A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Now that she mentioned it, everyone was reminded of it.

Nangong Qingya’s beautiful makeup couldn’t hide the distress on her face. “No, how could it be 10 billion? There must be something wrong with the system!”

Meanwhile, Xia Ling remained calm as she recalled what Brother had told her before, that even a family as wealthy and powerful as the Peis and the Lis probably would not be able to afford her dowry. 10 billion dollars was not an exaggeration at all. She looked at Nangong Qingya with a smirk and said, “If you don’t believe me, you could follow me to the bank and verify it. But if you lose the bet, we’ll go by the rules and you’ll have to pay up three times the amount.”

Nangong Qingya was about to agree to it subconsciously when it hit her that the probability of something going wrong with the system was minuscule. If she took the trip down to the bank, it was quite likely that she would end up embarrassing herself. She composed herself and struck her most arrogant pose. “Oh, I said I’d pay up three times the amount? Very well then, you can come to my house and collect it anytime.”

“Miss Nangong Qingya won’t go back on her word, right?” Xia Ling looked at her suspiciously. 30 billion dollars was not a small sum — she did not have that much liquid cash even when she was a world-renowned Diva in her last life. Although Nangong Qingya came from a wealthy family, she might not even be as rich as Xia Ling was in her last life. Even if she could come up with that money, it probably amounted to a substantial portion of her family assets.

“You think I’d lie to you?” Nangong Qingya looked a little pale as she tried to calculate the odds. She did come from a wealthy family, but how could she — a Missy who did not work at all — be able to afford 30 billion dollars in one lump sum? Her share of the inheritance, as well as her dowry, probably wouldn’t be enough.

On second thought, even if she was willing to pay up the amount with all her personal savings, her family definitely wouldn’t allow it. They would chide her for it, and probably even embarrass her. There was even a possibility that she would have nothing to her name if that were to happen.

By then, she might not even be able to marry Wang Tao, not to mention Li Lei!

She was determined to find a way around this without having to lose a single cent.

Despite her worries, she was able to keep a cool front. “One month from now, you can come to me for the money.”

“One month?” Xia Ling smirked. She had guessed that Nangong Qingya was going to drag the situation longer than needed. “I’m guessing that you need time to gather that sum of money. In that case, let’s just sign an IOU, and the interest would be charged according to bank rates.”

It was 30 billion dollars, the interests incurred would be a substantial amount.

Nangong Qingya secretly cursed Xia Ling in her heart. Why was this woman was such a rogue, speaking about nothing but money? She had to object to it. “We can do without the formalities. Unless you don’t even trust my integrity?”

“I’m sorry. In fact, I really don’t.” Xia Ling didn’t bother trying to save her from embarrassment.

Nangong Qingya turned a little pale hearing that. She felt that her only option to get out of this conversation was to change the topic. “Well, I wonder how Miss Ye managed to have so much money? As far as I know, a singer doesn’t own that much. Unless… it’s from Pei Ziheng and Second Young Master Li?”

She had only returned from abroad a while back and did not know much about Xia Ling’s background initially. However, after viewing Xia Ling as her love rival, she had conducted investigations on her and discovered that she and Li Lei patched up only shortly after her divorce with Pei Ziheng.

She speculated that the money was probably from the alimony fees the Pei family offered her, and from Li Lei as well.

She was no longer just a woman from a humble background. Nangong Qingya felt that she had to reevaluate her opponent.

But all Xia Ling said was, “Why should you care where my money comes from?”

“That’s true.” Nangong Qingya smiled. “Nobody would want to talk about it if the money came from illegitimate means.”

“Who are you referring to, talking about illegitimate means?” A calm male voice was heard.

Everybody turned around and saw a well-dressed man enter. He looked prim and charismatic and left a good impression on the people present. He walked towards Xia Ling slowly and said, “Why’re you in such a place?”

It was an accusing statement, but there wasn’t an accusatory tone to it.

Xia Ling was about to greet her brother when she recalled that he had wanted her to keep their relationship a secret. Hence, she quietly muttered, “Why are you here only now, I’m being bullied.”

Xia Moyan looked at her dotingly. Who was bullying who? He looked at the extravagantly dressed girl opposite them. She seemed like the one being bullied, instead.

He gently asked, “How did she bully you?”

“She owes me 30 billion dollars and hasn’t paid up.” Xia Ling was about to tear up.

It wasn’t just Xia Moyan, but everyone else present felt that Xia Ling was being absurd. She was the one who demanded payment from Nangong Qingya, but she was distorting the story as if Nangong Qingya was indeed bullying her.

Xia Moyan smiled. “Who says she doesn’t have the money to pay up? She could always use her family assets as collateral, and any excess could be regarded as compensation for your emotional damage.”

“Emotional damage?!” Nangong Qingya was stunned. “What emotional damage?”

“You made Xiao Ling all worried and worked up, thinking you won’t be able to pay up. Shouldn’t you pay for this emotional damage?” Xia Moyan said coldly. He always used a seemingly neutral tone, but it had a different connotation when he spoke with Xiao Ling and when it was Nangong Qingya.

It was an invisible power.

Nangong Qingya felt a chill down her spine. This man… seemed scary.

But nothing was scarier than the thought of forking out 30 billion dollars. Nangong Qingya clenched her teeth and said, “This is plain extortion. I will not give you the sum of money.”

Xia Ling looked at her, stunned. So, she was really going back on her word?

“You’re not paying for the emotional damage, or are you referring to the 30 billion dollars?” Xia Ling verified.

“Initially, I did plan giving you the 30 billion dollars. I’ll just treat it as a charitable act, helping out a needy person. But who knew you’d get so overbearing and actually demanded compensation for emotional damage. So I decided, I don’t want to give you any money at all now.” Nangong Qingya had her chin raised as she spoke with an arrogant, condescending tone.