Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 475

She kept her eyes downcast, looking every bit the dutiful housekeeper as she readied herself to take out the trash. Casually, she tapped her phone screen to sleep before tucking it back into her apron pocket.

Moving quietly, Gayle slipped out of the apartment where Hanley and the others were gathered. Her hand slid into her coat pocket, retrieving her phone. She quickly sent the recording she’d just made to Bennett.

Bennett had only just arrived home when his phone chimed. Unlocking it, he played the audio without a second thought, and Hanley and Violet’s voices poured out. As he listened to their scheming, shock flickered in his eyes, soon replaced by a look of utter contempt for the shameless pair.

[Transfer: $15,000]

He sent the money over without hesitation.

“Well done.”

Gayle stared at the orange notification, so excited her hands trembled.

“Thank you, Bennett!”

After accepting the transfer, she pressed her phone to her chest, stole a cautious glance around, and quickly tucked it away again. Doing her best to appear calm and natural, she dropped the trash in the bin, suppressing the thrill bubbling inside her.

Meanwhile, Bennett forwarded the recorded call to Cassian Veyne as well.

Thank goodness he hadn’t tipped them off, or he never would’ve discovered just how long these two had been plotting—and what they were really up to.

When the recording began playing in Cassian’s car, he barely spared it a glance, his gaze drifting out the window. Only as the audio continued did his brow furrow and his attention snap back.

The Steele family?

He interlaced his fingers, rubbing his knuckles together, eyes narrowing as a tangle of emotions flickered in their depths. Suddenly, a memory surfaced—what he’d overlooked all along: Frieda’s background.

She was from the Steeles. The Capital’s Steele family.

As the call replayed in his mind, a sense of unease crept through him.

Cassian decided he’d speak to Ruby Grayson once he returned to the hotel. Just then, he caught sight of them emerging from that old house.

His gaze immediately found Ruby, leading the group. Since their divorce, it was as if she’d gained a new radiance—gentle, bright, with a warmth he’d never noticed before. Regret twisted in his chest.

“Didn’t expect Landon to be so generous. Hayley’s obsessed with ‘Flourish Symphony’—if she finds out you brought home the complete score, she’ll be over the moon,” Fanny said, following Ruby into the car, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Landon, meanwhile, was loading things into the trunk. “What’s up?” he asked, blinking innocently as he caught their gaze, scratching his head in confusion. “Did I do something?”

“They’re complimenting you,” Ruby said with a smile. “Come on, get in.”

Landon never argued with Ruby. He climbed obediently into the backseat, while Fanny shot Ruby a playful wink in the rearview mirror. Ruby coughed, quickly turning away to hide her embarrassment.

“Grandma, I’m Ruby’s husband. This is the first time I’ve come to pay my respects after all these years. I’m sorry.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than a sudden thunderclap split the sky.

Cassian looked up just in time to see a brilliant bolt of lightning slash through what moments before had been a clear blue sky, now smothered by rolling clouds.

Rain was coming—fast.

A deeper sense of foreboding gnawed at him as he hurried back to his car and sped toward the hotel.

“Faster,” he barked at his driver.

They arrived just as Ruby and the others were heading upstairs. Relief washed over him at the sight.

He barely had time to enter the lobby before the skies opened up in a torrential downpour, raindrops drumming the pavement like nails.

Cassian reached his floor just in time to be nearly bowled over by Ruby, who came tearing around the corner, panic written all over her face.

She stumbled and fell straight into his arms.

His heart lurched; instinctively, he caught her, pulling her close.