Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 16

He turned his gaze to Warren, fury rolling in his eyes. "Phoenix getting out of prison today is a joyous occasion, yet you dared to hide it from me? If she hadn't called me, I would still be kept in the dark!"

He slammed his cane heavily against the floor, his eyes darting like arrows to the bloody whip marks on Warren's clothes. "And... you actually had the nerve to order her killed?!"

"Alistair!" Warren endured the agonizing pain, his voice hoarse with accusation. "She's no longer human! Prison completely changed her. She respects no one and attacks her elders! Look at what she did! She publicly whipped her own father! How is a monster like this worthy of the Prescott bloodline? She belongs back in a cell for the rest of her life!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Alistair exploded with rage. He raised the snake-head cane, pointing it directly at Warren's face, his voice carrying the wrath of a thunderstorm. "The real monsters here are you! You and your wife!"

His chest heaved as years of suppressed anger poured out.

"Years ago, when Phoenix first returned to this family, you claimed she was too wild and untamed. Fine, I let you keep her identity a secret. You said she needed discipline. Fine, I let you handle it! And what was the result?!"

The old man's eyes bled with sorrow. "A car crash! A manslaughter charge! And you, her biological parents, the heads of the Prescott family, didn't even bother to investigate! You didn't speak a single word in her defense! You couldn't wait to throw her into that literal hellhole, Blackwood Penitentiary! How utterly heartless! How vicious! How incredibly stupid you all are!"

He squeezed Phoenix's hand, feeling the thick, rough calluses on her fingertips—fingers that should have been delicate, meant for playing the piano or holding a pen. Every callus burned him like a branding iron.

Four years of torture in prison, hovering between life and death... how did his own granddaughter survive it?

"It's okay, Grandpa," Phoenix said, squeezing his hand reassuringly, her voice exceptionally calm. "It's all in the past now." Then, she shifted her gaze, sweeping a mocking, entertained glance over the pale faces of Warren, Vanessa, and Phoebe.

Warren's heart pounded erratically, terror gripping him tight. Was this psycho going to expose the bloody truth behind the accident from years ago?

However, Phoenix's smirk deepened, and she stayed silent.

Tattling to Alistair about the truth of the car crash wouldn't do much good right now; they would just get a harsh scolding.

Her voice cracked, tears rolling perfectly down her cheeks. "In the end... I'm just a shadow. Grandpa cares so much about bloodlines, he'll never accept me... I just hope you two will be okay... I don't think I have the privilege of serving and repaying you anymore..."

Every word was calculated to strike at their guilt.

"Don't be silly!" Vanessa's heart shattered. She frantically pulled Phoebe into an even tighter embrace, using a silk handkerchief to wipe away her falling tears. "Don't say that! You are my real daughter! The only true heiress of the Prescott family! Phoenix is just a monster! How dare she strike her own father? She's just a beast corrupted by prison!"

Warren endured the throbbing pain in his wounds, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

Recalling Phoenix's lifeless, freezing eyes that looked capable of shredding anything, the ruthlessness in her bones, and the explosive power she displayed, a chill still ran down his spine. "How did that bastard become so violent? Four years ago, she was just a timid, useless girl..."

"Dad," Phoebe whispered timidly against Vanessa's chest, a calculating light flashing in her eyes. "Phoenix was in Blackwood Penitentiary for four whole years... I heard that place is full of bloodthirsty demons... Maybe... she was assimilated..."