A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Li Lei grabbed hold of her hand and started to take off her clothes. His hot breath lingered near her ear. “Don’t move. You have to wear this set of clothes out later.”

The container was very dark. The flashlight was overturned by her, falling to the ground with a loud impact.

She was afraid of attracting attention and cried. “Li Lei, let go of me!”

However, he did not let her go and pressed her into a corner filled with a pile of debris. Her clothes were removed, revealing her white shoulders, collarbone, and back…

Xia Ling was an uncommon sort of beauty. She was as delicate as jade, and every inch of her skin was carefully looked after like a flawless piece of art.

No matter how many times he looked at it, it always fascinated him.

He comfortingly kissed her and forced himself on her.

Xia Ling only felt that her body was being ripped apart and the dark shadows were about to engulf her. She helplessly hit his back, cried, cursed, and begged him, but he was indifferent and insisted on doing what he wanted. “Xiao Ling.” His voice was low, like a demon in the dark. “You are mine.”

In a trance, she felt like her body was not hers, and even his voice was coming from a distant sky. Suddenly, she heard someone knocking on the container. “Ye Xingling! Ye Xingling, are you inside? It’s time for your scene! Come quickly! Director, I’ve searched everywhere, but I can’t find Ye Xingling. This container door can’t be opened. Is it possible that something happened to her inside?”

There were more anxious knocking sounds and people trying to open the door.

At once, Xia Ling hurriedly pushed Li Lei away and raised her voice. “I’m touching up my make up and will come out soon!”

“Be quick!” The people outside stopped.

She stumbled to retrieve the flashlight in the distance. In the darkness, she tripped over something and fell down. Her entire body hurt and blood flowed out from her wrist.

She covered her wrist, cowered beside the faint glow of the flashlight, and let her tears come out.

“Where have you hurt yourself? Let me see.” Li Lei turned around and squatted in front of her, intending to check her injury.

Xia Ling slapped his hand away.

“Li Lei,” She cried. “Yes, that child is Pei Ziheng’s. Yes, I slept with him last night. Yes, yes, yes. Everything you said was right. Are you satisfied now?” Her face was covered in tears, and her makeup was a mess. Her body hurt everywhere, and even her voice quivered. “Do you think I can be easily taken advantage of because I have no family or any powerful backing?”

He did not dare not to send Nangong Qingya back home because Nangong Qingya came from an eminent family, and he did not dare to defy his Old Master’s orders because his Old Master was too powerful. What about her? Did that mean that he could do anything he wanted to her, force her to be at his beck and call and take advantage of her in the wilderness?

Her tears fell like broken beads. She wiped them using her bloody hand, ruining her make up further. As she cried, she looked for the make up remover at the corner of the container, washed her face with cold water, and put on a new layer of makeup.

The light from the flashlight was very dim, but even so, her eyes were as swollen as walnuts, and she was not presentable at all. She resisted her crying. As an artiste, she did not have the freedom to be sad. Even if she wanted to cry, she had to control herself. She resisted the cold water temperature, twisted a tower, and wiped her eyes. After that, she quickly applied smoky eye make up upon hearing the urging voices outside the container.

She rarely wore such heavy makeup and looked dispirited and desolate.

The knocking sounds grew louder. This time, it was Lin Yunan. “Ye Xingling, hurry up! Time and tide wait for no man! Can you please be more professional?!”

She suppressed her indignation and replied, “I’m almost done.”

She also suppressed her sobbing. After circling the ground, she finally found the clothes that were thrown aside by Li Lei. She put them on, tried her best to smooth the wrinkles on them, and only opened the door after she ensured that she looked presentable.

“Xiao Ling.” In the dark, Li Lei called her.

She paused for a moment but did not look back. Resisting her aching body, she walked out.

Lin Yunan gave her an earful. The director and a few other staff members were also upset. She apologized to everyone and focused on her shoot again. Luckily, after seeing that she only needed one take for all of her shots, everyone’s attitudes eased.

When work ended, it was already three in the morning.

Lin Yunan found a large soft and thick blanket from somewhere and wrapped it around her. “What’s wrong? What happened just now? You even cried. Do you think that no one will be able to tell after you put on smoky makeup? During your shoot, those busybodies went to check the container.”

Xia Ling was in low spirits. She lowered her head and walked forward without speaking.

Lin Yunan asked, “Is it Li Lei or Pei Ziheng? Only one of them can make you cry like that and move the container truck away so the busybodies could not find anything.”

Xia Ling opened her mouth, and her voice was hoarse. “I’m very tired and need a break.”

“A break?” Lin Yunan helped her into his car and said, “In your dreams. Tomorrow afternoon, you have a live-stream interview. Even if you die, you have to finish that program first.”

Xia Ling said, “Didn’t you say in the morning that I can die after participating in tonight’s shoot?”

Lin Yunan replied, “You actually believed my lie?” He stopped the car and pulled out his notebook which contained her itinerary. “However, after tomorrow afternoon, you can take a break. The following events aren’t big and can be rescheduled. You should take care of yourself, your concert is going to start soon. It’s your first personal concert, so you better be energetic and not look so dead.”

He rambled on and on.

But Xia Ling was not really listening to him. She curled up in the back seat and fell asleep in a daze.

Lin Yunan sent her home. When he carried her upstairs, he realized that there were red marks on her neck. First, he was shocked. Then, he exclaimed in anger. “Does that bastard Li Lei still wants to live? He actually dared to mess with my people?!” At this moment, he was sure that it was Li Lei and not Pei Ziheng. Pei Ziheng was very old-fashioned and did not seem like someone who would do something like that.

Lin Yunan started to seriously consider whether it was a good idea for her to transfer to Imperial Entertainment from Skyart Entertainment for her future as a Diva.

Xia Ling did not know how long she slept for. She had many horrible dreams. When she woke up, her face was stained with tears.

In front of her was Lin Yunan’s enlarged face. “Grandma, you’re finally awake. I was afraid that you would oversleep, so I didn’t dare to go home and stayed here to accompany you so that I could especially wake you up. Quick, shower, change your clothes and apply your makeup. We don’t even have time for lunch. I bought a sandwich for you which you can eat in the car.”