Burn Me Once Burn With Me (Ruby Grayson) novel Chapter 81

Ruby braced her hands against his chest. The first thing out of her mouth was—

Cassian's expression turned icy in an instant. He shot a sharp glance at Gennifer standing off to the side.

Seeing this, Gennifer pouted, her voice trembling with wounded innocence.

"If my sister didn't want to apologize to me, she didn't have to. She insisted on kneeling for two whole hours, and nothing I said could stop her. I guess she just wanted Cassian to see how pitiful she was."

Her words twisted the blame around, making it sound like Ruby was putting on a show for sympathy.

Ruby stared at her, wide-eyed, as if seeing a stranger in Gennifer's place.

Was this really the girl she'd once called her own sister?

"Bennett!" Cassian's voice cut through the tension.

Bennett quickly stepped forward to explain what had actually happened.

"It was Miss Gennifer…"

Just that one sentence completely shattered Gennifer's lie.

Gennifer's face drained of color. She stammered, "Bennett and Ruby are in this together—"

But when she met Cassian's cold, knife-edged gaze, her words died in her throat.

"Cassian, I—"

Cassian turned to Ruby, moving closer, wanting to explain.

This hadn't been his intention. He just wanted her and Gennifer to admit their faults, to knock the stubborn pride out of her, to teach her not to be so defiant—

But before he could get the words out, she cut him off.

"Get out."

Ruby's legs felt like they might give way, and it took all her strength to steady herself. But when Cassian came any closer, she found a sudden surge of will and shoved him away, hard.

Cassian staggered back a step, thrown off balance by her fury.

"Stop pretending, will you?"

Her voice was raw, strained, carrying a brittle, desperate laugh.

"Pride? What pride do I have left?"

Wasn't it you who crushed it, piece by piece?

She lifted her chin, her pale face making the pink scar across her cheek stand out even more.

Cassian's eyes flickered with shock. He tried to speak, but it was as if an invisible hand had closed around his throat. "You—"

"The apology you wanted—I've given it. Kneeling was enough, wasn't it?"

Her gaze slid sideways to where Gennifer stood, ghost-white in the corner. Then she let herself collapse weakly against Cassian, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"So now, remember what you promised."

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify