” The barista was visibly shaken by the encounter.

Chu Chen caught up with her several steps later. “Miss Ye, please do not be enraged. The barista didn’t know better…”

Xia Ling swiveled her head to face him, and he fell silent once again, not wanting to disrupt her peace.

Power was a great thing, and people with power were undefeatable, no? One year ago, this man had acted all high and mighty in front of her, giving ultimatums that drove her to nothing. And by some twist of fate, now that their statuses had reversed, he was at her beck and call.

All of this for Pei Ziheng.

Because he had fallen in love with the illusion of a butterfly.

Xia Ling mindlessly wandered along the coffee bar, and her feet took her to a photo wall. She remembered this wall, it was for Imperial’s artistes. The walls were emblazoned with their popular stars, and she identified herself from her past life — the Diva Xia Ling.

Out of all the color photos, only hers was in black and white.