Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 182

"Pierce, there's no need to be so tense."

Phoenix lightly tapped his taut forearm, a faint smile playing on her lips. "The explosives on Marcus are duds."

"Fake?" Pierce frowned, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes. "This is life or death. How can you be so sure?"

Phoenix casually pulled her hand back, a glimmer of mischief in her gaze. She couldn't exactly say out loud that she had swapped the lethal devices at the source through a clever bait-and-switch.

Earlier, Felix Fletcher had accidentally stumbled upon Marcus and Mavis's secret plot.

It turned out that Marcus, having been hiding in fear for days, was already on edge. He had been hanging on by a thread, relying entirely on the false hope of returning to the Miller family that Mavis had fed him.

Tired of waiting, he finally made a desperate gamble and barged in.

The so-called 'proving his determination with his life to intimidate the crowd' was nothing more than a death warrant handed to him by Mavis.

Ironically, the ones supplying Mavis with the explosives were from The Obsidian Syndicate. The moment Phoenix received the intel, she ordered Leo Vance to swap the detonators for useless fakes that would only make a loud pop.

"Pierce, just relax and enjoy the show."

Pierce gave her a deep look, the crease between his brows remaining. He thought the earlier farce was the climax, never expecting it to be merely the opening act.

"Phoenix, your mind is deep. You're truly hard to figure out."

"Thanks for the misplaced compliment," Phoenix scoffed lightly, her tone lazy. "If you could see right through me, I probably wouldn't be qualified to stand by your side."

At that moment, the air in the banquet hall seemed to freeze. Everyone's eyes were glued to the detonators on Marcus's chest.

"Marcus. Don't do anything stupid." Thaddeus looked grim as he sternly yelled, "If you take one wrong step, there's no coming back from this."

"Dad, I have no way out. I'm doing all this just to show my determination." Marcus's eyes were bloodshot, his roar filled with grief and anger. "I admit, poisoning Gideon was a moment of foolishness. But... I was forced into it."

He whipped his head around, his gaze shooting toward Gideon like a venomous snake. "Gideon, I've served you with loyalty for years. Even if I haven't achieved greatness, I've worked hard. Why? Why are you giving that position to Meredith?"

He pointed a shaky finger at Meredith standing next to Gideon, looking deranged. "She's an ex-con, a woman who only knows how to hide under the wings of her elders. Why her? The heir to the Miller family can only be me."

"You bastard." Gideon trembled with rage, scoffing coldly. "Loyalty? Is that what you call it? That was calculation. From the very beginning, all you cared about was the title of heir."

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