Burn Me Once Burn With Me (Ruby Grayson) novel Chapter 664

"Before you go, just listen to me explain, please?"

His tone was practically begging.

Ruby stiffened, then slowly turned her head. Her face was completely devoid of emotion, but her eyes held a chilling, bone-deep coldness.

"Mr. Veyne, I'm asking you to respect my boundaries. Do not bother me."

Her voice dripped with stern, unmistakable disgust.

Cassian's grip loosened instinctively, his dark, hollow eyes trembling.

Sensing the shift, Ruby twisted her wrist to break free.

But Cassian's desperation flared up again. He tightened his hold, trapping her in place.

"Just listen to me. Once I'm done, I'll let you go. I promise I won't bother you. Didn't you just say you needed to run a license plate? I can have my people track it down. Whatever you need, I can help. Just believe me..."

*Smack!*

Ruby's thin veneer of patience evaporated. She delivered a vicious slap straight across Cassian's face.

"Ruby, what the hell are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!"

The sharp crack echoed loudly in the sudden, dead silence of the room.

Monica lunged forward with bloodshot eyes, trying to grab Ruby's hair. But Ruby simply shoved her hard, sending her crashing against the wall. Monica's face contorted in pain.

Ruby finally fixed her gaze entirely on Cassian, her eyes blazing with absolute ice. "Cassian, let me repeat myself. We are history. I don't care about anything that happens to you. But if you ever try to stand in my way again, I have no problem taking you down too."

With that final threat, she shot a lethal glare at Monica, who was clutching her arm and wincing in the corner, before turning her warning back to Cassian.

The towering man swayed, looking as though he might collapse to the floor at any second.

He bit down on his lower lip so hard that the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth. He closed his eyes, and in that instant, the last remaining spark of life inside him seemed to extinguish.

Ruby turned back to the matriarch, her expression softening into polite respect. "I have a sudden emergency to handle, and it's too late to take Mira with me. She might need to stay here for the night. I hope you don't mind watching her."

The older woman had felt a sharp pang of sorrow watching the bitter confrontation between Ruby and Cassian. But hearing that Mira would stay, her entire demeanor softened with relief. She nodded eagerly. "Don't you worry. I'll sleep in your old room tonight and keep a close eye on her."

Ruby thanked her warmly and walked out with Garrison.

The older woman glanced at Cassian, then back at the tear-streaked face of Monica, temporarily at a loss for words.

Monica's heart hammered wildly against her ribs, beating even faster than when she was caught trying to seduce him.

On paper, she was the pampered daughter of the Ashley family. But she was of marriageable age. No matter how much her family doted on her, an arranged political marriage was inevitable. That was why she was so desperate to sleep with Cassian and force his hand. She didn't want a loveless arrangement; she wanted to secure the man of her choice.

If she had succeeded, her methods might have been despicable, but tying herself to Cassian would have secured her family's blessing.

But now...

Monica bit her lip, two fresh trails of tears sliding down her cheeks.

If the Ashley family found out she had humiliated herself like this and failed, the sheer weight of ruining the family's reputation would crush her entirely.

"Don't tell them? Hah."

Suddenly, Cassian, who had been sitting in a dead silence, spoke up. His eyes underwent a terrifying shift, fixing on Monica with the cold, lethal intent of a venomous snake. The look sent violent shivers down her spine.

"When you orchestrated this little scheme, did you ever stop to think about me?"