Burn Me Once Burn With Me (Ruby Grayson) novel Chapter 155

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As Ruby watched the crowd's expressions slowly shift from suspicion to reluctant respect, she curled her lips into the barest hint of a smirk.

"This is Sylas," she said calmly, her voice steady. "Cassian's nephew. He'd just arrived in Quinborough back then. As his aunt by marriage, it's only natural I looked after him, isn't it?"

Her words landed cool and poised.

"Of course," someone chimed in, "Mr. Veyne's always busy—having Ruby fulfill her duties as a wife and help out with family is only proper."

But not everyone was buying it.

"Oh, please!" Gennifer snapped, her eyes wild with indignation. "Cassian has more staff in his estate than most people see in a lifetime. He hardly needs his wife personally waiting on anyone. You're clearly making this up! You two have been involved from the very start—long before you even knew he was Cassian's nephew!"

Gennifer's voice rang out shrill and furious, unwilling to let Ruby's measured words turn the situation around so easily. Her eyes burned red with frustration.

Ruby's gaze flickered, but she quickly forced whatever emotion threatened to surface back down.

Gennifer was right—she was bending the truth. But whether she'd met Sylas before learning of his connection to Cassian, Gennifer had no way of proving. In the end, all Gennifer could do was stand there, flustered and angry, losing control of her words.

Just as Ruby expected, Gennifer bristled, ready to spit out something else—but Cassian, pinching the bridge of his nose, waved for Bennett to escort her out.

When Bennett grabbed her wrist, Gennifer was left reeling.

Why was Cassian standing aside, silent and cold? Why wasn't he rushing to her defense, as he once did at the slightest hint of trouble? Where was the Cassian who used to panic at the mere idea of her being hurt?

As she was pulled away, Gennifer's glare finally shifted from Ruby to Cassian. But the man didn't spare her so much as a glance.

He simply turned his back, blocking her from view entirely.

Now Cassian stood before Ruby, tall and imposing. His thick lashes dipped low, shadowing his eyes and the complicated storm of feelings behind them.

"I need a word with you," he said quietly. "And I'd like Sylas to join us."

Ruby looked up at him, her expression unreadable.

He'd stood by and said nothing while Gennifer slandered her. The moment Ruby fired back, he'd rushed to remove Gennifer from the scene.

Cassian, just how much do you love Gennifer? How far would you go to shield her?

Since her release, his odd, unpredictable behavior had sometimes made Ruby reconsider him—but only briefly. Moments like this always shattered the illusion.

"What's there to say?" she shot back, her voice icy, refusing to give him even a single unnecessary word.

Cassian stared at her, stunned by the chill in her eyes. He couldn't quite name the feeling that swelled inside him—just a deep, aching bitterness that nearly choked him.

Their gazes met in the air—his shadowed and longing, hers cold and remote.

At last, Sylas stepped between them, his broad frame blocking their view of each other.

"That won't be necessary, uncle," Sylas said evenly. "If she has questions, I can answer them myself. We have somewhere to be."

Ruby blinked rapidly, then followed Sylas without another word, slipping into his car. She didn't look back, her departure brisk and final.

Cassian clutched his chest, the pain sharp and unyielding.

He realized, with a hollow ache, that the Ruby who once trailed after him, gentle and obedient, had been gone for a very long time.

Bennett, watching the whole scene play out, finally stepped in to disperse the gawking crowd. With Gennifer gone and the messy drama at an end, people quickly scattered. No one dared linger to gawk at the city's most powerful man.