A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-340

Chapter 340: Happy Birthday, I Love You

Xia Ling saw it clearly this time.

There was a metallic reflection that shined between his fingers. It had a broken dial and a motionless needle but still had a low-key luxurious extravagance. That was… a Patek Philippe.

She recognized the watch by its unique custom-made design. Sure enough, it was the one she gave him.

She did not feel that it was absurd. He could not protect the person but still wanted to protect her relics? In any case, since he loved “Xia Ling’s” relic, she should let him remember her for a lifetime. In this lifetime, she should mind her own business. She did not want to care about him anymore and did not hope to be friendly with him. She wanted to treat him like… they never met each other before.

She turned around and walked away.

“I can’t bring myself to betray her.” His voice came from behind her. It was very low and seemed to contain endless pain.

Xia Ling stopped in her footsteps for a moment and walked forward silently.

Pei Ziheng lowered his head for a long time.

The autumn maple leaves fell on his shoulders.

In the palm of his hand, the broken Patek Philippe was very cold. He brushed his fingertips against the back of the dial a little. There was a small line of words engraved there — Ling loves Heng.

It was simple, but it was her final confession to him.

At that time, she fell from the stage, suffered a concussion, and died on the spot. For a long time after her death, he was weary and depressed. As the days passed, he did not even have the heart to manage Imperial Entertainment. Sometimes, he felt that he had died with her and was a living corpse surviving in this world.

Chu Chen tried to persuade him to get a hold of himself.

Xia Yu also persuaded him. Many senior executives and confidants were all anxious and looked forward to him coming back to life.

However, he knew that they were all just afraid that everything would fall apart if he collapsed and that the company would be overtaken by someone else. No eggs could remain unbroken when the nest was upset. No one truly cared about him. The only woman who would be excessively worried over him falling a little sick and hug him after he came back in the middle of the night was never going to come back…

As he paralyzed himself with alcohol, the enemies in his family attacked.

The position of the head of the family was almost about to be changed.

However, on his thirty-fourth birthday, he received a present. It was packaged in a dark purple velvet box which was decorated with stars and was as gorgeous as the vast night sky. He opened it to take a look and saw that it was a pair of custom-made couples’ watches. The man’s watch was low-key and luxurious, while the woman’s was delicate and elegant. Both watches had names engraved on the back.

On the back of the man’s watch, “Ling loves Heng” was engraved.

On the back of the woman’s watch, “Heng loves Ling” was engraved.

There was also a card that she wrote personally.

[Even if our love can never be exposed, as long as we wear these watches, your skin will touch your watch and my skin will touch my watch, so we will always be able to feel each other’s love.

Ziheng, happy birthday. I love you.]

At that moment, he burst into tears.

He held the pair of watches and sat in his study for the whole night.

The next day, when he came out, he had already regained his callous decision-making of the past and ordered his employees to reorganize his entire corporation. In a few days, the situation was back under his control.

That’s right. He could not collapse.

He needed to hold the Pei family and Imperial Entertainment firmly in his hand.

Only then would he be able to successfully bury her in the graveyard of his ancestors and let her enjoy the same glory as she did in her life during her death. As long as he was alive, they would not dare to move her bones. On the day that he had successfully gained the authority and was about to die, he would also be able to choose a suitable heir to take care of her grave.

He already understood that the Pei family would be the same without him, but she would never be able to leave him.

He wore this man’s watch on his wrist for two years. Every time he was tired or annoyed, or missed her or was in pain… he only needed to touch it and remember the words engraved underneath the watch to gain the motivation to live on. Her love would always be there.

However, now, it was broken.

His fingers ran across the broken dial, leaving a trail of blood. The redness was a horrifying sight.

“Xiao Ling…” He mumbled in a low voice but did not know who he was calling. “What should I do…?”

Pei Ziheng was very afraid, and his heart was rattled like never before. In the rapids, he hesitated when choosing between the watch and Ye Xingling, but if he gave up the watch to save Ye Xingling… would that mean he had betrayed his dead lover? He told himself that he could only really love Xia Ling and no one else.

As if to strengthen his beliefs, he abandoned Ye Xingling and pursued the Patek Philippe.

However, he had had the same dream every night. In his dream, he always saw Ye Xingling’s unbelievably hopeless eyes. Those eyes were full of emotion. In his dreams, they actually coincided with Xia Ling’s eyes…

When he woke up suddenly at midnight, he could not tell clearly who was who. It was like…

It was like the person he abandoned at that time was not Ye Xingling but the deceased Xia Ling herself.

It was a really strange feeling.

But it weighed him down.

Pei Ziheng questioned himself if he had really fallen for Ye Xingling.

When he woke up from his coma after he was rescued, he grabbed the medical staff, and the first question he asked for was: “How is Ye Xingling?” He only relaxed after hearing that she was safe.

However, how could he face Xia Ling after death?

The leaves of the maple tree fell and covered his body. Unaware, he continued to sit alone in silence and desolation.

Xia Ling returned to the ward, looked for Lin Yunan, and asked when she could leave the hospital.

“What’s the rush?” Lin Yunan asked. “Drowning is very serious, and there can be many complications. If your brain is deprived of oxygen, you will even become stupid. Although you are not very smart, to begin with, no matter what, it is still better to stay in the hospital for the doctors to monitor your health for some time. The show team has already changed the game plan, and there are only very easy activities in the upcoming filming session.”

Xia Ling said, “I want to transfer to another hospital then.”

“What’s the purpose of the transfer?” Lin Yunan exclaimed. He saw the neighboring ward from the corner of his eye and suddenly understood. “Because of him? Hey, you really are emotionless. Pei Ziheng is actually very pitiful. There were so many people, but the second the accident happened, he selflessly jumped into the water to save you… Although he was unlucky and was unable to save you, why do you need to hide from him?”

“You’re so noisy.” Xia Ling was unhappy. “Help me transfer to another hospital. Otherwise, I will ask someone else to help me.”

“Sure, you don’t need to say anything more.” Lin Yunan swayed as he walked out. “I’ll arrange a transfer for you, ok? Where should I transfer you to? How about the hospital near Skyart Entertainment? It will be more convenient for that person to see you.” He intuitively felt that there was something wrong with her and Pei Ziheng, but since she did not want to talk about it, he was too lazy to ask questions as long as it did not impact her job. As for whether it would affect her job? Probably not… right?