The Don Tore Up Our Divorce (Gemma and Cassian) novel Chapter 153

153 /397

**Before Rain Touches Earth Memories Return With Gentle Warmth by Eli Dane**

**Chapter 153**

**Gemma’s POV**

Reyna’s nails, sharp and unforgiving, dig into my palm like the jagged edges of shattered glass, transforming my skin to a pale hue under her ruthless grip. The intensity of her hold sends a shiver through me, tightening my breath and igniting a spark of defiance within.

She leans closer, her voice dripping with venom as each word escapes her lips, her breath warm against my cheeks, a tangible reminder of her fury. “I’m done playing this ridiculous cat-and-mouse game. Let me be blunt: filing for divorce from Cassian is the most rational choice you’ve ever made with that peanut-sized brain of yours. So why don’t you just follow through with it?”

I tug at my hand, desperate to break free from her grasp, but her fingers refuse to relent. Instead, they scrape across my skin, leaving behind angry red trails that throb with pain, a stark contrast to the fire igniting in my chest. I hiss, feeling the sharpness of her nails dig deeper, but I refuse to let this pain weaken me.

With a fierce glare, I snap back, “I didn’t ask for your input. Why do you feel entitled to meddle in my life as if any of this is your business?”

Her eyes flare with the intensity of two burning coals, and she screams back in disbelief. “Is it not my business when you’re actively ruining my life?”

As she trembles with rage, her words come out in a harsh, clipped manner, and I can see the frustration etched across her face. “You agreed to stay married to Cassian for another year, didn’t you? So just keep your head down and wait for that bloody year to pass. Or I swear, you’ll live to regret this.”

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my voice and shake off the fury bubbling inside me. “What I truly regret is my silence over the years, allowing you to weave your manipulations and lies until everyone believed I was the problem. But I’ve learned my lesson now.”

“You still don’t understand, do you?”

In an instant, the fire in her voice cools, morphing into the familiar arrogance that often cloaks her. She scoffs, looking down at me as if I were a slow-witted child, struggling to comprehend the obvious. “You have no idea how bitterly you’re going to lose, and the spectacle I’ll make of you. At least have the self-awareness to reflect on your past and learn something from it!”

Her words pierce through me, a painful reminder of all the times she successfully twisted the narrative against me. Each birthday, every special occasion had revolved around her… but that’s all in the past now.

I press my lips together, trying to contain the storm brewing inside me, but she lets out a cruel laugh, sharp and mocking. “It’s obvious to everyone, except you and your champion Donovan, that you don’t deserve Cassian at all. Even he knows it, but he’s stuck with you because of his grandfather’s blackmail. But you…”

She sneers, her expression morphing into that of a feral cat ready to pounce. “If you had even half a brain, you would step aside and let us be together, where we belong! You’ve been nothing but a burden your entire life. Do you really need to torture him for another year?”

My spine stiffens at her words, a surge of indignation flooding through me. “I’m not the one clinging to this marriage; you should at least acknowledge that—”

“Oh, spare me! Just get it through your thick skull that I’m the one he wants to be with. We were together, and he was planning to marry me after college! Do you think he even glanced your way until Donovan forced his hand?”

Tears threaten to spill from my eyes, but I refuse to let her see me falter. Reyna’s rage is so palpable, it seeps into every word she hurls at me, her venom unfiltered and raw. “You don’t know the first thing about him, and you certainly don’t deserve to. In fact, speaking of deserving, you don’t deserve to live either. Without Donovan’s pity, you and that rabid witch you call mother would have perished three years ago.”

I can feel my anger reaching its boiling point. “And all because you abandoned us to struggle with his debt, leaving me no choice but to plead with Grandfather for help—”

“I wish he hadn’t. Because if he hadn’t forced Cassian to marry you, I would be his wife. And he would finally be happy!”

Her eyes bore into mine, filled with a mix of fury and desperation. “But now he’s just a shadow of himself, and you! You’re too selfish to even care.”

Maybe he would be happier, I think, the thought slipping into my mind unbidden. I know their history all too well, having witnessed the moment Grandpa announced the marriage condition… she had been cradled in his arms, sobbing as he delivered the crushing news that severed their bond.