Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 354

“Are you finished?”

Ruby, bored out of her mind, toyed with her nails and shot a cold look upward. “Hand over what my grandmother left behind.”

“I made it clear at the hospital—if you refused to donate blood for Gennifer, then you’re no longer a Grayson. Don’t think you can take a single thing from this family,” Hanley spat, turning away with an intimidating air.

But Ruby didn’t even flinch. She just raised a lazy eyebrow, as if she’d expected all this. “Pamela.”

She barely uttered the name before a broad-shouldered middle-aged woman strode out from behind her.

Hanley and Frieda froze, thrown off by Ruby’s move.

Pamela marched forward and, without warning, grabbed Hanley by the collar. “Give it up, or we’ll go inside and take it ourselves!”

Hanley’s face flushed hot as Pamela hoisted him off his feet. She was taller and more solid than most men her age, and Hanley, dangling from her grip, looked more like a scrawny rooster than the patriarch of the household.

Humiliation and anger crashed over him at once. His face burned crimson as he glared daggers at Ruby. “Ruby, this is the kind of riffraff you keep company with? Tell her to put me down, now!”

He bellowed, but Ruby just strolled over, casually shoved him aside, and dropped herself onto the seat he’d just vacated.

Gennifer, sitting barely a foot away, shrank back, her voice barely above a whisper. “You…”

Ruby shot her a brief, indifferent glance, then turned her attention to Frieda. “You—go get the box.”

Frieda bristled at Ruby’s arrogance and lunged, trying to pry Pamela’s arm away.

But against Pamela’s strength, Frieda’s effort didn’t even register. With a flick of her arm, Pamela sent Frieda stumbling, only to be caught by a flustered housekeeper rushing in.

“Ruby, you ungrateful brat!” Hanley shouted, still dangling awkwardly. “Bringing this trash into the Grayson house to make a scene—you really are a disgrace!”

His outrage echoed through the room, stripping him of every ounce of dignity he’d fought to preserve.

Frieda paused, startled by Hanley’s outburst. Her gaze flickered with something—complicated, uneasy—but it vanished so quickly it left no trace.

Pamela, keep an eye on them. I’ll search for it myself,” Ruby snapped, striding deeper into the house.

At last, Gennifer moved, throwing her arms wide to block Ruby’s path. “Sis, please—don’t do this. Just apologize to Mom and Dad. If you do, I’m sure they’ll give you Grandma’s things.”

Her eyes were sincere, almost pleading—but Ruby didn’t hesitate. She chopped Gennifer’s arm aside, making her yelp and clutch it in pain, her face twisted in shock.

She never thought Ruby would actually hit her.

Ruby’s fingers trembled. She looked up, meeting Frieda’s glare.

Her whole life, she’d never been wanted in this house. Her father had always been distant, indifferent. Once Gennifer arrived, Ruby finally understood her place in the Grayson family.

Not as good as Gennifer? Really?

She’d been a top student since she started school, courted by prestigious law firms straight out of college, and within two years had made a name for herself as one of Quinborough’s most promising young attorneys.

But when she brought home perfect report cards, her parents never spared her a word of praise. Gennifer would barely scrape by, and they’d beam with pride, as if they’d found their golden child.

Was she really inferior to Gennifer—or was she just a casualty of their bias?

Ruby’s fist clenched so tight her knuckles whitened, her body trembling with a cold that seeped all the way to her bones.

Suddenly, a warm hand closed around hers.

Ruby blinked in surprise, looking down to see Fanny beside her.

Fanny didn’t say a word, only turned her face away. But her hand held on, steady and warm, grounding Ruby in the storm.