A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The silence in from the other end was deafening.

After a long time, Li Lei said, “You’re with Ah Wei right now? Are you alright?”

She responded in affirmation before repeating, “Stop fighting with Imperial Entertainment.” She did not dare ask how he was doing or show any sliver of concern, for fear of giving him any hope. She had to make him give up on her.

If they could not be together, it was better for her to shorten the pain.

His voice was gentle like a well-woven web, making you fall deeply into it. “I’m not fighting with him for nothing. I need to destroy Imperial Entertainment once and for all so that you can come back to my side. I need to make it such that Imperial Entertainment can never make a comeback.”

“I told you. I’m willing to stay here.”

“Liar.”

Xia Ling shut her eyes and hardened her heart. “Li Lei, don’t paint your own picture of happiness. You’re the one imagining all my unhappiness over here. Here with Ziheng… I’m very good. If you really like me, then don’t make me worry for him every day. Do you know? He now goes out very early and returns very late at night. My heart hurts for him…”

( NovelFull )    Actually, her heart was hurting for him, the man on the other end of the line.

However, she could not reveal that to him ever in this lifetime.

“I don’t believe you.” Li Lei stubbornly insisted. “Xiao Ling, our relationship was so good. You wouldn’t just fall for another man like that, would you? Tell me the truth, there’s no way I’ll believe any word you say right now. You owe me an explanation.”

Xia Ling tried to persuade him. However, he refused to hear anything she said.

“Xiao Ling, open the car door.” He said suddenly.

Xia Ling was stunned and reactively lifted her head to look out of the car.

The huge setting of the evening sun created a golden backdrop on the horizon, and a man was standing against the light in front of the car, a mobile in his hand. He had lost weight and was more disheveled than before, his khaki-grey shirt billowing in the wind, looking lonely by himself.

Her heart clenched and started to throb with pain.

Her hand instinctively went to her abdomen. Child, that’s your father…

“Open the door.” He spoke into the phone and steeled his gaze on the windscreen. Wei Shaoyin, that pretentious Virgo, had covered the entire windscreen with a dark protective screen. You could not see anything from outside the vehicle.

However, Xia Ling could see Li Lei extremely clearly from within.

He had probably identified her location via the mobile’s GPS tracker and had rushed over at first instance, just to catch a glimpse of her. Xia Ling greedily took in his appearance, not blinking for fear of losing even a second. Yet, she had no courage to open the door, fearing that she would lose control once she did. She was afraid that she could not harden her heart to say all the hurtful things to his face.

“Just give up.” She said after struggling for a while. “Li Lei, don’t be so stubborn. Give up on me and let yourself be free.” She raised her hand and started the car, kicking the car into reverse.

“Xiao Ling!” He stood in front of the car, blocking her way. “Don’t go!”

She gritted her teeth and hardened her heart, stepping down onto the accelerator to pick up the pace and driving off.

Behind her, she heard Wei Shaoyin’s irritated shout. “Aye! That’s my car!”

Very soon, all that was left was the dust behind her.

Driving the Ferrari back to Pei Ziheng’s bungalow, she instructed the doorman after getting off: “Return this car to Skyart Entertainment’s Wei Shaoyin.”

She then entered the house.

Pei Ziheng was not around as usual. These days, he came back very late at night.

Xia Ling dragged her exhausted body into the shower to wash up. She then got into bed and fell asleep.

( NovelFull )    When she woke the next day, Pei Ziheng was sitting by the bedside. His head was lowered, contemplating her. The morning sun shone on one side of his face, and his expression was unreadable. He asked, “Why did you go look for Li Lei?”

Xia Ling sat up in bed but turned her head away from him.

He reached out and forcefully turned her body to face him, saying through gritted teeth, “I’m asking you a question.”

“I don’t want to see you fight each other.” Xia Ling replied. “Pei Ziheng, I’m tired.”

“So you went to beg him?” Pei Ziheng’s grip became tighter, and her shoulder hurt under his hand. “Xia Ling, you do not interfere with anything in business. What do you know?! I’ve told you before, I’ll win against him. Why don’t you just obediently stay in the house? What am I now? I have to depend on you to beg Li Lei to let me off?! What a joke!”

Xia Ling was aware that he hated it when she interfered with his business. However, she still felt upset when hearing him call her out on it.

“I’m a person, not your wooden puppet. I don’t need to report everything that I do to you.” She responded.

Pei Ziheng coldly said, “My patience has its limits. Don’t let me find out that you’ve done something like that again.”

She was frightened by the coldness of his tone and shuddered as she remembered the jarring memories of the past. Feeling her fear, he immediately released his grip on her shoulders.

“Rest and take care of the child.” He said in a gentler tone. “Let’s just live peacefully as a happy family… the three of us.”

She wanted to live a peaceful life as well, to create a conducive environment for her child. Since she could not do anything to avert the warring between Pei Ziheng and Li Lei, she decided to function as if she were blissfully unaware. In the days to come, she quietly went about her song recording and schedules.

Her album sales in the past were decent, and the fans were requesting for her to have a solo concert.

However, her pregnancy meant that she did not have the physical capacity to be able to withstand a full concert. As such, she decided to have a smaller-scale fan meeting as a compromise.

The fan meeting was set up with a dream-like theme, with bright lights and dry ice filling the place. She sat on a custom-made swing and sang “Missing You for a Long Time” with background music playing softly behind. Many fans were moved to tears in the sorrowful atmosphere.

The fan meeting atmosphere was great.

In the interactive segment that followed, everyone was cooperative and asked her questions surrounding her interests, daily activities, and other non-menacing questions. Until one fan stepped forward and asked…

“Xiao Ling…” She asked with an expression full of curiosity. “Can you tell us more about your love life? According to some internal sources in Imperial Entertainment, it’s said that you are always seen with Pei Ziheng. Is that true?”

She was quiet for a while, before answering with a polite smile on her face. “Yes.”

Her child was going to be born in seven months, keeping her relationship with Pei Ziheng quiet was no longer feasible. She needed to let everyone know that they were a “loving and consenting” couple, rather than suddenly break the news of her pregnancy. That would only bring about more chaos and speculation.

The crowd bustled upon hearing her answer.

“Oh my God, the rumors are true…” Someone commented, her face turning red in excitement. “Didn’t I say that Xiao Ling was pretty, elegant, and well-poised. Her singing is fantastic as well. She would definitely get together with an amazing man!”

“Exactly, exactly…” Many agreed with her. “Xiao Ling is just so compatible with Imperial Entertainment’s Big Boss.”

“We want to see a couple photo!”

“Xiao Ling, why don’t you take a few photos for us to see!”

The crowd shouted out from all directions. Those at the event were her die-hard fans and did not react to her relationship with Pei Ziheng negativity and false speculation, but instead were prepared to give her their genuine blessings.

Xia Ling looked at them and maintained her elegant smile, but she did not feel happy at all at this moment.