A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Xia Ling looked up, horrified.

Li Feng slowly and seductively licked his lips, and the expression in his eyes was akin to that of a poisonous snake as if he was peeling her layers off one by one. She was extremely uncomfortable with the way he looked at her and wanted to flee, but her feet were rooted to the ground, and her arms felt weak. She could not move.

A silhouette stood in Li Feng’s line of sight.

It was Li Lei.

Xia Ling was grateful for his move. He stood before her, still and firm.

“Xiao Ling is my girlfriend, please show her some respect.” Li Lei sounded cold. “Also, she’s one of the main artistes that Skyart is grooming. If Skyart were to produce a Diva in the next five years, it would be none other than her. Brother, Xiao Ling can take the Li family’s entertainment business to greater heights. She’s a very important figure.”

“Girlfriend?” Li Feng sounded teasing now. “I’ve read the news reports, do you think our family will allow you to marry such a wanton woman with a messy background?”

“Xiao Ling is not a wanton woman.” Li Lei was very stern. “She is worthy of me, as well as the Li family.”

“Worthy? With what? The false title of being a future Diva?” Li Feng smiled indolently. “Xiao Lei, don’t thumb me down in the name of the family’s entertainment business. Don’t get too arrogant just because you’re managing one aspect of the business. Skyart is nothing; I could turn it into ashes with the snap of a finger.”

Li Lei was almost biting his lip as he stood even closer to Xia Ling.

Li Feng’s voice went low. “What if… I only want her?”

“Nobody can touch Xiao Ling.” Li Lei looked up, enunciating every word clearly. “Not even you, Brother.”

“Ha ha ha.” Li Feng laughed as he threw the cup on the floor. “When was the last time you acted so wilful and stubborn in front of me? Let me think…? 10 years back? Or was it 15 years?”

He stood and walked elegantly towards Li Lei. With his head tilted, he whispered, “Xiao Lei, you have a weakness now.”

He said that very softly.

Xia Ling realized that, at that moment, Li Lei had tensed up.

Li Feng did not seem to notice. His smile was still on as he patted Li Lei on the shoulder and darted an unnerving look at Xia Ling.

Li Lei took two steps back, blocking Xia Ling from his sight once again.

“Brother, you’re drunk.” His words sounded forced.

“Am I…” Li Feng was grinning widely. “Xiao Lei, don’t be afraid, I was just joking. I wouldn’t do anything to your precious…” He walked past Li Lei towards the door. After barely taking a few steps, when he turned around again, he looked suggestively at Xiao Ling and licked his finger at her.

“Xiao Ling,” He dragged the words. “is such a nice name.”

He took his men along and left the private room, closing the door behind them.

Only then did Li Lei turn to face her. Before Xia Ling knew it, she was in his arms.

“Don’t move, let me hold you for a while,” he told her.

The vulnerability in his voice and the slight tremble of his body had Xia Ling shocked. She dared not move an inch as she stood there, allowing him just to hold her.

He held her for a long while.

Xia Ling sounded him out. “Li Lei?”

He did not respond.

She carefully asked, “Are you… alright?”

Only then did he let go of her slowly. He looked at her with his beautiful eyes and shook his head. “I’m fine, let’s get out of here first.”

Xia Ling was led by the hand, and on her way out, she suddenly turned around. “Those two bodyguards…” She stopped mid-sentence and realized that all the injured bodyguards and Li Feng’s men were nowhere to be seen.

“They will be taken care of.” Li Lei knew what she was worried about.

“Will they…”

“Brother did not kill them on the spot, that means they’ll be safe,” he told her.

Xia Ling was more at ease now. They left the restaurant and headed to his SUV.

She was about to sit in the front passenger’s seat when he stopped her. “You’ll sit at the back, Xiao Ling.” He turned around and told a bodyguard, “Ah Nuo, you’ll drive.”

The bodyguard nodded and headed for the driver’s seat.

Li Lei sat with her in the back.

The car started quickly and was in the city traffic in no time.

Li Lei did not look fine, and this was the first time Xia Ling saw him look this disturbed. She was uneasy. “I’m sorry. This is my fault, I shouldn’t have come out to meet a stranger and brought you so much trouble.”

He seemed shocked to hear that and turned to face her.

“It’s fine.” He was gentle with his words. “It’s not your fault, Brother was targeting me. Even if you hadn’t agreed to meet him today, he would’ve found another way.”

Xia Ling hesitated for a bit before asking, “Your relationship with him doesn’t seem… too good?”

“Brother hates me.” He put it so simply that it scared Xia Ling.

“We are brothers with different mothers.” Li Lei said. “His biological mother was our father’s first wife, but she passed away while shielding our father from a bullet. A year later, my mother married into the family and gave birth to me not too long after. From then on, Brother hated my mother and me, and tried to kill me when we were still children.”

Li Lei’s voice was getting deeper.

It must have been a very unhappy past. Xia Ling kept quiet, unsure of how to console him.

Li Lei went on. “When I was five, my mother became ill and passed away too. Brother tried to harm me even more, and almost succeeded in getting rid of me several times… Grandpa eventually would not take it and scolded him harshly. He was also worried that being too young, I was unable to protect myself well and hence took me along to live with him. Among the many grandchildren in the Li family, I was the only one who was raised by Grandpa, which is why all of them say that Grandpa is biased towards me.”

Li Lei’s expression softened as he continued, “Grandpa did favor me. He taught me everything personally, from writing words to life skills, from the family structure to the outside world… During the years when he was still fit enough to be in charge of matters, he took me everywhere he went. Often, they’d be negotiating a deal or even fighting while I did my assignments at the back and listened to them.

“They said that Grandpa groomed me to be his successor, and called me ‘Little Emperor’ behind my back.”

Li Lei smiled sadly. “Hence, Brother hated me even more, and we practically became enemies.”

Xia Ling asked, “Will you be the successor?”

“In the Li family, the place of the successor doesn’t depend on one’s age or position in the family, but whoever is the most capable.” Li Lei smiled. “I don’t know yet if I’ll be the successor. Grandpa has mentioned before that it will be a fair competition, and he’s taught me what he could, but how much I’ve learned and how much I will be capable of depends on my hard work. He will not favor anyone in this selection.

“Moreover, he has let go of his hold on many things in the past few years and handed the power and authority to my father. The next head of the household will likely be my father, though he hasn’t been officially named yet. As for us, his grandchildren, it’ll be many years down the road before the successor has to be named. Who is to say what could change by then?

“But Brother doesn’t think that way. He’s using ruthless means to get rid of me, and his favorite way is to hurt the people around me.

Li Lei kept quiet for a while before saying, “Xiao Ling, let me tell you a story.”