Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 502

Gennifer bit her lip, her face drained of color.

Ruby tilted her head, her tone casual yet piercing. “Since when is giving a statement to the police something shameful? If someone’s done something wrong, shouldn’t the guilty party be the one afraid of the truth coming out?”

She lifted her chin, her expression hardening. “Morgan’s not afraid—so why should I be?”

“I… I…”

Gennifer’s teeth pressed harder into her lip.

“Well?” Ruby’s gaze sharpened on Gennifer. “You called all those reporters here. Were you hoping to catch some scandalous moment between me and Morgan?”

“No! Of course not! Ruby, how could you think that of me?”

Gennifer’s panic was written all over her face as she waved her hands in frantic denial.

Ruby merely smiled, silent, her eyes cool and unmoved by Gennifer’s theatrics.

“Exactly. There’s an old saying: if you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear. Miss Gennifer, you’ve been insisting Mr. Blackwood wronged Miss Ruby—so calling the police should have been the most logical thing to do, right? A police investigation would clear Miss Ruby’s name far more effectively than any rumors ever could.”

A thin, almost timid voice piped up from somewhere in the crowd.

This time, Ruby spotted the speaker—Asher, hunched in the corner, the brim of his cap nearly hiding his anxious eyes.

Her brows arched in faint surprise, and despite herself, a smile tugged at her lips. There was a warmth blooming quietly in her chest.

She’d come to Quinborough intending to investigate Asher’s family, to find out what exactly happened all those years ago. Yet by the time she arrived, they’d already moved out, leaving only Asher behind. At first, he’d simply been a potential witness to clear her name, nothing more. But now, watching him step up for her, something shifted in her gaze—a newfound depth as she looked at him.

All around, the crowd was still buzzing with gossip and speculation, everyone too distracted by the commotion to notice who had spoken up for Ruby.

But Asher’s words landed with a thud. Those who’d been trying to defend the Graysons and persuade Ruby fell silent, their arguments dying on their lips.

They exchanged uneasy glances, each seeing the others’ doubts reflected back.

And as the uproar began to subside, Gennifer realized that if she let things continue, public opinion would soon turn even further against her.

She clenched her jaw, painting herself as the victim forced into a corner. “Ruby, do you really want me to say everything here, out loud?”

Her voice was low and trembling, eyes full of struggle.

The crowd looked on, confused.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, studying Gennifer with rare confusion.

Did she really dare?

Morgan might not yet rival Cassian, but he was still the second most powerful man in Quinborough. Was Gennifer really willing to throw him under the bus just to clear her own name?

Wasn’t she afraid of what Morgan might do to her in retaliation?

Ruby frowned, a heavy fog settling in her mind. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something important was being hidden from her, something she just couldn’t quite grasp.

“So, in Quinborough, power outranks the law?”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the corner—aged and quavering, yet strangely innocent in its candor.

The bluntness of the question startled everyone. Heads turned as one to find the speaker.

Ruby hadn’t expected anyone to be so bold, but as she searched the crowd, her eyes landed first on a tall figure in a blaze of crimson red.