The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 120

Chapter 120

The sharp dagger stabbed into Mabel’s mouth, going straight through her tongue.

In no time, a stream of crimson blood began to gush backward out of Mabel’s mouth.

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Some poured into her mouth and down her esophagus, while the rest spilled out in streams from the corners of her lips.

She felt only a sudden shock and a sharp stab of pain.

Then, a scorching pain overwhelmed her mind, searing through every nerve and flooding every inch of her body.

“Ah…….”

A silent scream exploded from her lips.

Nova didn’t hesitate. She yanked the dagger out without a hint of pity.

She just stood there, watching as Mabel writhed in agony, hopping and flailing around the yard like a panicked mantis.

Everyone here was either a relative of Fiona or somehow connected–no matter how distant–to the Blake family.

Some were barely family at all, just folks with the faintest ties to the Blakes who showed up to get their share.

Truth was, they were hoping Charles would bring them along to the city, help them strike it rich.

Most were just here to schmooze and pull some strings with the Blakes, angling for a slice of the action.

They all knew Charles and Fiona’s eldest daughter, Hannah.

Everyone knew Hannah had a fiery temper–she’d go off at the drop of a hat.

Back in the day, Hannah and Mabel were always at each other’s throats.

One time, things got so crazy they actually went at each other with brooms, swinging and chasing each other right in front of everyone!

But now, Hannah’s little sister–the Blake family’s long–lost youngest daughter–had finally come home.

Everyone just assumed she’d be more reserved, more like her mother, and definitely not as hot–headed as Hannah, who’d throw down at a moment’s notice.

Only, reality had other plans….

Nova might’ve kept to herself most of the time, but the moment she finally made a move, she almost took Mabel’s life right then and there.

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She was way more savage than her sister Hannah.

The relatives practically bolted, stumbling back in terror.

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Those sharp–tongued busybodies, who usually couldn’t shut up for more than a second, huddled in the corner of the yard like a bunch of spooked dogs.

They stared at Nova, completely shell–shocked, like they’d just seen a ghost.

And it wasn’t just those inexperienced relatives who recoiled in fear, either–even the ones who’d seen it all were spooked out of their minds.

Even Maxwell and Hannah were gawking at Nova, totally stunned–like, for a second, they couldn’t believe what they’d just seen.

“My little sis…” Maxwell’s voice shook as he spoke, trailing off in disbelief.

‘Damn, you’re even more savage than I ever thought,‘ Maxwell gulped, but kept the rest to himself.

He bit back the rest of his words.

Once again, Nova had stunned him beyond words.

“You… you finally did something that made me see you in a whole new light!” Hannah couldn’t help blurting out, standing not too far away.

If the whole crowd wasn’t watching, Hannah would’ve been the first to give Nova a big thumbs–up.

Even someone like her the notorious tomboy of the village–had always wanted to do something so gutsy, but never had the nerve. Nova just did it like it was nothing.

If one asked Hannah, she’d totally admit she was seriously annoyed with Nova when she first moved back in with the Blakes.

Back then, she was always picking at her, never missing a beat to stir up trouble.

But after a while–living together, really getting to know each other–things changed.

The old resentment Hannah used to feel for Nova? That was pretty much gone now.

“Nova? Nova!” Fiona called out, her breath catching in disbelief.

Sitting there in her wheelchair, she’d never witnessed anything like this before.

Seeing her own sister so brutally wounded, her heart nearly seized up–and Charles beside her looked just as

shaken.

She was completely overwhelmed by fear.

To her, Nova had always been an ordinary, gentle daughter. But now, right in front of her eyes, that same girl had shown a wild, ferocious side she never dreamed was possible.

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At the same time, Fiona’s heart twisted in pain for her sister, Mabel–even though she was terrified, she still felt that deep, aching sorrow.

Just as Fiona tried to roll her wheelchair over, Charles stopped her with a firm hand, holding her in place.

“Let Nova deal with this on her own. We have to trust her,” he said, his voice calm but unwavering.

Charles bent down a little as he spoke, his eyes resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

He radiated that calm, stubborn determination you only saw in the sharpest business veterans.

Something in Charles’s words just made Fiona’s anxiety dissolve–she wasn’t even sure why, but suddenly she felt herself relax.

“Yeah,” she murmured, feeling her heart finally steady.

