Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 379

He regretted it—regretted it so bitterly he could hardly breathe.

How did Mr. Veyne know?

But… hadn’t Mr. Veyne always seemed completely indifferent to Ruby? Why would he suddenly show up now, all because of something that happened a year ago?

At first, Bennett had assumed Cassian was just venting his anger at the warden. But as the conversation unfolded, the fog began to clear, and Bennett started to sense there was more to this than met the eye.

Could it be… was the warden actually behind everything that made Mrs. Veyne’s time in prison so miserable?

That thought alone made Bennett instantly understand the murderous rage Cassian had just unleashed.

“Who was it?” Cassian’s voice was ice. Though some calm had returned to him, his eyes were still as cold and unnerving as a winter storm.

The warden, trembling, lay face-down on the floor, afraid even to lift his head.

“It was… it was…”

His brief hesitation was met with a swift, merciless kick from Cassian.

The warden crashed into the sofa with a sickening thud.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I never saw the man—he gave me a hefty sum and told me to make things as hard as possible for Ruby. I did hesitate, since she was your wife… but the man said you and she were married in name only, and that now, since he’d stolen secrets from Veyne & Co., you’d only resent her more. He told me not to worry, that he was acting on your behalf…”

“So… wasn’t it you who wanted Ruby to be ‘taken care of’?” the warden’s voice quivered as violently as his body.

Cassian staggered back a step, nearly losing his balance. “It wasn’t me. I never—” His brow was deeply furrowed.

He hadn’t expected that the person who hurt her would do it under his name.

No wonder Ruby had been so desperate to leave him after getting out; no wonder she hated him so much.

A knife twisted in Cassian’s gut. But what stung even more was the guilt over his own apathy.

“Bennett. Go through everything that happened in this prison over the past year. Everyone involved, whether they participated or stood by and did nothing—they all pay back tenfold.”

His voice was glacial.

The entire prison seemed to freeze in an instant.

The warden collapsed, nothing more than a heap of frightened flesh on the cold floor.

They’d harmed Ruby, and now retribution was coming.

Cassian strode away, the last remnants of warmth leaving with him.

Ruby crouched in front of little Mira, carefully bringing a warm bottle of formula to her daughter’s rosy lips.

Her hair fell softly across her face, hiding her delicate features. Every movement radiated gentle patience and quiet grace.

Cassian’s gaze darkened.

Ruby straightened, glancing around as if sensing eyes on her.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching. After scanning the quiet grounds and finding nothing, she chalked it up to exhaustion-induced paranoia.

She’d been busy—so busy. The recent acquisition of shares in The Grayson Group had consumed her. The early rounds, buying up small stakes, had been easy enough, but the larger shares had proven far more difficult to get.

She’d asked Garrison Cloud to investigate, only to discover Veyne & Co. was the one blocking her way.

It made sense, she supposed. Her grandmother had left her a substantial inheritance, and in a city like Quinborough, only a handful of powerful families had enough influence to interfere. They had no ties to the Graysons and certainly no interest in getting involved, which meant Veyne & Co. was the only real threat.

What surprised her was that, just when she’d braced herself for a direct confrontation with Veyne & Co., dawn had brought a string of unexpected emails: shareholders who’d stubbornly refused her offers for weeks were suddenly eager to sell.

She couldn’t figure out what game Veyne & Co. was playing, but she wasted no time closing the deals.

Now, she held a commanding forty percent stake in The Grayson Group.