Outcast Queen: Her Return from Hell novel Chapter 412

Only now did he fully realize that Pierce had walked away so decisively because he knew the Sterling Group was rotten to its core. Without tearing it down and cutting out the disease, it was completely beyond saving.

It was his own stupidity, his misguided nostalgia, and his blatant favoritism that had single-handedly destroyed the family's last hope for survival.

"Dad, have you finally figured it out?"

Just then, the bedroom door swung open, and a deep, resonant voice echoed from the hallway.

The broken patriarch trembled violently and snapped his head up. A sudden flush of overwhelming emotion brought a surge of color to his lifeless face.

"You... you're back?!" Arthur reached out with a shaking hand, his eyes wide with sheer disbelief and desperate hope. "Thank God... Thank God! You're back. Maybe... maybe the Sterling family still has a chance!"

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of Cloudhaven, Alistair Prescott was drowning in a similar abyss of regret.

When the news from the Summit reached the Prescott estate—that Pierce and Phoenix had dazzled the business world, and that the awe-inspiring Draco Enterprises and Ignis Global were empires built entirely by the two young people he had callously thrown out—Alistair was hit by a shock so severe he collapsed in a dead faint.

By the time the once-arrogant patriarch regained consciousness, he was a hollow shell of his former self. His eyes were glazed over, and he just kept muttering the same phrase over and over: "I'm sorry... I was wrong..."

The Prescott family, once a towering institution, had completely collapsed.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

No one cared if the Prescotts lived or died. Old rivals celebrated and gloated, while the distant relatives who used to suck up to them were the first to sever ties, swarming like starving wolves to tear apart whatever scraps were left of the estate.

Naturally, all this chaos reached Ethan and Caleb Prescott.

Watching the main branch of the family meet such a miserable end left the father and son sighing in disbelief, overwhelmed by the terrifying realization of how narrowly they had escaped.

"Thank God... Thank God we didn't get involved in that Summit," Caleb muttered, wiping a cold sweat from his forehead. "Phoenix is operating on a level we can't even comprehend anymore."

Ethan let out a long sigh and patted his son's shoulder, a complex glint in his eyes. "Son, our only job right now is to hold on tight to our share of the Prescott assets. The main family might be shattered, but as long as we hold our ground... we will become the new Prescott family."

Pierce's lips curved into a faint, easy smile.

His gaze softened as it landed on Phoenix sitting beside him, his voice low and affectionate. "No matter how the rest of the world ranks us, in my eyes, my Phoenix will always be number one."

"Ugh! Get a room!" Macy dramatically rubbed her arms to ward off the goosebumps, raising an eyebrow. "I never would've guessed that the terrifying 'Reaper of Cloudhaven' everyone whispers about is actually hopelessly whipped behind closed doors."

Pierce shrugged, taking the comment as a badge of honor rather than an insult. "That's only because I hadn't met her yet. If I had, there never would have been a Reaper—just Cloudhaven's most devoted husband."

"Alright, you two are getting ridiculous," Phoenix said, her ears turning a warm shade of pink. She shook her head with a helpless smile and steered the conversation back to business. "With Draco and Ignis forming such a high-profile alliance, Barrett is probably losing his mind right now."

"He went through all that trouble to recruit Warren, Mavis, and Silas because he wanted to control the major players in Cloudhaven and become the kingmaker behind the scenes."

Phoenix narrowed her cool eyes, her fingertips lightly tracing the rim of her glass, a serious glint in her gaze. "Now that his plan has blown up in his face, he'll definitely accelerate his efforts to bring The Osborne Family from Highcrest into the mix. The Osbornes have deep roots and massive influence. If we go up against them, it's going to be a brutal fight."

"Oh, Phoenix, you overthink everything!" Macy waved a hand dismissively, flashing a brilliant smile. "As long as you and Pierce are a team, who in this world could possibly stand in your way? We'll deal with whatever comes when it gets here! Come on, today is a total victory. Stop bringing up the depressing stuff—we're drinking until we drop tonight!"