Back when the Blake family put on their Ultimate Test, Charles hadn’t taken part himself.

He had no clue how Nova managed to be the first to make it out of that arena alive.

But with all his years wheeling and dealing, Charles could tell–his youngest daughter was a cut above the

rest.

She’d grown up fast; way more mature than everyone else.

“Aaaah!”

A man’s shrill, over–the–top scream ripped through the crowd–louder and even more dramatic than Mabel’s.

It was Forge, bawling like he’d just lost his whole family.

He wasn’t genuinely grieving over his wife’s stabbed tongue–he was just afraid that if he didn’t put on enough of a show, he wouldn’t get much compensation. ‘Gotta cry louder if I want a decent payout,‘ he thought.

“Mabel, my wife–how could you end up this miserable!” Forge bawled, putting on a show and crying his lungs out for effect.

“Doctor! Somebody get a doctor–right now!” he screeched, flailing like he was about to collapse.

“I’m not dropping this, you hear me? My wife needs treatment and that costs money–it’s all on you! You better cough up every cent!

“If you don’t pay up enough, I’ll go to the city and sue you for everything you’ve got–I swear I’ll ruin you!”

Yeah, that last threat? That’s what Forge really wanted. All this yelling–he was just after their money, plain and simple.

“Forge?” Fiona stared in shock, her voice barely above a whisper.

She just couldn’t wrap her head around what she was hearing.

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‘Seriously? Even now, with chaos breaking loose, all he cares about is getting paid… Fiona’s heart dropped, disgust and disbelief swirling inside her.

“Isn’t there a doctor right here?” Nova shot back, her voice frosty, eyes fixed on Forge.

Just as Forge was gearing up to cash in big off this mess, Nova wasn’t fazed in the slightest.

She shifted to the side, her words sharp and absolute.

“Aria,” she called out, voice cool and unbothered.

Nova radiated a natural, commanding aura–like she was born to rule. She didn’t even have to say a word for everyone to feel that untouchable presence.

So much so that even Aria, one of Damien’s most trusted followers, instantly obeyed Nova’s order and walked right up to Mabel, no questions asked.

But Aria wasn’t here to play nice.

She grabbed a bottle of red potion from her medical kit and closed the distance to Mabel in just two strides.

Moving with the smooth, predatory grace of a snake, she twisted her slender waist, caught Mabel’s jaw in a vice–like grip, and forced her mouth open–even as Mabel thrashed and tried to pull away.

Without a flicker of hesitation, she dumped the whole bottle of that crimson liquid straight down Mabel’s

throat.

“Mmmph…” Mabel could only let out a muffled sound, her mouth forced open as the potion was poured in.

Right after Aria made her swallow the red potion, something incredible happened.

In seconds, the bleeding from her mangled tongue came to a sudden stop.

The pain was just… gone.

The moment they saw the potion work its miracle, everyone in the yard went wide–eyed–jaw–dropping, stunned, couldn’t believe what they’d just witnessed.

Mabel slapped her own face, dazed and muddled from the pain. ‘If my tongue wasn’t still aching, I’d seriously think all that was just a crazy dream,’ she thought, still trying to process what just happened.

As soon as she felt her tongue fixed up, she swung her mouth open, practically itching to start hurling curses and wild insults at Nova all over again–like she hadn’t learned a thing.

“Ah…ah!”

The bleeding was gone, and the pain had vanished, just like that.

But when she tried to speak, literally no sound would come out–her mouth just wouldn’t work!

Mabel grabbed her face in terror, frantically going “Ah, ah, ah!” over and over, sounding like a panicked,

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broken record.

Nova didn’t bother with her anymore.

Just because you stab someone’s tongue doesn’t mean they’ll stay quiet for good.

Nova had Aria use that potion for two reasons.

First, the stuff worked quietly–it would snatch voice away, no mess, no drama.

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Second, by patching Mabel up, Nova made sure she and Forge weren’t getting a penny out of the Blakes for this stunt.

Nova always followed through–when she said she’d do something, she never hesitated.

She promised to silence Mabel for good, and she made it happen. No mercy, no turning back.

“And the rest of you–you’d better keep whatever schemes you’re brewing to yourselves,” Nova’s voice cut through the tension, cold and unforgiving.

“If any of you so much as whisper about what happened today…” she let her words hang, a threat clear as day.

