A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-226

Chapter 226: An Unexpected Meeting Below The Stage

Sister Mai Na looked at the phone exasperatedly. “F*ck you, Li Lei!”

In her anger, she almost threw her phone on the floor.

What she did not know was that behind the guest room door, Xia Ling had been secretly listening to everything. Sister Mai Na’s anger and helplessness, the concerned chatter of her family in the living room, the laughter…

Suddenly, she had a tight feeling in her chest. Everything was far from bearable.

Xia Ling found a few sets of clothes from the closet, changed into them, and left a note for Sister Mai Na telling her not to worry. Taking the chance when everyone was occupied, she secretly left the Mai household.

The streets were cold and bare. However, a slight aroma of food filled the air, and firecrackers could be heard.

The residential area was lit up isolated islands above the calm night ocean.

Xia Ling wrapped her coat around her and wandered the streets. The world was big, but she did not know where her place was. All the happiness in the world belonged to other people, and she could only feel eternal loneliness and pain silently in her heart.

As she walked, she arrived at a building.

She looked up at the tall open stage and halted her footsteps. To think she was actually here… at the place where she was murdered during her 10th-anniversary concert.

The stage remained the same, but the lively scene that year was no longer present. The small snowflakes buried the area, forming a gloomy white pile. The stage steps and barriers were frozen, and the lights were dim. Xia Ling stared at the stage for a very long time, and she could almost hear the sea of fans cheering for her, and most importantly, the heart-wrenching farewell song.

“The butterfly in the cage with wings that can’t fly…” She mumbled and softly sang the lyrics. She lifted her hand towards the tall stage as if she was trying to grab a broken illusion.

Clap .

Someone was actually applauding, and the applause echoed in the open snowy area.

Xia Ling was frightened. As she looked back, she saw a man sitting on the second floor of the stands. He was tall, was wearing a black coat, and had a long scarf wrapped around his neck. In the dim light, she could not see his facial features clearly but could make out a handsome outline which was beautiful like a god.

Xia Ling stopped breathing for a moment.

She knew who that man was. Even if she were turned into dust in her next life, she would never forget him — Pei Ziheng.

Wasn’t tonight New Year’s Eve? Why was he here? Xia Ling remembered the Pei family rules. His old money family was the same as the Li family in the way they both required all family members to be present during the reunion dinner. As the head of the family, Pei Ziheng always turned up punctually, and even in her past life, Xia Ling had no choice but to follow him back to visit the Pei family every year.

However, this year, he had actually violated the family rules to visit this place.

The place where she died.

Pei Ziheng stood up, and his tall body blocked the dim lights. He walked towards her step by step. “Ye Xingling, why are you here?”

“I…” She retreated two steps as she did not know how to answer him. No matter the reason, it was not appropriate for her to appear here at this time. How could she explain her reason to him without making him suspicious? Xia Ling only felt that too many things had happened in the past two days. She was too tired and could no longer think of a perfect excuse. She simply gave up and said, “I broke up with Li Lei.”

Everyone in the world knew about her break up and how she was abandoned by Li Lei. She was the laughing stock of the media and the public.

Pei Ziheng had obviously heard of the news and was not surprised. “What? How pitiful.”

Step by step, he walked up to her and looked down to see her pale and haggard face. “Every time I see you, you always look ferocious. What made you fall into this state?” His voice was low and deep like he was stating an ordinary fact.

Hearing that strangely made her want to cry.

In the past, she became arrogant and headstrong under his protection. She could even whine in front of him for half a day about having her finger pricked by a thorn of a rose. However, although that she had been greatly wronged, she had to pretend that nothing had happened. “It’s none of your business,” she coldly said.

Pei Ziheng fell silent.

It was the evening of New Year’s Eve. He did not know why he did not want to go back to that family of pretentious old snakes that refused to die. He remembered that every new year, Xiao Ling would try her best to prevent him from going home. She would throw a tantrum or act angry, but just for the authority and responsibility, he would drag her back to the Pei family every year.

He clearly knew that she disliked it.

He obviously knew that she was inconveniencing herself.

Pei Ziheng regretted it very much. If only he had accommodated her wishes just once. He would have climbed up the snow-capped mountains with her to watch the fireworks… They would wake up in a romantic travel destination and he would whisper “Happy New Year” in her ear.

Now, he was alone in this place looking at the stage she fell from with devastation.

Xia Ling turned her face away and refused to look at him. She was afraid that if she looked at him, she would not be able to prevent her weakness from showing.

She slowly stepped back and was about to turn around to leave.

“It was here.” Under the empty stage and broken snowflakes, she heard Pei Ziheng’s lonely voice. “I was watching her as she sang on stage. She was so beautiful and so dazzling… Suddenly, the place turned pitch black, and she left me.”

His voice was hoarse.

Xia Ling was deeply shocked and stopped in her tracks. This was the first time she heard him talk about that disaster, and the first time she heard him speak in such a sad and desolate tone.

Pei Ziheng did not look at her and continued staring at the stage. “I have punished the mastermind, but so what if the murderers pay with their lives and their entire families are eliminated… She will never come back again.”

“Who is it?” She turned around and asked. “Who is the mastermind?”

She never knew who killed her. In the darkness, someone lodged a knife behind her back and stabbed her heart so deeply. Was it the Wang family as she had guessed? Not long after her death, the Wang family declared bankruptcy and disappeared.

Sure enough, Pei Ziheng replied, “Wang Jingzhou.” That was Wang Jingwan’s brother. “He hired assassins and pulled the electric switch in the power room. In the darkness, the assassins he hired rushed on stage and killed Xiao Ling.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all.” Pei Ziheng sneered slightly. “I can’t believe my Xiao Ling was killed by such an awful means.”

After hearing what he had said, Xia Ling’s heart heaved a sigh of relief. That was great… It was the Wang Family and not Xia Yu. Even if she were enemies with her sister, she really did not wish for her murderer to be her younger sister whom she used to care deeply for.

However, she was already dead. Why was Pei Ziheng dwelling on his memories of her?

When she was alive, he treated her so cruel but acted as he cared for her after her death?!

She coldly taunted him. “If you treated her better and did not provoke the Wang family by getting engaged with Wang Jingwan, the Wang family would not have sought revenge for Wang Jingwan by killing Xia Ling.”

“How did you know?” Pei Ziheng’s gaze was suddenly piercing, and he stared at her intensely. “How did you know the Wang family sought revenge for Wang Jingwan’s death by killing Xiao Ling?!” His relationship with Xia Ling was a secret. When he imprisoned Xia Ling, the public only thought that Xia Ling was sick and was receiving treatment. In the eyes of the public, Wang Jingwan’s death was thoroughly done and not related to Xia Ling at all. Why did the girl in front of him know that that the Wang family took out their anger on Xia Ling after finding out about Wang Jingwan’s death?!

Xia Ling’s heart skipped a beat, and she realized that she had run her mouth.