Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 292

A wave of guilt and heartache washed over her.

Ruby’s eyes, soft and luminous, rested on Fanny.

Fanny, however, seemed completely unbothered. She calmly swallowed a bite of steamed broccoli, set down her fork, and gave Ruby a once-over, a rare note of approval glimmering in her eyes.

“I’m staying away from places where your social circle might show up. And since I’m out of a job, it’ll be tough to find work for a while. I need to be careful with my savings.”

She’d grown up in a regular family, after all—eating a few cheap meals was hardly a hardship.

Ruby’s palms clenched, a heavy pressure building in her chest. “What if… you come work at my studio? I could pay you a salary.”

Fanny looked up at her, puzzled. “Your studio? Aren’t you a fashion designer? What could someone with a law degree possibly do there?”

Ruby opened her mouth, searching for words, but Fanny silenced her with a raised hand. “Don’t try to make it up to me out of guilt. This is my decision, and I’m standing by the profession I love. I’m not doing this for you.”

She sipped her tea, unruffled.

Though she was half a head shorter than Ruby, in this moment she seemed to glow with a quiet, unwavering strength.

The legal world needed people like Fanny—people with conviction. Yet, talent like hers was so rarely cherished.

Ruby’s heart twisted with a thousand tangled feelings.

“If there’s nothing else, you should go,” Fanny said, setting her fork down again. “Given your situation, it’s safer to keep a low profile.” She paused, then added, “I’m doing fine.”

It was her way of telling Ruby not to worry, to focus on her own troubles first.

It was strange—ever since they’d crossed paths again at the District Court of Quinborough, Fanny had kept an eye on Ruby’s situation. She hadn’t expected so much chaos after Ruby’s release from prison. Becoming Mrs. Cassian, wife of the city’s wealthiest man, had only brought Ruby a storm of new problems.

Ruby looked glamorous on the surface, dressed in designer clothes, but the storms of online harassment came in relentless waves. Anyone less resilient might have already cracked under the pressure.

Fanny’s words were final. Ruby, still anxious, knew nothing she offered would change Fanny’s mind. With a heavy sigh, she said, “Take care.”

Two simple words—but they carried so much weight.

Fanny paused, lowering her head as she quietly murmured, “You too.”

But Ruby had barely stepped out of the tiny café before she ran right into two all-too-familiar faces.

Frieda and Elin’s eyes lit up the instant they saw her. Waving excitedly over the bustling crowd, they yelled, “Over here! It’s her!”

Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. Frieda’s triumphant smile exploded in her mind like fireworks.

Before she could react, the crowd behind them surged forward like a pack of wolves. “Ruby! You bribed the judge for an unfair verdict—how dare you show your face here!”

She ran on instinct, mind blank, legs moving in a desperate, mechanical rhythm.

These people were out of their minds.

There was no way to stay and defend herself—none of them wanted to hear her side. Until she could prove her innocence, no one would listen, lost as they were in their own warped sense of justice.

If she’d hesitated for even a moment, that frenzied crowd would have torn her apart.

Ruby ran faster, but the noise behind her only grew.

They were gaining on her.

Her head start was shrinking with every step.

A cold dread settled in her chest. The pounding of footsteps behind her sounded like a drum against her back—so close she could almost feel their breath.

“There she is!”

That shout made her blood run cold.

She didn’t dare look back. She pushed her aching legs to keep going, running for her life.