Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 49

A venomous light ignited in Julian's eyes. “Uncle Dominic, you mean... we put her on a pedestal just to watch her burn?! Sabotage her with kindness?! Let her crash and burn on her own?!”

“Exactly!” Dominic stated decisively.

His falcon-like gaze pierced toward Phoebe, who was trembling slightly from excitement on the bed. “Also, get Phoebe a position in the Prescott Group!”

“What?!” Vanessa cried out in alarm. “Dominic! You know how those old foxes in the corporation operate! Phoebe is so fragile and innocent...”

“Innocent?” Dominic stared at Phoebe with profound meaning, a look that seemed capable of piercing right through her disguise. “Sending her in... there will naturally be 'appropriate' things for her to do. Sometimes... in certain situations... 'weakness' is the sharpest knife of all! Do you understand?”

Phoebe's heart pounded wildly under this all-knowing gaze, yet she plastered on an expression of absolute resolve and obedience. “Mom, Dad... Uncle Dominic is right! I want to help you! I don't want to... just be a burden to you forever! I can learn the ropes in the company!”

She clenched her fists, looking as tragically heroic as someone marching onto a battlefield.

“...Alright!” Warren knew perfectly well that Dominic's ruthless, seasoned methods far exceeded theirs. He gritted his teeth and agreed; it was practically their last desperate gamble. “We'll do as you say!”

Dominic stood up. “I'm going to go pay my respects to Alistair... and while I'm at it,” he adjusted his cuffs, the gesture steady but laced with the caution of a predator before a hunt, “I'll go meet... this wonderful niece of mine... who has my 'idiot' brother-in-law's family completely terrified.”

His voice dropped, emphasizing every word.

The Prescott estate's rear garden.

The noise was temporarily blocked by the high walls.

The cold moonlight draped a layer of silver frost over the garden.

Phoenix leaned lazily against a tall wisteria trellis. Her silhouette was stretched long by the moonlight, making her look somewhat lonely and detached.

She twirled a fallen petal between her fingers, her deep eyes staring off at the hazy lights of the distant skyline.

The majestic queen aura that had dominated the hall just moments ago seemed to have completely vanished, leaving behind a soul that felt entirely disconnected from the world.

Pierce silently approached, stopping just a few feet away.

He held a glass of red wine, the dark liquid swirling inside just like the restless turbulence in his mind.

The moonlight traced the deep, striking contours of his side profile. His icy eyes, capable of freezing a soul, landed on the figure in front of him. He could feel an intense sense of isolation radiating from her—

Invisible, impenetrable emotional walls towered around her, warning everyone to stay away.

*Heh...* Pierce let out a cold, self-deprecating scoff in his mind.

When it came down to it, in this regard, he and this crazy woman who had forcefully crashed into his world and used him as a weapon... were probably the exact same breed of creature.

“Was I...”

His deep voice rang out, carrying a metallic, freezing edge that sounded exceptionally clear beneath the silent trellis.

“...a convenient weapon to use?”

Phoenix didn't move an inch. She didn't even turn her head; only the fingers twirling the petal paused slightly.

Then, a faint, almost bewitching smile bloomed mysteriously on her lips.

She stopped right there, leaving an endless expanse of profound implication.

The knuckles of Pierce's hand gripping the glass instantly turned white. The base of the glass let out a faint, strained groan under his fingers!

She indeed knew more, yet she refused to spill it.

“This intel...” He suppressed the monstrous waves crashing inside him. His voice sounded like grinding gravel as his towering figure cast a shadow that almost entirely engulfed her!

“Doesn't count.”

“Because I already looked into him before you brought it up.”

Phoenix arched her delicate eyebrows. “Impressive as always. Then... what exactly do you want?”

She looked up; he looked down. Their noses were mere inches apart.

“Pfft...”

Phoenix suddenly laughed.

Her clear, melodious laughter sounded exceptionally captivating in the quiet garden, but also... exceptionally dangerous.

She abruptly went on her tiptoes!

Under his shocked gaze—a gaze that even harbored a hidden, secret anticipation he hadn't yet realized—she forcefully pressed her lips against his freezing thin ones!