Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 269

Vanessa's heart felt as though an invisible hand were crushing it, sending a sharp, agonizing ache through her chest.

She didn't dare respond. She just stepped forward quickly, forcefully pulling Julian's arm. Her voice was hushed, tinged with panic. "Come back with me."

Julian's pupils shrank as his gaze collided with his mother's eyes, which were filled with begging and fear.

In that instant, all his questions caught in his throat, transforming into a defeated sigh.

He gave a stiff nod, allowing his mother to drag him out, fleeing the suffocating hospital room.

"Dad, Julian... Julian must have been hexed by Phoenix."

Inside the room, Phoebe took the opportunity to sit beside Warren, leaning softly against him. Tears swirled in her eyes, and her voice broke with sobs. "Julian used to love me the most, but now, for her sake, he's actually falsely accusing me of being the mastermind..."

"Don't cry, Phoebe. With me around, even if the sky falls, no one will bully you." Enduring the agonizing pain on his back, Warren raised a hand to gently pat hers.

Sebastian leaned in as well, his face full of righteous indignation as he comforted her. "Phoebe, I believe Julian was just confused for a moment. Once he sobers up, he'll realize how ridiculous his words were."

"Sebastian, you're always the best to me." Phoebe nodded obediently. Her tear-stained, incredibly pitiful appearance was genuinely heart-wrenching.

Meanwhile, in the hospital stairwell.

Julian and Vanessa hadn't gone far, stopping at a dim corner of the corridor.

The air felt frozen; only the eerie green glow of the exit sign flickered in the silence.

After a long time, Julian's hoarse voice finally broke the dead silence. "Mom, we failed Phoenix. We... are the sinners."

Julian slumped against the cold tiled wall, shutting his eyes in agony, as if the spine had been ripped from his back.

Vanessa's hand trembled as she reached out to touch her son's face, but her fingertips hovered in mid-air, not daring to land.

Tears fell like broken strings, her voice filled with powerlessness and compromise. "Julian, I know I was wrong, and my heart aches too... But... but your father is still furious, and he has the final say in the Prescott family. If we fall out with him now, and Phoebe stirs up more trouble, our lives will become very difficult..."

Julian's eyes snapped open. Looking at his mother's submissive, terrified demeanor, the last shred of light in his eyes slowly died out.

He let out a miserable laugh and coldly pushed his mother's hand away.

"Mom, it turns out that even now, in your heart, your own survival and interests are more important than your conscience and your biological daughter."

Hanging up the phone, Phoenix reined in her smile and adjusted her mood. Tapping her screen, she dialed Alistair's number.

At the Prescott Estate.

Alistair was holding his clay teapot, sipping tea. When he saw the caller ID, his wrinkled eyelids twitched slightly.

At this hour, Phoenix should be at the office. Why was she suddenly calling him?

Harboring a few suspicions, he answered the call, his raspy voice instantly switching to a benevolent elder's tone. "Phoenix, what made you think of calling your grandfather? Did you run into some trouble at work?"

"Grandfather, everything at the group is going smoothly. It's just that the various departments have been swamped lately and are short-staffed. We might need to bring in some fresh blood."

Hearing the phrase "bring in some fresh blood," Alistair's grip on his teapot tightened slightly, alarm bells ringing in his mind.

It seemed the girl was finally baring her fangs.

She wanted to plant her own loyalists, build her own team, and slowly devour the Prescott Group, ultimately kicking Warren out of the CEO's chair. Warren was someone he had personally propped up. Phoenix doing this was undoubtedly a slap to his face.