The Killer Queen by Noella Briony

Chapter 179

The expressions on Thorpe and Hollis’s faces soured instantly.

Hollis’s smile twitched, his previously affable grin near breaking point. “You’re… pulling my leg, right?”

Noella chuckled lightly, her head held high with a touch of arrogance as she looked down at a somewhat flustered Hollis.

“Whether I’m joking or not, you’ll have the chance to find out. But if I’m not, I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle the repercussions.”

“As Lunaris, aren’t you afraid of the backlash for pulling such a stunt?”

Noella shrugged nonchalantly. “Who cares? If Cerulean Whale had the chops, they wouldn’t be perennial underdogs, right? Why aren’t you guys the top hit squad on the deep web? Is it because you don’t fancy the title?

Of course, it was a matter of not having enough power!

Thinking that Cerulean Whale alone could make the entire deep web condemn Lunaris was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Palmer chuckled along. “It’s not that complicated. If they die here, who’s to know?”

The smile finally vanished from Hollis’s face. “Spill it, what do you want to know? You’re aware I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed; I tend to forget things.”

“What went down when the Pollack family had their baby?”

Hollis let out a deep sigh, signaling Thorpe to cool his jets. “In a nutshell, it’s a classic game of getting rid of the mom and switching the baby. You follow, Ms. Schnabel?”

Xavier pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Hollis’s head! “Watch your damn manners! Speak to her like that again, and I’ll feed your brains to the fishes!”

Hollis chuckled and shook his head, pushing Xavier’s gun aside with a finger. “Let’s not be so dramatic; my brains aren’t that tasty. Spare a thought for your fish. We didn’t exert much effort in that mess. It was mostly the Pollack family’s own power struggle.”

The Pollack family’s grand feud had cost Palmer his mother too. No wonder the Pollack sons never recovered.

Noella frowned slightly. “Second matter: was Harriet’s child born at Tandy Hospital?”

Hollis nodded coolly. “Yes, and then we took the baby. Ran into a dim–witted woman itching to marry Marcel. Ambitious but brainless. We handed the kid over. Heard Marcel divorced her anyway. Hilarious.”

to

random child, and

Tandy had said. If he was right, then the kid Harriet took by mistake must be

“Later, that woman, Ashlyn, proved quite useful to us. Without her, your mother wouldn’t have gone to Tandy Hospital to give birth. Mother–in–law and daughter–in–law issues are

doing. It seemed that Ashlyn had orchestrated everything! Her eagerness to marry her niece off to Tristan was

her own family. As for her disdain for the Schnabel kids, that was a given, especially with

all this? Who asked you to do

hand to his temple, exchanging a worried look with Thorpe and shaking

Organization, you must have

“What?”

serious. “Polaris Star!”

“You’re saying Polaris Star is

the iceberg. We took orders from Polaris Star, but we never knew who

spine. He couldn’t imagine what horrors awaited those who actually survived the brutal experiments conducted

their members after constellations. Failures are brainwashed, and that process might not always succeed. You could end up a fool. I’ve been to Polaris Star, but they turned their noses up

caught the implication in Hollis’s words. “You weren’t brainwashed?”

after. They’re not too bright; they wouldn’t last without me. So, I became

contact from Polaris Star, who

fragmented. You were right; it wasn’t Xavier who ordered Marcel’s hit last time. In truth, we

and Sexton Pollack!”

all made

the hospital room was aimed at both Marcel and Sexton

still evident in Hollis’s voice as he recalled his dealings with Polaris

I can’t even think

the bad ones, flooded in, threatening to overwhelm

his temples in a bid

frowned deeply as she watched them, her heart pounding like a drum inside her chest. She knew all too well what Polaris Star was capable of. She was

from Polaris Star… Noella’s gaze shifted to Xavier, who seemed to

her stare.

Grandma’s mentor?”

I don’t have a clue!”