Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 16

"Can't speak, huh? Then just read what's on the page!" He tossed a sheet of paper at her. It was a template, pre-written for her.

"I can't read," she replied, her voice hollow.

Her empty gaze met his.

"Oh, you expect me to believe that? Illiteracy's been wiped out for decades. What are you playing at, thinking you can get away with it? Don't you want to live? Think about your child."

Stephen Shaw grinned, a cruel edge to his smile.

Ruby closed her eyes for a moment, her hands stiff as she picked up the paper. She stared at the words of gratitude printed there, her mouth moving like a marionette's, lifeless and forced.

"Mr. Cassian, thank you for your generosity… for giving me a warm coat and blankets. In this cold weather, you've provided a safe haven for me… and my child. Your kindness… my child and I… will never forget."

She stumbled over the words, her voice faltering.

In the end, the paper slipped from her trembling fingers and fluttered to the floor.

Her face was as white as a ghost.

Stephen Shaw, looking smug, switched off the camera and strode toward her.

His eyes lingered on the pale skin at her collarbone, exposed beneath her disheveled shirt. He swallowed, his intentions clear.

"Come on, Ruby. Make Stephen happy just this once, hmm?"

…

Crash.

The door suddenly slammed open.

"Hey, Mr. Shaw, sorry to barge in, but the baby's been crying her lungs out and won't settle unless she's with her mom." Pamela's voice was loud and brash, as she stormed in with several other women behind her.

"I couldn't calm her down, so I brought her over. Hope we're not interrupting anything important."

They burst in just in time to see Ruby on the bed, her shirt yanked down to her shoulder, revealing a swath of pale skin.

In Ruby's hand was a screwdriver, its tip stained with blood.

Her eyes were wild and red-rimmed, her whole body shaking violently.

Across from her, Stephen Shaw clutched his bleeding neck, his belt half-unbuckled as he hurled curses.

"You filthy whore! Already knocked up and with a kid, who are you trying to impress, pretending to be so pure?"

When he turned and saw Pamela and the others, his face clouded with embarrassment.

"She was coming on to me, you hear?"

Pamela's nose turned red, and she rubbed at her eyes, at a loss for words.

"God help us, Ruby, how did you end up on Stephen Shaw's radar?"

"Yeah, honey, if it weren't for that scar and the baby, you'd have half the neighborhood after you. If only things were different, I'd introduce you to my nephew."

"Maybe you should think about a different job. You're still young—no need to be stuck cleaning the streets with us old ladies."

Their voices murmured around her, a soft chorus of concern and regret.

Ruby hugged Mira tightly, her body swaying as if she might collapse.

Cassian…

You disappeared for so long. Why did you have to come back and haunt me and Mira now?

She pressed her face against Mira's, gazing at her daughter's sweet, innocent features, and at last, the sobs she'd been holding back broke free.

Mira reached up, tiny fingers brushing her mother's cheek, as if trying to comfort her.

Ruby felt, for a moment, a fragile warmth in her frozen heart.

But as fate would have it, trouble was never far behind…