A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

An island in the South Indian Ocean.

A man lay on the bed in the intensive care ward, with a respirator on and several tubes of fluid attached to his once fit and healthy body. He looked out the window quietly, his handsome face revealing more than just a tinge of tiredness and vulnerability.

The doors opened.

Old Master Li entered and flashed a few photos before him. “Do you see it? This is the woman you’ve been thinking about and longing for, such a wanton woman! You’ve only left for a while and she’s reignited her love with her ex-husband. Xiao Lei, I advise you to give this up and live a proper life with Su Tang instead!”

On the bed, Li Lei’s eyes scanned the photos.

They were all photos of Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling.

Some of them were shot secretly, him embracing her onstage — they were with their heads together in the night breeze as she wrote something on his palm; him walking out of her room in a classy hotel…

Some of them were taken openly. He was not sure where that was, but she was in a dainty little gown, pretty as a princess, and was standing very close to Pei Ziheng. They were smiling at the camera, and Li Lei noticed that Pei Ziheng’s arm was wrapped around her waist…

There was a flash of anger in Li Lei’s eyes.

Old Master Li was satisfied with that. “Have you come to your senses now? Give it up.”

“She… Xiao Ling…” Li Lei’s voice was hoarse as he summoned all his energy to say those words. “She wouldn’t betray me.” That day, he had received a call from her and headed for the airport after the call ended. He was all ready to return and make things clear to her, but things had gone wrong — the Li family got some men to stop him, but he made it past that; the enemies barricaded the area, and he made it past that as well; just before he boarded the plane, Li Feng got close to him, saying that he had some message for Li Lei to relay when he returned…

In that moment of letting his guard down, Li Feng had stabbed Li Lei in the abdomen. The wound was so deep it could’ve killed him.

“You want to go back?” Li Feng licked the blood off the dagger and smiled like a devil. He started whispering almost seductively, “Xiao Lei… my dearest brother, what’s so good about that woman, that you can give everything else up? I’ve made the rest of the world my enemy, and I still can’t tie you down?”

Li Lei glared at him with cold hatred.

Li Feng was still smiling. “Su Tang’s pregnancy? It’s alright, that child can’t possibly be yours. But neither can you return to Ye Xingling. I won’t allow it, you hear that, Xiao Lei?”

He deliberately jabbed at Li Lei’s wound, sticking the dagger back in and fiddling around.

Li Lei whimpered involuntarily, his expression awful as sweat trickled down his forehead.

“Now you know what pain feels like?” Li Feng chuckled. “A disobedient brother deserves punishment.” He held the bloody dagger to Li Lei’s face. “Does every woman out there like this face of yours? If I slice it, will Ye Xingling still love it?”

He did it.

The dagger left a deep, long cut across Li Lei’s left cheek.

Li Lei’s glare turned even colder. “Brother… Brother,” he said with much effort. “You’re a lunatic… a pervert… a… beast!”

Li Feng gave him a tight slap on the face.

“Beast? Who are you calling a beast?!” They were half-brothers with the same father but different mothers. At this point, Li Feng’s voice was even softer while his anger peaked. “Xiao Lei, you’re getting from bad to worse. But it’s alright, I’ll discipline you and make sure you’re as good as the obedient little boy you used to be.”

He stabbed Li Lei a second time.

Li Lei let out a soft moan as the pain clouded his consciousness.

He didn’t know what was wrong with his brother, what did his return to look for Xiao Ling anger his brother in any way? Then again, Li Lei knew that his brother was unreasonable once he acted up, he could torture and even murder the people closest to him.

He kept quiet as he secretly reached for a sharp-edged stone.

It could be that he was plain lucky, or that Li Feng completely did not expect him to have any means to defend himself anymore. In any case, Li Lei smashed the stone onto Li Feng’s head and then pinned him to the ground. Li Feng stared at him in disbelief.

“How did you…!”

“I want to… live.” Li Lei used every ounce of energy left in him to pin him down and grab the dagger from his hand. He held it to Li Feng’s throat. “I want to… see Xiao Ling.” For the sake of that girl with her radiant smile, the one waiting for him anxiously on the other side of the ocean, he had to live on.

If he were to die, it would hurt her so much.

But now, as he saw the photos of her as he lay in bed, he couldn’t be sure anymore. Was Xiao Ling really longing for him?

On the surface, however, he was determined to maintain his stand. “Xiao Ling is definitely still waiting for me.”

“She’s already left Skyart.” Old Master Li showed him the newspapers of various headlines reporting her withdrawal from Skyart Entertainment and her reconciliation with Pei Ziheng.

Li Lei was still in denial.

Once his wound recovered, he would return immediately and explain everything to her in person.

Old Master Li read his mind. “You still don’t believe it? She and Pei Ziheng have already exchanged their vows. Just look at the rings they’re wearing, they’re of the same design.”

Only now did Li Lei notice it. In the photo, Pei Ziheng’s left arm was around Xia Ling’s waist, and on that hand was a simple titanium band on his finger. Meanwhile, Xia Ling had the same ring on the same finger.

Both of them were smiling sweetly.

Li Lei felt his heart wrenching, it hurt so badly.

“Impossible.” He said, “Xiao Ling does have a ring, but it was from me.”

Old Master Li scoffed. “Didn’t she tell you? Pei Ziheng had it melted!” He went on to show Li Lei the video of Pei Ziheng getting somebody to melt the ring. In the video, the initials ‘l’ and ‘y’ could be seen on the ring — it was indeed the one that he had gotten for her on their shopping trip.

Still, Li Lei insisted. “Impossible.”

But his voice was softer now.

Seeing that his grandson could no longer mask his devastation despite all his efforts, Old Master Li took his leave, knowing he had achieved his goal.

In the ward, the silence was restored.

Li Lei’s hardened look faded.

He quietly looked out the window, the light in his eyes dimming.

Xiao Ling…

My Xiao Ling.

It was I who let you down, who didn’t make it back in time. Have you been hurt too much by me? Or could you wait no longer, and decided to be with Pei Ziheng again?

What lay beyond the window was a quiet, lonely sunset.