A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-441

The sudden kiss shocked Xia Ling.

Her interaction with Pei Ziheng became more cautious again, no longer as relaxed and peaceful as it was in recent days.

Pei Ziheng started to regret his actions. If he knew that she would be this sensitive, he would have been more careful and test her after she had the child. However, it was too late for him to take back his actions, and he could only think of how to rectify the situation.

He was not a romantic person and only knew so many ways to try to get into a girls’ good books. These were to give Xia Ling everything she wanted and to dote on her excessively.

Her morning sickness was much better in recent days, but instead, she always felt tired and sleepy. Every afternoon, she would need to take a nap, whether it was at home, in Imperial Entertainment’s office, at the venue of her schedules, etc. Pei Ziheng was of the view that the rest area in the recording studio building had too many people coming in and out, which, firstly, made the place too noisy for her to have proper rest; and secondly, it increased the chances of people knocking into her accidentally. As such, he created a small rest room in his office. He decorated it with a thick, wool rug, a soft and wide sofa bed, and hung lace, flowery curtains that she favored at the windows.

Xia Ling accepted his good intentions as she did not want to argue with him over something so small. She stopped sleeping in the rest area in the recording studio building and came over to his chairman’s office for her afternoon nap.

Hence, senior managers that came to report business matters to Pei Ziheng would be informed by the secretary to keep their volume down so as not to disturb the Boss’ wife from her rest.

The senior managers did as the secretary said, all the while lamenting in surprise that the cold, domineering Pei Ziheng could be so gentle and sweet to his lady.

The wondrous power of love.

Xia Ling was blissfully unaware of their thoughts, or rather, even if she knew, she would not care. She felt as if her intellect had decreased rapidly over her pregnancy, and she could not think of too many things at once. Her thoughts were occupied in large part by the child she was carrying, and occasionally, she would have nightmares.

She would pine for another man in her dreams.

On the cliff amidst the thunderstorm, the peach blossom tree… he risking his life to fly over and save her… The knife cutting through the paraglide rope… the peach blossoms flying all around. Those three words: “I love you.”

The flash of lightning… the falling white parachute.

“Li Lei!” She woke from her nightmare in cold sweat.

On the other side of the partition, Pei Ziheng was signing a document at his mahogany desk when he heard her cry out. The fountain pen in his hand stopped mid-word, and he looked like he was about to snap it in half.

The senior manager across from him looked on in horror.

Oh my, did he hear it wrong? Did the lady boss cry out “Li Lei”? Wasn’t Li Lei the lady boss’ ex-boyfriend? The Big Boss Li from Skyart Entertainment? Was she… still pining for him?

Oh my, oh my, Boss’ face is so dark.

The senior manager’s heart beat in trepidation. Did he chance on a big secret? Oh my, was Big Boss going to have to kill him to silence him?

Luckily, Pei Ziheng was not so cruel and unreasonable.

While his expression was dark, his hand moved as per normal to the pen holder on his desk—made by a famous sculptor—to pick up another foundation pen, signing the document with a flourish. He pushed the document away from himself and said, “You can leave.”

The senior manager scurried off with the document as if he had just been pardoned.

Then, Pei Ziheng stood up and went to look at Xia Ling behind the room partition.

His Xiao Ling was sitting up in the sofabed wearing a loose-fitting spaghetti-strap top. The silk blouse and embroidered scarf that was draped over her earlier had fallen off and lay bundled together with the soft blankets that were falling over the sofabed onto the carpet.

Hearing his footsteps, Xia Ling turned her head to look at him.

The warm afternoon sun shone on her, giving her an ethereal glow, making her look slightly bewildered and lost. Her hair was messy from just waking up, like a bird that had not had time to comb her feathers.

She looked fragile but beautiful.

Pei Ziheng forgot his anger as he took in her beauty, his gaze softening.

“Did you have a bad dream?” He asked gently.

Xia Ling nodded and then shook her head. His attitude was great, and she was uncertain if he had heard her shout “Li Lei” when she woke up earlier. She would rather not have to answer any questions about her dream.

“I don’t remember what I dreamed about.” She replied softly.

Pei Ziheng’s eyes narrowed as if trying to discern if she were telling the truth. After a moment, he merely said, “It’s not good for the child that you are so out of it right now. I’ll get someone to bring you a cup of calming tea.”

Xia Ling shook her head and stood up from the sofabed. “I’m a little bored. I want to take a walk.” She was feeling a little sheepish from the nightmare and did not want to stay in his office.

However, Pei Ziheng said, “A walk sounds good. I’ll accompany you.”

Xia Ling was slightly taken aback. “But you’re so busy… no…”

“I have time to accompany my wife and child no matter how busy I am.” His voice was gentle but did not leave any room for discussion. This was his natural force, an authority that was deep within his bones.

Xia Ling did not say anything, knowing that there was no use pushing back. She changed out of her pajamas and left the room with him.

They did not go very far and simply took a stroll in the small garden within Imperial Entertainment’s premises. There weren’t many people in the garden at this time, and they took a stroll along the shaded pathway, taking in the scenery in silence.

While it was peaceful between them, there was great commotion in the office.

“Do you know, do you know? Our Big Boss is accompanying Ye Xingling for a walk in the garden downstairs! They’re so much in love and are so compatible!” The former receptionists were made to leave after they gossiped and commented about how Ye Xingling did not match up to the man-god Pei. The new receptionists learned from their lesson and, while they still gossiped, they were careful never to suggest that the lady boss did not match up to the big boss.

What’s more, they did indeed look like the best couple.

The receptionists jostled near the window, trying to catch glimpses of the couple outside. Their unusual action gained attention from other passers-by, and soon, there was a small crowd near the windows looking out. Some would break off every once in a while to go tell another colleague about what they saw.

Gossip would follow everywhere that had people, and it was not long before the whole office was talking about it.

The senior manager in charge of finance was close to tears. “Does Boss remember that there is a 3 o’clock meeting? He’s forgotten to bring along his handphone, and we can’t contact him. Now that we’ve found him… Xiao Zhou, go get Boss and bring him to the VIP-3 meeting room.”

Xiao Zhou looked up in terror. “You want me to go interrupt their date?! Why don’t you just fire me now?! It’s too scary… I can’t!”

“You!” The senior manager bristled at him. “Forget it, I’ll get him myself!”