Nova’s eyes swept over the notorious gossips, making each one shrink back into the crowd under her steely glare.

Even separated by five or six meters, Nova’s blade hovered dead–on at Mabel’s throat–everybody felt the chill of her intent.

Her voice was ice–cold, tinged with a bloodthirsty edge.

“Every last one of you will die,” Nova said, her threat slicing through the crowd like steel.

The word “die” ripped through the crowd like a bolt of lightning, crashing in everyone’s heads and leaving chills crawling down their spines.

These nosy neighbors and distant relatives had never witnessed anything like Nova–cold–blooded, ruthless, and totally unfazed by family bonds. She was nothing like anyone they’d ever met.

That savage move she’d just pulled left everyone petrified. No one had the guts to mouth off or even think about stirring up drama again.

The whole yard went dead quiet–nobody dared utter a single word.

Just as the whole yard plunged into dead silence, two shadowy figures slipped through the main gate.

Up front was a guy so drop–dead handsome it’d make the gods themselves jealous–his nose was sharply defined and high, and his messy fringe bounced lightly across his forehead.

He had the kind of face that demanded attention, almost hypnotic in its perfection.

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It was Damien.

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Aiden followed closely behind Damien, his exotic, mixed–race looks impossible to miss in this small village.

He was tall, almost matching Damien’s height.

As soon as he walked in, Aiden started looking around Nova.

Not seeing his kid anywhere, a shadow of disappointment flashed across his face.

Aria had been summoned to Ravenport by a confidential order from Aiden himself, all for the sole purpose of helping Nova out.

She figured Aiden and Nova must have some kind of connection–maybe he owed her a favor or just wanted to back her up personally, so he’d sent Aria over especially.

But what completely caught her off guard was seeing her own boss, the head honcho of the Shadow Sanctum, Damien, actually turning up right here!

Aria was so freaked out she hurried over, but stopped dead in her tracks when she was still three meters away -no way she was getting any closer.

Everybody in the Shadow Sanctum knew–even though Damien wasn’t obsessed with cleanliness, he would never tolerate any woman getting close to him.

One time, a female assassin tried to worm her way into his bed, thinking she could seduce him. Damien had her viciously taken apart, piece by piece.

Her limbs were left dangling right over the main gate of the Shadow Sanctum, a gruesome warning for anyone even thinking about trying their luck.

Three meters away, Aria bowed her head to Damien in front of everyone, careful not to cross the invisible line. Her voice rang out, respectful and just a little shaky.

“Boss!” Aria called out, her voice careful and respectful, not daring to look up.

She honestly thought her boss would just brush her off and get on with his own business–but what happened next nearly made her jaw drop.

To her utter shock, Damien didn’t even glance her way. He walked right past–closing in until he was just three meters from Nova, cutting straight through the crowd like it was nothing.

Then…

With everyone watching, he reached out and–without hesitation–took Nova’s hand in his, bold as daylight.

Aria’s eyes practically bugged out of her head–she looked like she’d just seen a ghost!

Aiden just folded his arms and leaned back against a utility pole in the yard, his face smoothing into its usual unreadable mask.

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“The boss has always had a special way with Ms. Blake,” Aiden explained, his tone casual but hiding a hint of something deeper.

Aria wasn’t naive–she caught on instantly.

So it wasn’t Aiden who called me in for Nova’s sake… it was the boss himself?‘ Aria realized, her thoughts racing.

What! ?

‘No way…

Could Nova really become the future madam of the Shadow Sanctum?‘ The idea nearly blew Aria’s mind- she could barely process the thought.

Aiden stood there with his arms crossed, his usual poker face not giving anything away.

Sure, he didn’t talk much–maybe a hazard of the job–but honestly, get him started and he could gossip for hours if you let him.

He couldn’t help recalling that hot spring trip at The Greenwood in Janelle–not too long ago, the boss and Nova had a whole private soak together, just the two of them.

Aiden leaned in and dropped his latest bit of juicy gossip.

“Honestly, it seems like Ms. Blake isn’t exactly satisfied with the boss,” Aiden murmured, his voice laced with playful gossip.

“She keeps calling him her personal boy toy,” he chuckled.

“I wonder if the boss can’t deliver in that department–they hit the hot spring together, and wrapped things up real quick. Barely twenty minutes and it was all over,” Aiden added, smirking as he spread the juicy rumor.