Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 14

With that, Warren aggressively shoved the terrified butler aside. He turned and gripped the shoulders of the weeping Phoebe, his voice pitching higher with emotion. "It's okay, sweetheart! I mean what I say! As long as I'm in charge, no one will ever step over you! Not even God himself!"

His elevated voice was meant to comfort her, but it was also a desperate declaration to salvage his shattered dignity.

However...

The air stagnated.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

The staff by the stairs remained frozen in place, as if nailed to the floor.

Everyone kept their eyes glued to the ground. Nobody moved.

Even Lawrence simply stood there, breathing heavily, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides, as if facing two sheer cliffs ready to crush him.

The shackles of terror had long surpassed the fear of losing their jobs.

The 'Ms. Prescott' quietly sipping tea downstairs represented a dark abyss far more terrifying than simply being kicked out of the estate.

Warren's eyelid began to twitch erratically.

No reaction.

His absolute decree as the head of the family had been swallowed by a bizarre black hole, without causing a single ripple.

An unprecedented, bone-chilling coldness, accompanied by the extreme humiliation of being utterly dismissed, instantly paralyzed his limbs.

He understood now.

In the eyes of these lowly servants, all the authority he thought he held had been ripped to shreds by the daughter he had personally sent to hell and who had crawled her way back.

Trampled. In public.

She didn't even have to lift a finger. With just a single look, she had frozen the patriarchal power he had wielded for twenty years.

Extreme fury and an absurd sense of humiliation crashed wildly in his brain.

Warren's eyes turned bloodshot like a rabid beast. The final string of his sanity snapped.

He roared, losing all decorum, thrashing like a cornered animal at the end of its rope.

"Mutiny! This is mutiny! Lawrence! Are you deaf?! I said—"

His twisted face snapped toward the bottom of the staircase. His voice grew shrill and piercing from total loss of control, nearly tearing the roof off the mansion.

"Bring—the—family—whip!"

This hysterical roar seemed to trigger an invisible signal.

Heavy, wooden footsteps echoed from the shadows near the stairs.

An abnormally massive, expressionless enforcer walked up, holding an old, half-foot-long rosewood box.

The box clicked open, revealing a three-foot-long whip made of tanned rawhide—slick, cold, and lined with jagged metal barbs.

Vanessa let out a short gasp and covered her mouth.

Warren's hands were suddenly empty. The whip—the very symbol of his authority, dripping with chilling intent—was snatched effortlessly by Phoenix.

She gripped the handle steadily, her knuckles white with a force so immense that the surrounding air seemed to freeze under the pressure.

Warren's pupils constricted, his face turning an ashen grey.

In that moment, she hadn't just taken the weapon; she had publicly shredded every last ounce of his dignity as the head of the house.

"Disrespecting your elders? Stealing rooms? Defying the natural order?" Phoenix advanced step by step, her boots echoing with heavy, terrifying thuds against the dead-silent floor.

With every word she spat, the temperature plummeted. "Well said. All those charges belong to you."

Crack!

She flicked her wrist sharply. The whip tore through the air, cracking with an ear-piercing sonic boom. The motion was as fast as lightning.

"You psycho! What are you doing?!" Warren retreated in absolute terror.

"What am I doing?" The hostility in Phoenix's eyes exploded, her voice dripping with ice. "Today, the one receiving discipline is you."

"Phoenix! You're out of your mind! I am your father!" Warren roared, trying to maintain his bravado, but cold sweat soaked his back.

"Phoenix! I'm sorry! You can have the room! I don't want anything!" Phoebe threw herself forward, spreading her arms to shield Warren. Tears streamed down her pale face, her voice trembling in heartbreaking sobs. "Please, stop! Don't destroy this family! It's all my fault..."

A beautiful girl crying, fragile and delicate.

Unfortunately, to Phoenix, it was nothing but nauseating theatrics.