A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The bedroom door was open.

The first thing she saw was not a bed but a large empty space. The floor was covered with thick carpets, and there was a scent of dried flowers in the air. A long screen separated the room.

Li Lei pulled Xia Ling to the back of the screen and she saw two doors.

Li Lei pointed at one of the doors and said, “This is Su Tang’s bedroom.” He then pointed at the other door. “This room is mine.” He pushed the door open to reveal his real bedroom. In the middle, there was a big black satin bed. There were no excessive decorative items except for pictures of different sizes on the wall.

Some of them were newspaper clippings, some of them were publicity photos, and some of them were secretly taken candid shots.

Every photo was of Xia Ling.

“These years, I have been thinking about you all the time.” Li Lei held her hand and walked into the room. “Xiao Ling, you are the only mistress of my house. No one can change this fact.”

Xia Ling was very shocked and even forgot to break away from his grasp.

The photos on the wall were arranged according to year. There were even photos from the year they met. During their four years of separation, there was a staggering number of photos, and even two sketches he drew by himself. She was very vivid in his sketches. One could feel his deep affection from every stroke.

She took a few steps back.

“Now, can you believe me?” Li Lei asked.

Xia Ling’s heart was in a mess and she did not know what to do. Quivering, she softly asked, “Aren’t you already married to Su Tang?” She saw the news that they organized a wedding ceremony overseas. By doing this, not only was Li Lei letting her down, but he was also letting his wife Su Tang down.

However, Li Lei was taken aback.

“Who told you that I’m married to Su Tang?”

Xia Ling looked at him in disbelief. “Isn’t that true?” She told her about what she read in the news a few years ago.

Li Lei’s face darkened. “What newspaper is that?” He asked, “Is there an archive? I have to hold them accountable. Xiao Ling, I’ve never married Su Tang. This wedding ceremony is nonsense! The only thing I promised Su Tang was to let her raise Xiao Rui under my name. I have never promised to marry her!”

“How is this possible? You two really did not get married?”

“If you don’t believe me, you can do a check! I have Chinese nationality so you can find my marriage record in the Civil Affairs Bureau!” Li Lei cursed and swore. He finally understood why Xiao Ling rejected him so much. It turned out that she thought he was married? “How can I let you be a mistress?” He looked at her deeply. “You are the only woman I want to protect in my life.”

“What… what was with that news article, then?” Xia Ling asked.

“I will investigate clearly.” Li Lei said. He already secretly guessed in his heart that it was due to Old Master Li because he was the one who deliberately tried to keep them apart. He was rather sad. It turned out that Xiao Ling did not trust him enough and was easily fooled by the news. However, even so, he still continued to love her deeply.

Xia Ling was silent for a long time.

Shaohui looked worriedly at her and then at Li Lei. He only prayed in his heart that his mother would forgive his father. However, he also hoped that his mother would not forgive him so easily because his lousy dad treated both of them too poorly. After not being by their side for so many years, his father should suffer some hardship so that he would treasure his mother more in the future.

“Xiao Ling.” Li Lei carefully called her.

Xia Ling lifted her head and asked, “How exactly are you related to Su Tang and her son, then?”

Li Lei was very happy that she was finally interested in this situation. He quickly said, “After Su Tang became pregnant, to protect her reputation, I had to acknowledge that her child was mine. However, I announced to the public that it was a mistake after being drunk and rejected marrying her. Su Tang also admitted that it was an accident, so I did not need to marry her or be responsible for her. Now, our relationship is very simple. We are Xiao Rui’s dad and mom. There’s nothing else besides that.”

Xia Ling sighed in relief. This was better than knowing he was married.

He could call her selfish for her intolerance towards others’ happiness. She just really did not like seeing the man she loved married to another woman. In fact, she was not prepared to return to this man after a long separation.

At this moment, she suddenly understood what Pei Ziheng meant when he said he would rather destroy her than let someone else have her. It turned out that when love was too deep, one would really become unreasonable.

Her feelings were very complicated.

Beside her, Shaohui lightly pulled her hand. “Sister, if Uncle Li isn’t married, does this mean that he can marry you in the future? Once we become a family, Uncle Li can cook good food for us every day.”

This greedy boy… Xia Ling almost laughed.

Li Lei quickly struck while the iron was hot. “Xiao Ling, look. Shaohui is a boy. He needs a father to guide him so that he can become a real man in the future. You should give him a complete family.”

Momentary, she was touched and was almost convinced by him.

However, she remembered how much she suffered in these four years and was still afraid of getting hurt.

Furthermore…

“Since you said that you and Su Tang are only acting as parents, why does she live in your villa? She even decided on all the decorations and furnishing.”

Li Lei said, “I can’t immediately ‘break up’ with her after she just gave birth to a child. This would hurt her and her child too much. Xiao Ling, our plan is to go slow and find a suitable time to let the outside world know that we’re ‘parting ways.’ This way, Li Rui and her reputation won’t be damaged.”

Xia Ling was somewhat uncomfortable. “So what if her reputation isn’t damaged? Have you ever thought of me?” Did he know how she survived these four years?

Li Lei fell silent for a moment before saying, “I know that you’ve suffered grievances.”

Xia Ling felt even more upset. How could her years of suffering be understated by one brief sentence? She looked at the man in front of her and firmly said, “Make Su Tang move out of your house. If you can’t even do that, don’t bother to look for me again.”

Li Lei’s eyes shined. She knew that Xiao Ling had let go of a little of her inhibitions.

Since she was able to negotiate terms with him, it was better than not talking at all.

“I will quickly settle this problem.” Li Lei said.

Xia Ling snorted and took Shaohui’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Shaohui reluctantly turned around to look at Li Lei. When they walked past the living room, he reluctantly said goodbye to Er Mao. Unexpectedly, the nanny pushed Li Rui to the living room and he was waiting for them. Seeing that they were out, he screamed, “You all should get lost! Don’t ever come to my home again! This territory belongs to my mom and me!”

Xia Ling did not even bother to glance at him.

However, Shaohui almost wanted to say something. However, after some thought, he remained quiet. The etiquette training he received since a young age told him that he should not provoke the child in the wheelchair. After all, the person who was about to move out was his mother.