Burn Me Once Burn With Me (Ruby Grayson) novel Chapter 526

Pearl turned without a backward glance and walked off in the direction Ruby and the others had gone.

“Frieda, what’s wrong?”

It was Hanley who finally noticed Frieda’s absence. After a while, he came to the doorway and found her leaning against the wall, unsteady on her feet.

Her face was ashen, and when Hanley took her hand, he could feel the trembling in her palm.

Frieda looked up at him, dazed. Hanley frowned slightly. “Were you standing by the door and caught a chill? Everyone’s inside. Why are you still out here?”

There was no real concern in his eyes—just a blankness, maybe even a trace of irritation if you looked hard enough.

Frieda stubbornly searched his gaze, hoping to find the same flicker of worry and tenderness she’d glimpsed in his eyes when the Steeles had appeared just moments ago.

But there was nothing.

She couldn’t help but think of how Pearl’s eyes had gone cold and lifeless earlier.

“Hanley, was it really Pearl who forced you to leave all those years ago?”

The question slipped out before she could stop it.

Hanley froze mid-gesture. “Why are you suddenly asking about that?”

“Just answer me.”

Frieda’s grip tightened on his wrist.

Feeling the tension, Hanley realized just how determined she was.

His heart skipped. Pearl had been the last to head to the living room—had she said something to Frieda?

“Of course it was,” he replied, forcing a rueful smile. “But, honestly, our backgrounds were just too different back then. I could understand why it had to be that way.”

His expression was carefully arranged, a shadow of despondency that perfectly matched the insecurity he’d shown twenty years ago when Frieda had pressed him for answers.

Something still felt off to Frieda, but looking at the man who’d been by her side for over two decades, she clenched her jaw and chose, yet again, to trust her partner.

She let Hanley take her hand, and together they walked into the living room.

Three rows of couches filled the center of the room.

The longest one was dominated by Ruby’s side of the family. Ruby herself had been pulled down by a cluster of elders, wedged between her grandmother on the left and her grandfather on the right. Poor Sylas, who’d been hoping to sit next to her, had been nudged all the way to the end.

Sylas glanced sideways, realizing there was still a whole grandparent between him and Ruby. He was about to charm the old man into swapping seats, but just as he opened his mouth, the grandfather’s cane was unceremoniously plunked right in front of his face. “Young man, hold this for me.”

Sylas took the cane, only to see the old man shoot him a sly look that all but said, “Patience, son. Patience.”

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