Their Queen's Back - Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Jessica said, "Skye, how dare you act so recklessly? Aren't you afraid I'll expose you and make you the most hated unfilial daughter—condemned and despised by everyone?"
Jessica's face twisted into a vicious snarl, demonic in its ferocity. Emily recoiled in shock—this was a side of Jessica she'd never imagined, so starkly different from the idealized version in her mind.
Emily slowly stepped back, her pupils dilating in stunned disbelief.
Linda had already been slapped twice into terrified silence.
Jessica fixed Skye with a venomous stare, searching her face for even a trace of fear or panic.
But to her surprise, Skye just shot her a dismissive look and remarked coolly.
Skye shot her a cool, dismissive look and said, "Go ahead, try it."
"Skye!" Jessica ground out through clenched teeth, spitting out the name syllable by syllable.
Skye commanded coldly, "Escort them out."
Seeing they were about to be kicked out, Linda shrieked in frenzy, "What are you doing? I'm the mistress of the Hughes! I AM the mistress of the Hughes! How dare you treat me like this? Skye—you can't do this to me! I'm your stepmother!"
Jessica pinned all her hopes on Emily, clutching her hand desperately. "Emily, I can't bear to leave you. I just can't stand being apart from you."
Emily was at a loss. Only now did she realize that no one could threaten Skye—and in Skye's eyes, even the title of "father" meant nothing anymore.
With just one sentence, Skye crushed the patriarchal authority that Emily had always feared.
Linda didn't even get a chance to pick on her.
"Emily," Jessica pleaded desperately, "after all these years together, you can't bear to leave your sister either, right? Come with me. Once we leave, we're never coming back—this family doesn't want us anymore! Emily, Skye is ruthless. She sent Dad to a psychiatric hospital today; tomorrow, it could be you. Do you really feel safe here? Emily, come with me. Out there, we can still be happy, free to live as we please, and no one will ever hurt us. Just like before, I'll always protect you. Please?"
"I should've just agreed to Jessica's request without a second thought."
"I've followed her around like a shadow since childhood. Was she really that good to me?"
"I guess she was... good to me?"
Jessica had always told her, "No matter when or where, the only thing that matters is how you feel."
But for some reason, at this moment... she hesitated.
It's not that she's attached to the comforts of home; even she can't quite put her finger on what it is she's so reluctant to leave behind.
Just the thought of leaving now sent a sharp pang through her chest—an ache of reluctance she couldn't shake.
All that popped into her head was one thought: "I don't want to leave here."
Emily waited for several long minutes...
Skye didn't utter a word. Emily thought bitterly, "I really thought she'd ask me to stay, but she didn't."
Skye didn't even spare her a single glance.
Emily bit her lip hard, a sour ache spreading through her chest like a thousand needles.
Jessica raised me, and now she's been beaten until she's coughing up blood.
Strangely, my heart didn't ache for her at all.
Yet Skye's persistent silence—her utter refusal to speak—cut deeper than any pain Emily had ever known.
Her heart felt as if it were stuffed with damp cotton—painful and suffocating.
"I feel... abandoned."
It felt just like ten years ago—in her hazy childhood memories, that warm, motherly figure had left her and never returned.
Lauren could tell Emily didn't actually want to leave—she just needed an out.
Clearly, Ms. Sky refused to offer her an out—likely disappointed by what Miss Emily had said earlier.
Lauren's heart ached as she watched the fair-skinned little girl putting on a brave front, her delicate features tensed with restrained emotion.
Lauren's heart ached at the sight.
As an outsider watching this unfold, Lauren desperately wished Ms. Sky would say something—anything.
'Just one word...'
No, wait—not even a single word would help.
Lauren thought, "If he said just one word, it would be 'Get out.'"
But Ms. Sky just stared coldly, showing no intention of speaking.
Lauren's hopeful blue eyes kept darting toward Ms. Sky, silently pleading for her attention.
It felt as if I were drowning in darkness. Skye, silent and distant, drifted farther and farther away. My hand hung frozen in midair—I didn't know how to call out to her.
Tears welled up in Emily's almond-shaped eyes, her cheeks flushed crimson as she bit down hard on her quivering lip.
Emily's whole body trembled as she began to sob.
Watching Emily endure in silence, Lauren ached to urge Ms. Sky to say something—anything—to comfort her.
"Ms. Sky, please say something!"Lauren thought anxiously, "Poor Miss Emily, she looks utterly heartbroken!"
Lauren's heart was in turmoil, anxiety churning inside her, but outwardly, she remained perfectly calm and expressionless.
A rebellious strand of Emily's short hair drooped as she bowed her head, her delicate nose turning pink. A single tear rolled off its tip and splattered on the floor.
Seeing that single tear, it was as if something seared Skye's heart—a sudden jolt shattered her composure, sending ripples of turmoil through her soul.
Behind her back, Skye's hand gradually clenched into a fist.
Her usually frosty gaze had melted into pools of tenderness, shimmering with remorse and aching concern.
She was just about to speak—her lips parted, words on the tip of her tongue—when she suddenly caught sight of a fluttering hem of clothing.
Without a flicker of emotion, she averted her gaze.
Seeing Emily in tears, Jessica smugly assumed the girl was crying on her behalf. With a self-satisfied smile, she thought, "All those years raising her weren't wasted after all."
"Emily, don't be afraid," Jessica said gently. "Even if we leave the Hughes, I promise I won't let you suffer. I'll make sure you have the best life possible. Let's go!"
Hearing that, Lauren was so furious she could've kicked Jessica to death right then and there.
Lauren thought, "What a shit-stirrer!"
Jessica reached out and tried to tug Emily along, but Emily didn't budge an inch. A flicker of surprise crossed Jessica's face before she forced a tight, insincere smile and, with strained sweetness, repeated, "Emily, let's go!"
Sophia came back for some documents, and as she reached the doorway, she overheard Jessica urging Emily to leave the Hughes with her.
Sophia's first instinct was a surge of delight.
I kept thinking, "Just leave already—and it'd be perfect if you never came back, ever."
"This way, no one will fight me for my sister anymore. No one will steal her attention—her love will be mine, and mine alone."
But seeing Emily crying so pitifully, her face streaked with tears like rain on pear blossoms and a little snot bubble forming under her nose, Sophia couldn't help but think, "She looks heartbreakingly cute and innocent—"
"No, that's filthy! Absolutely disgusting! How could I ever think she's cute?"
Sophia scoffed inwardly, "What a joke."
Sophia's clenched fists slowly loosened.
The vile obsession of her dark side whispered, "Go out now and drive Emily and Jessica away."
But the moment I saw Skye's face, all my dark urges gradually faded away.
In Skye's presence, even my darkest impulses shrank in shame.
"Taking advantage of someone's misfortune? That's beneath me."
Sophia let out a derisive snort and strode in.
Sophia crossed her arms and stared down at the two of them with undisguised contempt.
Sophia sneered, arms crossed. "Jessica, did your arms and legs suddenly stop working? You keep saying you want to leave, but I've been watching you for ages and you haven't moved an inch. Don't tell me you're just using Emily as an excuse to stay with the Hughes. What a joke—your scheming is written all over your face."