A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Xia Ling was tongue-tied. After a while, she asked, “Why are they going to such lengths to find me?”

Li Lei said, “When you shopped for men’s wear at the store a while back, some paparazzi spotted you there. They’ve been trying to look for you the past few days and managed to get some photos of me leaving your house last night. It made it to the news.”

It was rumors indeed.

Xia Ling was unhappy. Her love life was already complicated enough, she didn’t want the paparazzi to make things worse. But this was the downside of being a celebrity — constantly living in the spotlight with no concept of privacy. She looked at her watch. “I’ve something on in the afternoon, how long will we have to wait in this elevator?”

Li Lei said, “I’ve already gotten the security department to get to work and to ensure that irrelevant people spotted in the building are asked to leave. Wait a little while more, they’ll inform me once the coast is clear.” He paused for a while before adding, “I’ll get some people to escort you out.” He had planned to walk her out personally, but given the rumors that were already spreading, this was not the best idea.

Xia Ling was satisfied with this arrangement and waited quietly.

A short moment of silence passed before Li Lei said, “I’m sorry.”

She looked at him, a little confused. “What are you sorry for? This isn’t your fault, I was too careless when I shopped at the store.”

Li Lei continued, “This time, the rumors are a little… overboard.”

Xia Ling had an uneasy feeling in her heart. She looked at him with her clear, curious eyes, awaiting an explanation.

Li Lei took the blame. “The photo that they captured yesterday was of us hugging at your door. When it was released, many people began speculating that you were the reason Su Tang and I parted ways.”

Xia Ling was stunned. What’s this now? Although she indeed was the reason for their parting ways, she had been a passive character in this scenario, and Li Lei had never stopped loving her this entire time. She wasn’t a third party, but rather, a woman who requested that her admirer had clear boundaries with other women.

But she could understand why the public wouldn’t see it this way.

Preparing herself for the worst, she asked Li Lei, “What’s the situation now? How are the comments like?”

Li Lei cut the long story short. “They say that you’re the third party.” He cautiously looked up at her, before adding, “Of course, you’re not. Xiao Ling, you’re my only lover. Besides you, I’ve never loved any other women. All the rumors spreading around now are unfair to you, but I’ll handle them.”

She didn’t look too happy.

Li Lei anxiously said, “You don’t have to worry, just leave it to me. I’m only telling you this so that you’ll be more careful in the next few days. If a reporter manages to get you, it’ll be even more trouble.”

“How do you intend to handle this?” Xia Ling asked.

Li Lei said, “This started because of me. I’ll explain it to the reporters, and tell them that Su Tang and I never had any feelings between us.”

“Will they believe it?” Xia Ling was suspicious.

“It’s been so many years and we haven’t got married yet. This is the best testament to it.”

Xia Ling did not say anything more. The public might believe it, but that was not for sure. In any case, she couldn’t carry the shameful name of a “third party”— she was not alone now, there was Shaohui with her, and she didn’t want him to have such a pathetic impression of her.

She looked at the time again.

Li Lei felt guilty. This was between him and Su Tang, but he dragged Xiao Ling into this mess time and again. He made another call to hurry the security department, and they finally said, “Boss, the entire building is clear now. Besides Skyart employees, everyone else has left. You and Miss Ye are safe now.”

Only then did he press the button and take her back to the floor Wei Shaoyin was on.

Wei Shaoyin was shocked to see them. “Xiao Ling, why are you back? Boss, what are you doing here?” He was so engrossed in his music that he had no idea what had been going on outside his studio.

Li Lei explained it briefly before instructing him, “Ah Wei, walk Xiao Ling to the car park.”

Wei Shaoyin looked reluctant but did not decline. He knew that it wouldn’t be convenient for Li Lei to go personally, and hence, contained his emotions.

He led Xia Ling out. “Hurry up, I still have a song to complete when I get back.”

Xia Ling followed him to the car park before she even had the chance to say goodbye to Li Lei. The path to her car was cordoned off, and security officers were stationed there to ensure that she would not be harassed. Behind the cordons, reporters were busy snapping photos of her.

“Miss Ye! Miss Ye! Are you and Mr. Li really dating?”

“There’s word going around that you’re the third party, what are your views?”

“Are you really here to record your song today? Or are you secretly looking for Li Lei?”

Thankfully, the security officers Li Lei had deployed were professional in their work, and none of them could get to her physically. Wei Shaoyin accompanied her to her Porsche before waving her goodbye as she drove away.

Only when her car hit the road did she feel a load off her mind.

Third party? Who exactly was the third party? Looking at her mildly pale, haggard self in the rearview mirror, she sneered. This label was rightfully Su Tang’s.

She made a detour in order to get the reporters off her back but did not return to her company. Instead, she headed to Imperial Entertainment. Imperial and Skyart were on two different ends of the city and the paparazzi clearly did not think of finding her there. She successfully made it into the building and saw Feng Kun.

Feng Kun seemed to be awaiting her arrival.

Seeing that she had arrived, he began preparing a pot of tea. “Was your journey here a smooth one?”

“Not at all.” She told him what had happened in the morning, and did not try to mask her rage in front of this good friend. “How could they say this about me? Do I seem like such a horrid person?!”

Feng Kun comforted her. “The entertainment industry has always been like this and you know it.”

She downed a cup of tea.

Feng Kun went on. “But, don’t you feel like there’s too much coincidence here? You only go to higher-end boutiques, where the salespeople are trained to keep their customers’ details confidential. How is it possible that the paparazzi stalked you and Li Lei right after you’ve bought the outfits?”

Xia Ling looked up at him. “Are you saying…?”

“There’s something fishy.”

Hearing what he said, Xia Ling found something odd about it too. “If there’s someone out there who’s against me, the most likely person would be…”

“Su Tang.” Feng Kun finished her sentence.