Burn Me Once, Burn With Me novel Chapter 676

Gennifer's fingers went rigid against the steering wheel. A crushing wave of sorrow and bitter irony seeped into her bones, making her ache with an unbearable itch.

She kept her head bowed, letting the messy strands of her hair hide most of her face.

Forcing a painfully bright smile, she replied, "Mom, what are you talking about? Why would I overthink it? We finally get to be a happy, reunited family. That's all that matters to me."

Violet's piercing gaze studied Gennifer's face for a long, heavy moment before finally drifting away.

"Good."

After that, absolute silence swallowed the car. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

...

Starseek Research Institute.

Before walking through the doors, Romaine carefully scrubbed her face clean of her disguise and even took a moment to reapply a flawless coat of makeup.

She walked toward Victor Hargrove's office, her expression perfectly composed.

But instead of the usual bright lights she expected, the office was pitch black. Not a single lamp was on.

Romaine frowned in confusion. She glanced out the window; the sky was completely dark.

Where could Mr. Hargrove be at this hour?

Puzzled, Romaine instinctively pushed the door.

It wasn't locked. It was just pulled shut.

Her unease grew with every second.

She took two cautious steps inside, the darkness instantly swallowing her silhouette.

She stopped moving.

She had barely stepped into the room, but it felt terrifyingly cold.

Just as Romaine was about to turn around and leave—

Click—

The overhead lights flared to life, blindingly bright, like the midday sun directly above her.

Romaine flinched violently, only then realizing that Victor was sitting right in front of her.

His posture was straight, but he couldn't hide the sheer exhaustion etched into his features.

The bone-chilling cold in the room was radiating entirely from him.

Romaine forced her expression into something that resembled normalcy.

"Where were you?"

Victor raised his eyes, his gaze freezing over as he cut straight to the chase.

Romaine's mind scrambled through a dozen prepared excuses, and she smiled flawlessly. "I made quite a few friends here in Quinborough. Since I'll be heading back soon, I figured I should grab dinner and say my goodbyes."

Victor didn't respond. He just stared at her face, then let out a cold laugh. "How was the environment at Hanley's factory?"

Romaine's face drained of all color.

She swallowed hard, desperately trying to formulate a lie, but under the crushing weight of that icy stare, her voice completely failed her.

Victor never made accusations without absolute proof.

Her hands fell to her sides, tightly gripping the fabric of her trousers.

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