A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She knew who that person was without looking back. His voice often appeared in her nightmares, and she could not get over him.

Li Lei turned around and realized who the person was. “Mr. Pei, what would you like to add?”

Xia Ling had no choice but to turn around. This was the first time she was looking at Pei Ziheng from such a close distance ever since that time she was kidnapped and drugged by him. Under the radiance of the crystal chandelier, his jaw was as sharp as a knife. Handsome and full of dignity, he only took a few steps and looked at her silently, but she felt immense pressure and…

Fear.

She had a near-instinctive, deep fear of him. Her body was slightly tense and her arrogance and indifference while dealing with the father and daughter of the Gu Family immediately disappeared. Right now, her body was rigid due to the pressure she felt.

Li Lei felt that something was wrong with her, so he took a step forward to shield her.

As Pei Ziheng’s line of vision was cut off, he became disgruntled. However, he did not otherwise react.

“Both of you are just going to leave like that?” He murmured.

“I said before that Xiao Ling is not feeling well.” Li Lei frowned.

“You’re also called ‘Xiao Ling’?” Pei Ziheng stepped forward and moved closer to Xia Ling, giving her a perplexed look. “What a coincidence. The Diva who passed away was also called ‘Xiao Ling.’”

The luxurious glass door of the hall was open, and the cool breeze of the summer was felt. However, it had a rather ghostly sensation.

At this moment, although she knew it was impossible, Xia Ling had a bad feeling. It was as if Pei Ziheng had already seen through her past and present life, and was there to demand that she returned the “Xiao Ling” that belonged to him.

“Your Xiao Ling is already dead.” She tightly grabbed Li Lei’s hand and slightly quivered.

The surrounding guests gasped in astonishment. Was that girl crazy? How could she speak that way to Pei Ziheng? She should be well aware that Pei Ziheng was unlike the father and daughter of the Gu Family. He was the head of the most powerful family in the city and even the country! There was not even the need to mention that he was known for his cruel and cold nature. There was no good outcome for anyone who offended him.

Many people were already mourning for Xia Ling in their hearts.

Xia Ling also knew that she was being impulsive after saying those words. She saw a moment of haze in Pei Ziheng’s eyes which foreshadowed his real rage. Xia Ling was very scared and could not help but step back from Li Lei. If it were not for Li Lei holding her, she would have probably been so frightened that she would not be able to stand straight. The one-year imprisonment in the past severely haunted her. Although she did not completely develop Stockholm Syndrome as he had hoped for, she had developed a strange mental distortion.

This caused her to feel like a shocked rabbit seeing a tiger whenever she faced Pei Ziheng.

Looking at her faintly pale face, the haze in his eyes slowly faded away. “Besides her, you’re the first person who has dared to speak to me like that.” Pei Ziheng paused. “No… You definitely cannot be compared to her. Even if she caused trouble, she was always unafraid.” His look changed and became both empty and sad as if he was caught up in a distant memory.

Xia Ling was silent.

In her past life, before she was imprisoned by him, she was daring and arrogant. Even if she said something wrong in front of everyone, she could not care less and remained confident. She was nothing like she was right now, at a loss for words after making a small mistake.

However, she breathed a sigh of relief. He could despise her or say that she was not like Xia Ling…

She was thankful as long as no one found out about who she really was.

With this reasoning, Xia Ling regained some of her composure after a huge fright.

“I’m sorry. We will take our leave now.” She said and wanted to pull Li Lei away with her immediately.

However, Pei Ziheng responded. “The cocktail party is only halfway done. Don’t you think it is rather rude if you leave now?”

“I said before…” Li Lei tried to explain.

“I know that Miss Ye is not feeling well.” Pei Ziheng interrupted him. “There is a lounge upstairs and three private doctors on standby. Miss Ye, you can take a break there for a while and come down later to dance.”

According to the normal procedures of similar cocktail parties, it was considered very rude if the guests left early without dancing. The request made by Pei Ziheng was not very demanding. However, Li Lei did not want to spend another second longer in that awful place. It was better when Pei Ziheng did not appear. Once he appeared, he would only want to take Xiao Ling with him and run away quickly.

Pei Ziheng looked as if he saw through Li Lei, made a hand signal, and the large glass door was closed.

Li Lei was enraged. “What are you trying to do, Mr. Pei?”

“I hope you can respect the last cocktail party dedicated to her.” Pei Ziheng solemnly said.

The person Pei Ziheng was referring to was obvious. Many guests nodded their head in agreement. It was the last new song announcement party dedicated to the Diva Xia Ling. Since it was her conference, it was understandable that Pei Ziheng wanted it to be flawless. This was the minimum respect that he could give to the Diva Xia Ling.

Since Xia Ling was already Xia Ling, she never noticed this. Furthermore, Li Lei gave her his fullest attention, so they completely ignored how special the occasion was. As the importance of the occasion was brought up by Pei Ziheng, it was not wise to insist on leaving. He looked at Xia Ling inquiringly, wanting to see what she thought about it.

If she wanted to stay, he would stay with her.

If she wanted to leave, even it meant offending everyone, he would still leave with her.

Naturally, Xia Ling wanted to leave, but at that moment, a man wearing a dark black suit emerged from the crowd. It was Feng Kun. “Mr. Li and Miss Ye,” he said. “please be understanding. I hope that both of you can be considerate towards our emperor’s feelings.”

There were unspeakable grief and sorrow in Feng Kun’s expression.

It pained Xia Ling to see her old friend like that. The pain she felt was not for herself, but for the person in front of her who still remembered her long after her death. She hesitated for a moment, but as she could not bear to hurt Feng Kun, she nodded and said, “Ok.”

“Thank you,” Feng Kun looked at her and sincerely said.

However, Li Lei was not very pleased. “As long as we dance, it will not be considered leaving early, right?” Not dancing before leaving was very impolite. However, as long as they danced, they would have shown sufficient respect for the occasion. Furthermore, Xiao Ling was feeling unwell, and if they left, no one could gossip about her.

Feng Kun looked at them somewhat apologetically. “Yes, please dance for a song. I know that Miss Ye is not feeling well, but I would have to trouble you to do so.” He had always been thoughtful, and his tone was very lukewarm so no one could find an excuse to get angry.

Xia Ling also had no intention of going against his wishes. She only nodded and said, “Then we will dance for a song.”

She only wanted to leave that place as soon as possible, so she pulled Li Lei’s hand and entered the dancefloor.

The music that was stopped due to the squabble started again. Li Lei used one hand to support Xia Ling’s waist and asked in a low voice, “Do you know how to dance? Don’t panic, just follow my lead.”

Everyone was watching them. Hypothetically speaking, it was impossible for a celebrity like her not to know how to dance, but he had never seen her doing this sort of social dance before and did not know how skilled she was at it or if she would make mistakes in full public view.

He deliberately wanted to take care of her, so he slowed down the rhythm.

Xia Ling did not speak. She just followed his body movements and danced gently and slowly. Her graceful and adept posture indicated that she was not a beginner. Her long dress spun around as the song played. Very soon, everyone could not take their eyes away from them.