Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 230

Ruby’s hesitation came through the line as uncertainty, but on the other end, it was taken as outright suspicion.

“Just wait! Just you wait!” Townsend exploded, practically shouting.

A split second later, the call cut off—just the flat, abrupt beep of a terminated connection.

Ruby lowered her phone, staring at it, bewildered. The name “Townsend Caldwell” flashed once on the screen before fading to black.

What on earth is he playing at?

Frowning, she set her phone aside and turned her attention back to Mira, gently lifting her onto the bed and soothing her to sleep.

It wasn’t until the lights were out and the house was quiet that Townsend’s message popped up again: “I’ve got a surprise for you tomorrow!”

Ruby stared in confusion, wanting to reply, but Townsend didn’t respond again.

With nothing else to do, she finally tried to get some rest.

Outside, thick clouds choked the night sky. Inside, sleeplessness gnawed at more than a few souls.

In Quinborough’s most exclusive penthouse, the lights still burned well past midnight. Near the window, a woman’s furious, trembling voice slipped through the cracks:

“Three hundred thousand and you can’t even handle it? Useless! You swore you’d take care of everything, that there’d be no loose ends. Now the people you hired are behind bars?”

On the other end, after enduring her tirade, the reply burst out, raw and angry: “We should be the ones yelling at you! You told us it was just some random woman—how were we supposed to know she was connected to Cassian?”

That name silenced the woman instantly, though she still protested, “She’s just an ex-con with a marriage on the rocks. What’s the big deal? I paid you three hundred thousand!”

“Three million couldn’t fix this mess! You’ve nearly gotten us all killed with this job!”

Whether it was frustration or just the urgency of cleaning up the disaster, the other party slammed the phone down.

A heaviness settled over Ruby’s heart. If even Cassian’s right-hand man said it was hopeless, just who had she attracted the attention of?

“But please, don’t worry too much,” Bennett added, his tone softening. “Even if we can’t find whoever’s behind this, you’re surrounded by professional bodyguards now. And Mr. Veyne has already sent his people to deal with the criminal network responsible.”

He offered her a reassuring smile, urging her to let go of her worries.

If Bennett said so, Ruby had little choice but to trust him—for now.

“What about everything online?” she asked, shifting the conversation away from the kidnappers. “How is Cassian handling the media storm?”

Ruby’s real worry was for Mira. She never imagined people could stoop so low for the sake of a few clicks—smearing her was one thing, but dragging Mira’s name through the mud was more than she could bear. The anger she’d been holding back threatened to break through her usually calm exterior.

Bennett hesitated. “Since you don’t want to reveal Miss Mira’s origins, all we can do for now is rely on Veyne & Co.’s reputation to keep the rumors under control.”