A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 542: Who Isn’t in the Inner Circle

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Li Lei watched her from afar.

Even though she was in great pain, she still looked beautiful as she dispersed the soil evenly on the ground, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Staff members came forward to seal the coffin.

She half-knelt by the child’s tombstone and refused to leave.

“Xiao Ling, get up.” Pei Ziheng held onto her as he half-carried, half-dragged her away from the tombstone. She struggled, wanting to go back to be by her child, tears flowing uncontrollably. Pei Ziheng’s grip on her became harder as he enveloped her in his arms. He watched expressionless as the coffin was sealed amidst the sounds of her crying.

The coffin was lowered into the ground and covered, and the tombstone was set in place.

The words “The grave of Pei Zhaohui” were carved clearly on the tombstone.

Xia Ling’s cried her heart out. Her child did not have time to grow up before he was cruelly taken away from her. He never managed to see his biological father. “Let go of me... Let me see him.” She tried to struggle free of Pei Ziheng again as she spoke.

Pei Ziheng did not release his grip on her. He said gently, “He’s dead. You need to accept that.”

She knew that he was dead and would not ever come back. Her baby’s smiling face came to the forefront of her mind, which only made her feel more miserable. She cried until she became fatigued, and forgot to struggle free from Pei Ziheng anymore.

Under the pine tree some distance away, Li Lei turned away from this scene.

He did not want to see them behaving so intimately like they were a real family or partners for life. Before he learned about Xiao Ling’s past life and reincarnation, he had thought that Pei Ziheng was the third party. Who would have imagined that destiny would play such a joke. He was the third party all along.

The sky was gray and ominous over the desolate public cemetery.

His SUV was parked a street away from Pei Ziheng’s Rolls-Royce. Where Pei Ziheng’s car was parked, there were several bodyguards and the driver in sleek, black uniforms, all donning solemn expressions. In contrast, his own driver and two bodyguards stood smoking by his car.

Li Lei had a free personality and rarely brought many people with him. However, he knew that Pei Ziheng liked to make a grand entrance with many of his team in tow. As such, he had brought his driver and bodyguards along today so that the contrast would not be so stark in front of the love of his life.

Yet, he still couldn’t match up.

He frowned at his driver and bodyguard, who were still smoking and engaged in conversation about a bet. “You guys... look over at those few across the road... Can’t you guys be more like them and save me some face?”

“Ah? Oh... ” The bodyguards didn’t expect to hear Li Lei say that. They turned to look at the bodyguards across the street that were standing smartly at attention, even though their boss was not around.

They realized that they were being a little too casual and attempted to rectify their postures.

In the next moment, they gave up and commented, “We’re not the army contingent. Why do we have to stand so uncomfortably? Boss, can’t you just let us off? They might look all smart standing there like that, but I’m sure we can each take ten of them down.”

“Exactly, exactly.” The other bodyguards agreed.

They were all the elites of mercenary units and the underworld, vicious and experienced in warfare. They chose to retire from their previous life and become Li Lei’s bodyguards out of loyalty to him. As for Pei Ziheng’s bodyguards? They looked like they had been trained in professional agencies, and while they might look good in their uniforms and had professional capabilities, they had much less practical experience as compared to Li Lei’s team.

“If we were to really go at it, I’m sure we can knock one of them down in just three moves.” One of the bodyguards sneered as he looked over at Pei Ziheng’s crew.

The bodyguards on the other side of the street saw him looking over but remained emotionless.

“Tsk, how boring.” He cursed.

“You’ve missed the point.” The driver spoke up. “Boss is trying to say that we aren’t as cool as those people over there. Miss Ye doesn’t care for fighting or killing, and from her point of view, that bunch over there looks smart and neat. Can’t you guys help Boss out?”

The bodyguards gave a reluctant “Oh...” as they looked over at the other side of the street with renewed lenses. “Oh man, they have white gloves.”

“The car over there is really clean.”

“How about you?”

Li Lei’s driver was in a well-beaten windbreaker and stood leaning against the rustic-looking SUV, a cigarette in his mouth.

The driver was speechless.

He silently put out the cigarette.

“Give it here.” Li Lei reached out a hand from the side.

“What?” The driver turned to him, confused.

Li Lei did not say anything, but reached into the driver’s pocket and pulled out the cigarette pack. He removed one cigarette from the pack and lit it. He had given up. Whatever... how could his bunch here compare to the cold, chic, elite squad across the street? He should just smoke with his bunch here and let them be. After all, if they were to really fight it out, those across the street would be at the losing end.

“Aye Boss... This is a cheap 10-yuan pack from the nearby convenience store!” The driver hurriedly said.

Li Lei couldn’t care less as he took a deep puff from the cigarette. The burn of nicotine entered straight into his lungs, which helped to soothe the ache in his heart. He threw the cigarette pack back to the driver. “I’ll buy you a good pack when we go back.” He raised his head to the sky and blew out a long stream of smoke.

The driver and bodyguards exchanged glances. They could all tell that Boss was in a bad mood. Hence, they took a few steps to the side to keep some distance from him, before returning to their conversations.

“Is Miss Ye alright in there?” One of the bodyguards asked in a quiet voice as he stole a glance at Li Lei.

“What could possibly happen?” Another bodyguard replied. If something had really happened, Boss would have led them on a killing spree inside.

“It’s precisely because nothing has happened that it’s worrying.” Another bodyguard commented. He looked across the road and said, “Is Miss Ye being kidnapped by that gigolo over there again?”

“That can’t happen...” The driver said, “She’s only been back for a few days. Boss can’t be that lacking in attractiveness...”

“Tsk, tsk, it’s hard to say. Ever since Boss met Miss Ye, his girl-chasing abilities have deteriorated tremendously... I think it’s quite possible that he’s tanked.”

“You’re right. Look at Pei Ziheng... his charisma is over-the-top in those suits. His stature also suggests that he’s been training, and there’s no saying if he could beat Boss in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Yes, yes, we will need to help Boss out, man.”

“If we don’t help him fend off those bodyguards, he will lose for sure.”

The group of them became more animated, deep in discussion.

“Hey...” Li Lei picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at the bodyguard nearest to him. “You guys think I’m dead here?” These idiots didn’t even know how to stand further away if they were going to speak badly of him.

“Boss... we’re just trying to help...”

Li Lei picked up another pebble.

“Boss! Sorry! We’re wrong! Don’t hit us, don’t hit us!” The group of them covered their heads with their hands.

Xia Ling cried in front of the child’s grave for the longest time until she had no more strength in her body. She tottered out of the cemetery with Pei Ziheng holding her up and saw this messy scene in front of her.

The group of them was messing around by the SUV and looked like they were having fun.

She paused in her tracks.

Li Lei was just about to throw another pebble at the bodyguards when he caught sight of Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling standing by the entrance of the cemetery. She was still wearing the plain white shirt from the morning, though some soil and dust had dirtied it, and her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying. Pei Ziheng was dressed in a black suit, his tall stature making her look all the more frail as if they were a couple going through a tough time together.

The bodyguard’s voices and everything around them faded out into the background.

Li Lei unknowingly stood up straight and trained his eyes on her.

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