From Exile To Queen Of Everything - Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Jocelyn glared at Sienna and snapped, "Sienna, how dare you be so brazen? Aren't you afraid I'll expose you and turn you into an unfilial daughter everyone despises and wants nothing to do with?"
Jocelyn's face twisted with malice, like a vicious demon. The sight sent a chill down Amber's spine. She suddenly realized she was seeing a side of Jocelyn completely different from the person she'd always imagined.
Amber staggered back, her pupils dilating with stunned disbelief.
Linda had been slapped into terrified silence.
Jocelyn glared venomously at Sienna, searching for even a trace of fear or panic on her face.
To her surprise, Sienna simply scoffed and said coolly, "Go ahead and try."
Jocelyn ground out through clenched teeth, "Sienna—"
Sienna commanded icily, "Security, escort them out."
Linda, seeing they were about to be thrown out, went hysterical. She shrieked, "What do you think you're doing? I'm the mistress of the Hart family. How dare you treat me like this? Sienna, you can't do this to me. I'm your stepmother."
Jocelyn clung to Amber's hand, her voice trembling. "Amber, I can't bear to leave you. It would break my heart to be apart from you."
Amber stood frozen, finally realizing that no one could threaten Sienna, not even their father. In Sienna's eyes, a father could simply stop being a father.
Just a few words from Sienna, and the authority from her dad, which Amber had always been so afraid of, was crushed.
Even Linda didn't have the chance to make things difficult for Sienna anymore.
Jocelyn pressed on desperately, grabbing Amber's hands. "Amber, listen to me. We've been together for so many years. You can't just leave me behind, can you? Come with me. If we walk out now, we're never coming back.
"This house has no place for us anymore. Sienna is ruthless. She sent Dad to a psychiatric facility today, and tomorrow it could be you. Do you really feel safe here?
"Amber, let's go. Out there, we can still be happy, live however we want, and no one will ever hurt us. Just like before, I'll always protect you. Won't you come?"
Amber thought she really should've just said yes to Jocelyn right away. Ever since she was a child, she had always trailed after Jocelyn like a shadow.
'Has Jocelyn treated me well? Maybe she has.' Amber wondered, 'Jocelyn always tells me to take care about my feelings no matter when or where.'
But for some reason, Amber hesitated at this moment. It was not that she was clinging to the comforts of home. She can't even explain what exactly she was reluctant to leave behind.
Just the thought of leaving now sent a sharp pang through her chest. There was only one thought flashing through my mind. She didn't want to leave this place.
Amber waited for several minutes, and Sienna said nothing. Amber thought she would ask her to stay, but she didn't. Sienna didn't even spare me a single glance.
Amber bit down hard on her lip, overwhelmed by a sharp pang of bitterness welling up inside her.
Jocelyn had been with her since childhood. She was beaten, even spat blood. And yet, Amber's heart didn't ache at all.
But Sienna's silence, her utter lack of response, cut deeper than any pain Amber had ever known. Her heart felt as if it were stuffed with wet cotton, heavy and suffocating. She felt abandoned.
It was just like ten years ago, in the hazy corners of my memory, when that warm, motherly figure left Amber and never came back.
Lana could tell Amber didn't actually want to leave. She just needed an out. But clearly Sienna wasn't going to give her one. It must be because what Amber said earlier had disappointed her.
Seeing the adorable girl putting on such a brave front, trying so hard to hold back her tears, Lana couldn't help but feel her heart ache for her.
As an outsider, Lana desperately wished Sienna would say something right now, even just one word would do.
But Sienna merely watched with an icy gaze, showing no intention to speak. Lana's anxious blue eyes kept darting toward Sienna.
Amber felt as if she were drowning in darkness. Silent, Sienna drifted farther and farther away, until she seemed to vanish completely. Amber's outstretched hand hung frozen in midair as she wondered, 'How do I call out to her?'
Tears welled up in Amber's eyes, her cheeks flushing crimson as she bit down hard on her quivering lower lip. Her whole body began to tremble before she finally broke into quiet sobs.
The sight of Amber holding back tears made Lana want to plead with Sienna.
In her heart, Lana urged, 'Miss Enna, please, just say something. Miss Amber looks absolutely heartbroken.'
Lana's heart churned with a storm of anxiety, but outwardly, she remained perfectly composed, her face an unreadable mask.
A rebellious strand of hair drooped over Amber's short bangs as she bowed her head, her delicate nose turning red. Tears trickled down from the tip of her nose, splashing quietly onto the floor.
The sight of that single tear seared through Sienna's heart, a faint twinge that shattered her calm like a stone cast into still water. Her fingers tightened involuntarily behind her back.
The usual ice in her beautiful eyes had melted into liquid tenderness, now shimmering with guilt and aching compassion.
Sienna was about to say something when she caught sight of a fluttering sleeve in her peripheral vision. Without a flicker of emotion, she averted her gaze.
Jocelyn saw Amber crying and mistakenly thought the tears were for her. 'All these years weren't wasted,' she thought smugly.
"Amber, don't worry," Jocelyn coaxed, her voice dripping with false concern. "Even if we leave the Hart residence, I'll make sure you have the best life possible. Let's go."
Hearing this, Lana fumed, itching to go over and give Jocelyn a good kick. 'What a damn troublemaker,' she thought.
Jocelyn reached out to tug at Amber, but Amber stood her ground. A flicker of surprise crossed Jocelyn's face before she forced a tight smile. "Amber, let's go," she repeated.
Vivian had returned to retrieve some documents. As she reached the entrance, she overheard Jocelyn urging Amber to leave the Hart residence with her.
Her first reaction was pure delight.
'Just leave already,' Vivian thought. 'Better yet, never come back. That way, no one would ever steal Sienna's attention again. All her love would belong to me, and me alone.'
However, looking at Amber, crying her eyes out with tears streaming down her face and even a snot bubble under her nose, Vivian felt that she actually looked kind of cute and innocent.
'No, wait. That's filthy. Disgusting. How could I ever think that was cute? What a joke,' Vivian's clenched fists slowly relaxed as she wondered.
The vile obsession of her darker self screamed at her to rush out right now, to throw Amber and Jocelyn out of the Hart family for good.
However, upon seeing Sienna's face, all that darkness inside me just faded away. In front of Sienna, even her malice felt ashamed.
'Forget it. I'm not the kind of petty person who kicks others when they're down. That's beneath me,' Vivian wondered.
Vivian snorted coldly and strode in. Arms crossed, she stared down at the two of them from above. "Jocelyn, have you lost the use of your legs or something?
"You keep yapping about leaving, but I've been standing here forever and you haven't budged. Don't tell me you're just using Amber as an excuse. Wishful thinking if you want to stay with the Hart residence. Your scheming couldn't be more obvious."