A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-490

He took Xia Ling past the corridor and took the elevator up to the small garden on the rooftop.

The small garden was tranquil, with evergreen broad-leaved plants intertwined with sporadic flowers of the early spring, smelling fresh and pleasant. Outside, bodyguards that Li Lei brought were guarding the door, so the reporters did not dare to come up. After all, now that Li Lei’s power was in full swing, no matter how crazy the reporters were, they did not dare to offend him.

Xia Ling relaxed and finally felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.

Li Lei looked at her expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xia Ling placed one hand on her lower abdomen. With a pale expression, she shook her head and did not speak.

“Let me see.” Li Lei noticed that something was wrong. He helped her sit down on a low wooden stool that was leaning against an evergreen tree. Half-squatting, he reached out to undo the few buttons of her clothes.

Just as his fingers touched her clothes, she stopped him. “Don’t look. It’s hideous.” The scar was too deep and hideous. She did not want the person she loved so deeply to see it.

Li Lei paused, then he lifted his head and gave her an appealing smile. “I have seen your ugly side many times. The first time when you vomited because you were scared of Er Mao, did I look down on you?”

As soon as he mentioned their initial encounter, she smiled. It was something that happened two or three years ago, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

In a flash, his fingers already undid her buttons.

“Hey, you…” Why was he so bad?

Xia Ling wanted to complain, but when she saw his expression, she was taken aback. A second ago, he had a broad smile on his face, but now, it slightly hardened. Looking at her wound which was oozing blood, he was so heartbroken that it felt difficult to breathe. He reached out and carefully undid the white gauze that was wrapped around her waist.

The entire wound was exposed.

With Li Lei’s many years of combat experience, he knew at first glance that it was a stab wound. It cut deeply and violently into her lower abdomen and pierced her internal organs. When she was being stabbed, how much pain must she have felt?

“What happened?” He asked.

Xia Ling paused for a while before lightly saying, “I wasn’t careful.”

“You weren’t careful?” Li Lei did not believe her. “The wound is so big. If it weren’t done on purpose, how could you end up with such a bad wound? Did Pei Ziheng do this?” His expression darkened when he asked the last question.

Recently, he fought Imperial Entertainment until it could no longer hold onto its power. After that, he sent someone to check her whereabouts. His subordinate reported that she did not know why she had injured her abdomen and was being hospitalized for treatment.

Thus, Li Lei came here.

Although he already knew that she was hurt, after seeing such a terrible wound, he was boiling with rage. In the past, he let her stay by Pei Ziheng’s side thinking that, at the very least, Pei Ziheng would treat her well and would not hurt her. However, he was wrong, grievously wrong.

Even if she gave birth to a son for Pei Ziheng, Pei Ziheng treated her so cruelly!

“Come with me, Xiao Ling.” He said, “Leave that demon.”

Xia Ling shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Why? Because of that oath?” Li Lei looked at her deeply and quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me that the reason you stayed beside Pei Ziheng was not because of love but an oath that concerned my life or death?! Xiao Ling, I’m hurt because you lied to me.”

Xia Ling was stunned. “How… how did you know about the oath?”

Li Lei did not say. He lowered his head and dealt with her wound on her lower abdomen first. The wound had been stitched and was healing, but it was torn open when she was surrounded by the reporters. Fresh blood oozed out and stained her clothes and white skin — it was a mess. Li Lei had braved bullets before and was very experienced in dealing with wounds. Soon, he helped her stop the bleeding and skillfully wrapped the wound with the white gauze again.

Finally, he said, “The Preceptor.”

“Huh?”

“The Preceptor looked for me and told me about the oath.” Li Lei said, “I just found about what you’ve been lying to me for so long… You don’t love Pei Ziheng at all. You were even forced to give birth to a child for him, right? You did it all for me! Of course, I should quickly save you.”

It turned out that he really knew about everything.

At once, Xia Ling did not know what to do. She had been hiding the truth from him because she was afraid that he would take her away without considering the consequences. Now, he had rekindled his resolution to do so. “You can’t take me away.” She looked at him seriously. “Li Lei, that oath is real and will be fulfilled. I can’t take your life as a joke.”

“That oath won’t be fulfilled.” Li Lei said.

“Li Lei!” She was worried. Perhaps he thought the oath was not real and was a superstition, but he did not know about her rebirth. Furthermore, he did not know that there really was a mysterious and invisible force in the world.

“The oath will be fulfilled! I won’t go with you!” Xia Ling urgently said.

Li Lei smiled softly. “Don’t worry, Xiao Ling. Recently, I have been attacking that man’s business. Imperial is about to go bankrupt. If he promises to get rid of the oath and let you go, I will let the Pei Family go. Otherwise, the glory of the entire Pei Family will be ruined in his hands. He will have to make a choice.”

Xia Ling feelings were somewhat complicated. She hesitated before saying, “He will choose his business.”

Sometimes, she did not understand Pei Ziheng, but other times, she really understood him. That man loved power too much. For his business, he could sacrifice everything. Otherwise, she would not have experienced so many turbulent times with him in her past life. If he were really at his wits’ ends, he would give her up.

Li Lei narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Yes, he will choose his business.”

This was something he wanted to do a long time ago. When he tried his best to attack Imperial last time, he was so close to forcing Pei Ziheng to make a choice. Unfortunately, at that time, Skyart’s power was too weak, and he lost the fight. At that time, he did not accomplish his goal and was not able to force Pei Ziheng into a corner. In addition, he suddenly gave up because of the news that Xiao Ling was pregnant.

However, now, things were different.

He already knew that Xiao Ling did not stay beside Pei Ziheng because of love and had enough power to crush Imperial Entertainment. If he did not save his woman now, he would have wasted his life.

He warmly looked at Xia Ling. “This time, we will be together.”

Xia Ling asked, “How did you suddenly become so powerful such that you can force Imperial into a corner? Is Imperial really bankrupt?” These days, she did not pay attention to the outside world, and when she suddenly learned about this, she felt that it was a dream and not reality. Pei Ziheng… could become like this?

Li Lei smiled again. “Well, your man is that awesome.”

“Tell me the truth!” She gave him an angry stare.