A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-177

Chapter 177: Pei Ziheng’s Invitation

Li Lei suddenly did not know what exactly he came back for.

He lit a cigarette, and the rising smoke covered his handsome face. He sat in the car for a long time before making a phone call. “Hello Su Tang, are you asleep? I want to talk to you about something.” The scene in the elevator gave him an unprecedented feeling of crisis. He was no longer confident of his skill in pacifying women. How could he win over the heart of a girl like Xiao Ling? Perhaps asking Su Tang who had a similar personality would lead him to the answer.

He loved Xiao Ling and wanted to have everything: her body and her soul.

Xia Ling went back to the apartment but did not sleep well the entire night. The next day, her head still hurt. She walked into the bathroom, looked at the mirror on the floor, and realized that she was weary, her face was pale, and her coat was very creased. Only then did she remember that she did not even take off her clothes before falling asleep last night. She started to take off her clothes one by one. When she took off her shirt, she realized that she was missing something on her wrist.

What she was missing was the expensive gold female watch with mother-of-pearl which was sponsored by a luxury brand.

After the music festival ended, she had to return the watch to the sponsor. If she lost it, she would have to pay the selling price of the watch as compensation. Xia Ling could not help but rub her forehead as she rummaged through the pile of clothes to look for it for a while, but failed to find it there. She then went back to the bedroom to search the bed, the carpet, the cupboard, and all the places she could think of. However, she still could not find it.

That was troublesome.

She could not afford that watch. Even though the money she earned as a small star who just debuted was not bad, she had to spend the money she earned on a lot of areas. Every month’s salary was used up by her, and there was no excess at all. What should she do? Borrow from Li Lei? Even though they had just argued, Xia Ling knew that he would give her a huge amount of money without hesitation or questions, and she would not even need to return him the money. However, if she did that… how was it any different from being in a transactional relationship?

Not too long ago, she was unscrupulously squandering Pei Ziheng’s wealth.

In her past life, although Xia Ling’s net worth was hundreds of millions of dollars, she never used her money even for a minute. All of her expenses were covered by Pei Ziheng’s personal account. He gave her a black gold credit card that she would use even to buy him gifts. At that time, she did not feel that there was anything wrong with what she was doing. She thought that it was ok that they shared everything.

It was only later that she realized how wrong she was.

In his eyes, she was forever his subordinate.

Now that she was alive again, Xia Ling did not want to lead a life like that ever again. She was independent and did not need to rely on anybody. Thus, no matter what happened, she would never ask Li Lei for money. How was she going to solve the problem in front of her then? Her phone rang just as she was consumed in her thoughts. It was an unknown number.

Xia Ling pressed the answer button.

A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone, low and magnetic. “Is this Ye Xingling?”

That was…

Pei Ziheng’s voice.

Her heartbeat accelerated, and Xia Ling felt that her hand holding the phone was slightly trembling. How did Pei Ziheng know her phone number, and why was he calling at this timing?

“Ye Xingling,” he repeated slowly.

She took a deep breath. “Why… are you calling?”

“Are you not going to ask who I am?” He asked at an appropriate speed which was completely different from the violent and fierce way he spoke last night. “Looks like you have recognized who I am. Should I say that you are sensitive to sounds or… that we are fated?”

The last part of his sentence made her almost want to smash her phone.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Her voice was unsteady. “Pei Ziheng, I don’t have the energy to talk to you. If there’s nothing important, I will hang up now!”

He smiled slowly. There was a bit of bitterness, helplessness, and a tinge of nostalgia in his laughter. “How long has it been… No one dares to speak to me in this tone. Ye Xingling, you are the second one.”

Xia Ling became quiet.

They both knew who the first one was.

“Ye Xingling,” he said again. “You dropped a female watch here. It is with me now.”

Xia Ling suddenly realized how she lost the watch. It was probably last night when she was with him in the lift and accidentally dropped it. Coincidentally or not, he picked it up. She sighed in relief. It was great that she knew where the watch was. After she took the watch back, she would no longer have to worry about the high compensation fee anymore.

However, thinking about it again, she realized another problem: The item was in Pei Ziheng’s hands. How was she going to get it back?

“Pei Ziheng,” she hesitated before speaking. “Can I trouble you to return it to me?”

Her heart was palpitating, and she was afraid that he would reject her.

His voice was as low and deep as usual as he replied, “Sure.” He paused slightly before adding, “Let’s arrange a time, Ye Xingling. I hope I can return it to you in person.

She finally realized his intention.

Pei Ziheng wanted to see her. The watch was just his bait.

Xia Ling tried her best to reject him. “No, I…”

He interrupted her. “If you don’t come and get it yourself, then forget it.”

She knew that he was always a man of his word. Since he had said that, there was no other way out. However, how could she dare to see him? Since the start of her second life, he had tried several times to capture her. After suffering so much, how could she let herself get into that sort of danger again?

However, that watch…

She did not know what the best option was.

Pei Ziheng’s voice rang again. “I only want to talk to you. There are no evil intentions. You can decide on the time.”

“No evil intentions?” Past events flashed through her mind and Xia Ling frowned. She started to become furious. “After the cruel things you did to me in the past, you are telling me you have no evil intentions?!” Whether in her past life or present life, he always had profoundly harmed her.

“I said I don’t, so I don’t. I have never gone back on my promises.”

“Never gone back on your promises? You…” She wanted to sneer loudly. She remembered how he swore his love for her and promised to treat her well for their lifetime. In the end, all he did was use cruel methods to torture her until her life was not worth living…

However, thinking about her status now, she swallowed the questions that she was about to blurt out.

“If you don’t know where we should meet, then let’s meet at the Hengyun Business Center. There is a pretty good coffee shop on the third floor with a large open lobby, and there are always many people walking past it. You don’t have to be afraid of me then. 2 pm at Hengyun Business Center. I will wait for you.” His voice was as low and gentle as it was in the past. Whenever she could not make a decision, he would always make a considerate decision for her.

Xia Ling did not say anything and quietly hung up the phone.

She spent the whole afternoon thinking about whether she should go. Seeing that the time of the meet-up was approaching, she finally told herself that she should go. Since she could not afford that watch, she could only go to take it back. She was going to take back what was hers, and not because she wanted to see him. It was just this one time and never again.

She stood up to look for suitable clothes to wear and walked out of her apartment.