Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 85

Phoebe's legs gave out, a massive wave of panic seizing her. "It's hers... it's actually all hers?!"

She snapped her head up, glaring daggers at the maid hiding behind Lawrence. "You! Why didn't you say it was hers earlier?!"

"P-Phoebe..." The maid trembled violently, lowering her head even further. "We... we tried to tell you, but you were so happy, you didn't give us a chance to speak..."

Lawrence straightened his spine nearby. He had wanted to speak up earlier, but Phoenix hadn't allowed him to. What was he supposed to do?

"Ms. Phoebe Prescott." The officer stepped forward, his tone stern. "You are suspected of grand theft. The value of the stolen property is immense. Please come with us to the station for investigation."

Saying this, he moved to put handcuffs on her.

"No! I'm not going to the police station!!" Phoebe shrieked and struggled, throwing herself at Vanessa. "Mom! Save me! I can't go to the station! My life will be ruined! Mom!!"

Vanessa was in a complete panic, babbling incoherently. "Officer! What theft?! Sisters looking at each other's things—since when is that a crime?!"

"Vanessa," Phoenix's voice was like laced ice, carrying a hint of cruel amusement. "Did you forget? You just said, loudly and clearly, 'If a crime is committed, it must be severely punished.' I am simply respecting your wishes."

She enunciated every word, her eyes blazing. "Therefore, I insist on full and severe punishment!"

Turning to the police, she asked, "Officers, everyone is equal before the law, right?"

"Of course!" The officer replied strictly. "We follow the law. There will be no leniency."

Vanessa's face was ashen, Julian's temples throbbed wildly, and Phoebe looked completely drained of blood.

The three of them had been utterly blindsided by Phoenix's fatal strike, leaving them completely humiliated.

"Phoenix..." Julian took a deep breath, forcing down his boiling rage and humiliation. His voice took on an unprecedented, subservient tone. "I'm begging you. Phoebe... she can't go to the police station. Once she has a criminal record, her life... will truly be over."

Phoenix slowly narrowed her eyes. Her gaze, sharp as a falcon's, locked onto Julian's shifting eyes, seemingly piercing straight into his soul, leaving him hollow and exposed.

"Do you remember?" Her voice was slow and low, like a cold viper flicking its tongue. "Four years ago, the moment I was shoved into a police car, how did you 'comfort' me?"

Julian's pupils contracted sharply as a fragment of icy memory slammed into him.

—"Phoenix, spend a few days inside. Treat it as a learning experience. Endure it, and it'll be over soon."

Back then, his eyes had been as cold as if he were looking at a complete stranger, devoid of a single trace of warmth.

Julian's face changed drastically, and he shouted, "Mom! Don't—!" But it was too late. The fatal words had already been spoken.

A powerful wave of dread gripped him.

"Excellent!" The curve of Phoenix's smile widened, but her eyes held only the absolute finality of eternal ice. "Dropping the charges... is doable."

A spark of hope erupted in Vanessa's eyes.

However, Phoenix's very next sentence felt like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing that tiny spark and freezing her in place:

"The condition is—I want you and me to legally sever our mother-daughter ties!"

"!!!"

It was like a clap of thunder.

Julian, Vanessa, and even Phoebe on the ground all stared at Phoenix in sheer horror, as if they had just heard the most absurd declaration in the world.