Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 42

Boom—

Those few words dropped like five heavy-duty bombs into a tranquil lake without any warning, kicking up monstrous, towering waves!

“Absolutely impossible!!”

“Phoenix! Are you out of your mind?!”

Julian’s reaction was the most explosive. Like a rabid dog whose tail had just been stepped on, he roared and took a step forward, his face contorted with the furious rage of having his territory invaded, laced with extreme disdain.

“The Prescott Group is a top-tier enterprise in Cloudhaven! It dictates the livelihood and future of tens of thousands of people across the entire industrial ecosystem! It’s not some backyard playground for a reckless brute who just crawled out of the countryside, who barely went to school, to just strut around and bark orders with brute force!!”

He didn't even bother keeping up the facade of a caring sibling, calling her by her first name with naked hostility.

“Phoenix,” Vanessa immediately swapped to a mask of earnest persuasion, speaking with heavy, meaningful words. “I completely understand how you feel! But you’re rushing things too much! Corporate affairs aren't that simple. They require real skill. Only the commercial elite who have studied at top-tier universities...”

She paused deliberately, her tone dripping with an indescribable sense of superiority. “...can touch that field.”

The underlying meaning was clear: You're an illiterate ex-con, do you really think you're worthy?

“Absurd!” Warren finally recovered a shred of strength from the massive shock of having his secrets nearly exposed. He instantly joined the fray, his voice freezing cold and carrying unquestionable authority. “Phoenix! Take back that arrogant, delusional joke right now! This is not something you should touch! Nor is it something you can play with! Apologize to Julian immediately! Take back your words!!”

Right now, he just wanted to snuff out any possibility of Phoenix entering the core circle of the family's power. He couldn't let this wretched girl continue to flaunt her arrogance.

“Dad! Mom! Don't speak to Phoenix like that!” Phoebe jumped out at the perfect moment to 'mediate', her expression soft and innocent, though her voice carried clearly across the room. “Phoenix is just too eager to fit into our family, she wants everyone's approval so badly that she’s acting a bit... rash and desperate...”

She turned to Phoenix, her eyes brimming with hypocritical 'sympathy'. “Phoenix, I understand you're anxious! But the Prescott Group really isn't as simple as you think. How about this?”

She suggested with a tone she thought sounded incredibly considerate. “Why don't we let Dad arrange a top-tier adult university course for you first? I heard some overseas colleges... even though the tuition is a bit steep... are very lenient regarding a student's 'background'...”

She was subtly hinting that her 'prison background could be smoothed over'. “You study hard for a few years, get your diploma, and then you can join the company to help Julian. Wouldn't that be better? We have to take things one step at a time...”

Every single sentence was a dagger to the heart! Every word carried maximum humiliation!

Phoenix rubbed her temples.

This toxic white lotus... was truly astonishingly annoying and vicious.

She ignored the rabid barking of these people. Her gaze, as clear as a deep pool yet unfathomably dark, locked solely onto the only person in charge here—Alistair.

The immense pressure was thrown right back into Phoenix's court.

The opposition's eyes were already glinting with mockery and absolute, smug certainty.

Fresh out of prison, what could she possibly bring to the Prescotts?

Her fists?

Under the focused gaze of everyone—some scrutinizing, some sneering, some genuinely worried—

Phoenix slowly raised her exquisitely sculpted chin.

There was not a single shred of cowardice or confusion in her eyes. There was only an ambition capable of burning down mountains and boiling seas, along with the confidence of absolute control.

Her red lips parted, and every word she spat out seemed capable of smashing a crater into the floor. They were filled with the resolute power of clashing steel.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it froze the entire space like ten-thousand-year-old ice, slamming down like a heavy hammer and viciously smashing every mocking face in the room.

“What if I secure the Sterling family's Legacy District Project... for the Prescotts?”