Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 500

He shook his head. “It’s not just the adopted daughter. Frieda and Hanley have both been pressuring her.”

At those words, the three of them exchanged glances, confusion clearly etched on their faces.

“How could that be? Has Frieda finally lost her mind in her old age? That’s her own daughter—how can she side with an adopted child over her own flesh and blood?” They frowned, disbelief plain in their voices. “Unless that girl has truly gone astray?”

“No, Ruby’s a good kid. She’s the one who’s been wronged,” Sylas replied quietly.

He gave them a brief rundown of what he knew about Ruby’s past.

The car fell silent as Sylas spoke, his calm voice filling the heavy air. The deeper he went, the grimmer Pearl’s expression became, her composure cracking for the first time in years.

When Sylas got to the part about Ruby being driven out of the Grayson family, the old man lifted his cane and slammed it down hard against the car floor.

The sudden crack seemed to shake the whole vehicle.

“That’s enough! Ever since she married Hanley, Frieda’s lost all sense!” he spat, clutching his chest in outrage. “Now she’s even mistreating her own daughter? And that Gennifer—if what you’re saying is true, her appearance is no coincidence. Vultures, the lot of them! How dare they treat Ruby this way?”

The old woman chimed in immediately. “Pearl, wait. Let’s not go to the Grayson house. We should—” She turned to Sylas.

“Apex Legal Partners,” Sylas supplied quickly.

“Yes!” the old lady declared, waving her hand. “Take us to my granddaughter’s firm—Apex Legal Partners!”

Compared to Frieda, who was clearly beyond redemption, she was far more eager to meet this impressive granddaughter Sylas had spoken so highly of.

Pearl didn’t object—she simply nodded in agreement.

“And then what?” the old man pressed, peering at Sylas, eager for the rest of the story.

Sylas hesitated. The next part involved Violet, and the old man’s suspicion about Gennifer’s sudden appearance was right on the mark. But with the truth not yet out, and Ruby keeping silent, Sylas wasn’t sure if he should reveal everything.

Gennifer bit her lip, humiliation written all over her face, but Hanley’s instructions were clear. She forced herself to look up at Ruby.

“Sis, you’ve got it all wrong.”

“Oh?” Ruby arched an eyebrow, her expression cool and almost bored.

Gennifer’s heart twisted at Ruby’s indifference, but she swallowed her frustration and pressed on with the script her father had drilled into her.

She looked at Ruby with wide, pleading eyes, desperately trying to remember if she’d gotten her lines right—her father had made her rehearse them over and over.

On the outside, she was the picture of a damsel in distress, tears streaming down her pretty face.