A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Over the last four years, all she wanted was to hear his explanation.

Yet, when he was ready for it, she was full of panic. What was there to explain? If the explanation was ludicrous, it would only make things more awkward between the two of them, and she would find her years of pain and wait to be in vain. And if the explanation was acceptable, so what?

Would she forgive him?

She did not even know for sure herself.

“Don’t say anymore.” She turned away, “I don’t want to hear it.”

He did not expect that response. Where was the girl who called him and pressed him incessantly for an answer four years back? All of a sudden, he could feel the distance between them — a distance that entailed more than just the time spent apart and the ocean that lay between them.

And this feeling scared him.

“Xiao Ling.” There was a change in his tone.

Xia Ling got out of bed and walked towards the full-length window, where the abundant sunlight spilled through. Outside, she saw a vast shoreline, a long airplane runway, and the sleek trail that a plane had left in the sky.

She had waited here for four years.

This had become a habit, and maybe a habit was all that it was. “Li Lei,” she said softly, “please don’t disrupt my life now. Let the past stay in the past.”

“Xiao Ling!” Panic engulfed Li Lei. It was a fear he had never felt before, not even when he was in combat. He took a few steps forward and asked, “Why? Xiao Ling, it’s not what you think it is. That child isn’t…”

“Stop it!” Xia Ling said sharply, stopping him mid-sentence..

“Li Lei, at this point, I don’t care what went on with the child, or what you and Su Tang had done together! I’m just begging you not to come and look for me anymore. Please, don’t come again!” She sounded like she was about to cry, but tried her best to suppress it. Pushing him away with one hand, she ran out.

“Xiao Ling!” He went after her.

She kept her head down and ran as fast as she could. She had no idea what was going on — the answer she had been waiting for four whole years was about to be presented to her, and yet she pushed it away.

“Xiao Ling!” Li Lei’s flustered voice trailed behind her.

Xia Ling ran even faster now. She knocked into something and fell to the ground in pain.

“Ouch!”

Xia Ling had knocked her head onto the wall and was whimpering in pain. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. It hurt, it really hurt… but she refused to cry for a man.

“Little Young Master, are you alright?!” The nanny was almost hysterical.

Only then did Xia Ling realize that she’d knocked a young boy down. He was only three or four years old — it was Li Lei’s son, Li Rui. The boy didn’t seem injured. He stood up easily and rushed toward her aggressively, raising a leg to kick her. “How dare you knock me down!”

This boy landed a strong kick in her shin where she already had a bruise, and she cowered in pain.

Li Rui kicked her a second time.

“This is too much!” A strong growl echoed before a force pushed the child away to protect her. Li Lei squatted down beside her and examined her wounds. “Xiao Ling, are you alright? Does it hurt?”

Everything had happened too fast. Xia Ling looked at him, and then at the boy on the carpet. She didn’t know what to say.

“Xiao Rui!” All of a sudden, the door swung open and Su Tang dashed in. She held Li Rui closely. “Xiao Rui, what happened? Are you alright?”

The child was in a daze for a while before he started wailing.

“Dad hit me!” He cried as if he’d been wronged.

Su Tang turned to look at Xia Ling and Li Lei, almost as if she just noticed them. She looked a little dismal but kept her tone elegant and composed. “Miss Ye, if the child has done anything wrong, I’ll apologize on his behalf. Could you please let him off?”

Xia Ling was unhappy with her statement, who was letting who off now?

“So a crying child is always in the right?” Xia Ling had pent up anger from being kicked several times. Coupled with the fluster in her mind and Su Tang’s triggering statement, Xia Ling couldn’t keep her cool.

Su Tang looked at Li Lei quietly before hanging her head low and appearing grieved. The child cried out, “It’s her! That bad woman knocked me down first!”

“Li Rui!” Li Lei flew into a rage.

The child shut his mouth immediately. His father usually didn’t care much about him, even when he threw tantrums. But he knew that when his father called him by his full name, he was really furious. When that happened, even his mother and grandfather dared not provoke him.

Li Rui shrunk and retreated instinctively.

Su Tang kept him behind her back. “Li Lei…” Since the birth of the child, she had stopped calling him “Young Master.” Li Lei had agreed to that on the basis of giving the child a healthy family environment.

But the change in address annoyed Xia Ling.

“Li Lei,” Su Tang spoke gently. “The child is young and insensible, it’s my fault that he was so disrespectful to Miss Ye. Don’t be so fierce towards him, he was just knocked down and throwing tantrums is just part of a child’s nature. Blame me if you must, I didn’t watch him closely and allowed him to run around in the hallway. Miss Ye, I’m truly sorry.”

It sounded like a sincere apology, but it was clear that Su Tang was trying to make a point.

Xia Ling had spent enough time with Xia Yu to be able to see through such tricks. She suddenly lost interest in the conversation. What did their disciplining of the child have anything to do with her?

She hobbled with a limp, using the walls as support.

“Xiao Ling!” Li Lei went up to help her. “Won’t you hear me out?”

“Li Lei,” she stopped in her tracks and looked him in the eye. “It’s too late, do you understand? The two of us… can never go back.” The last four words were so soft, they were almost inaudible.

Perhaps, he had forgotten how much courage it took for her to be with him, and all the nights that had haunted her before. Since her rebirth, she had sworn never to fall in love with anyone, for fear of getting hurt again. And yet, she fell for him.

That was already more than she could manage.

But she had been disappointed and hurt once again.

Right now, she had no more courage or energy left in her.

She was afraid of facing his explanation. She was afraid that after hearing his answer, she would forgive him, and they would reconcile. That would mean a possibility of everything falling through once again.