A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 40 - This Milk Is For The Pets

This chapter has been translated by Atlas Studios. All credits belong to them.

Xia Ling gave a scream and woke from the nightmare, a cold sweat breaking out over her body.

She turned on all the lights in the room with shaking hands. Curling her body in the corner of the bed, she hugged herself. She did not dare to close her eyes as Pei Ziheng's face would emerge every time she did. He appeared suddenly like a God, swishing the whip that he would hit her with, or forcing himself into her against her will. And also that sinister, unreadable look that he had given her earlier at the hospital...

— Xiao Ling, my beautiful butterfly. Everything you have is mine.

— Li Lei, you might be able to protect her now, but you cannot protect her forever.

In her trance, that deep, hoarse voice lingered in her ears, like a demon speaking from the depths of a deep valley, not going away.

She stumbled off the bed, knocking over the glass of water on the side table. She fumbled for the vinyl player at the corner of the room and randomly put on a song. A slow melody filled the room. She did not want to have time to think and forced herself to sing along with the song, trying her best to focus entirely on the music and lyrics and away from the scene in her nightmare and memories. She tried not to remember and tried not to let her emotions run wild...

Her consciousness was a blur. The music and the terrifying images crisscrossed in her mind out of control.

The room door opened.

It was Li Lei. He had rushed over after hearing her scream and the music from the vinyl player. He found her curled into a ball in the corner.

"Ye Xingling, what's wrong?" He bent over and lifted her pale face.

She mumbled the song's lyrics sporadically and looked at him with both eyes void of emotion like she was looking blankly into the distance. Her eyes reflected terror and loss, similar to that of a hurt animal.

Li Lei frowned and felt a dull pain in the depths of his heart as he saw Xia Ling in this weak state.

"Ye Xingling, you really treat me like your slave." He mumbled to himself as he carried her in his arms. She was very light and her body trembled as she curled closer to his chest reactively, trying to get warmth from his body.

Li Lei carried her to the sofa in the living room, rubbing his hand gently along her spine to calm her down.

He had just taken a bath and was wearing a silk bathrobe. The warmth of his bare skin came into contact with her cold body like he was trying to transfer all his strength and courage to her. It was a long while later before Xia Ling felt the terrifying scenes from the nightmare fade away and her consciousness return. She found herself in a suggestive position hugging close to his chest. The steady beat of his heart ringing in her ear had the amazing ability to calm her down, and she felt a peace come over her.

"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked gently.

She nodded, then shook her head, looking at him guardedly.

He saw her cautious expression and found it funny. "You had a nightmare and are trying not to feeling ashamed. Really?" Seeing that she was still very defensive and her spine had tensed up again, he shook his head and released her.

Xia Ling watched in confusion as he got up to leave. A short while later, he came back with a blanket and draped it over her body. The soft touch of the blanket on her skin was comfortable and the tension in her back started to relax. She let out a long sigh.