The Don Tore Up Our Divorce (Gemma and Cassian) novel Chapter 181

**Before Rain Touches Earth Memories Return With Gentle Warmth by Eli Dane Crest 181**

**Chapter 181**

**Gemma’s POV**

The progress bar on my screen steadily inches forward, now reading 68%. Zina, perched in her chair, leans back and cracks her knuckles, the sound echoing in the tense silence of the room.

My fingers hover above the keyboard, a nervous energy coursing through me, but the tightness in my shoulders begins to dissipate, just a little. The timer in the corner of the screen ominously counts down, reminding us we have roughly forty-five minutes left to execute our plan.

Zina’s laptop is a whirlwind of activity, the probes it’s running doing exactly what we intended. They’re distracting the national firewall team with a series of small but chaotic attacks, resulting in frantic and utterly misguided responses.

Everything is unfolding just as we had meticulously planned.

“We might actually pull this off without getting—”

وو

Zina’s words are abruptly cut short as my monitor suddenly flashes a warning in glaring red.

**CRITICAL ALERT – TRACE INITIATED. IP LOGGED.**

Zina jolts forward in her seat, her eyes wide with panic. “Shit! Shit. They found us? Gemma…”

I can feel the adrenaline surging through my veins. “They just picked up on your attack mode. Yerise’s core team is online, and they’re currently triangulating the IP chain. We have… five minutes at best.”

She scoots her chair closer, urgency radiating from her.

“Okay… okay, we still have time. We can cut the session and call it a day. We’ve installed enough of the virus already. If it works, we get paid; if not, we bail now while we still can.”

“And leave a half-finished payload for an active cyber defense team to reverse-engineer?” I reply flatly, though a smirk creeps onto my lips.

“Gemma!?” Zina’s disbelief is palpable. “You’re grinning like a lunatic… why are you smiling?”

“Because I have a Plan B.”

“What!? You never mentioned anything about a Plan B.”

While Zina stands there, her jaw practically on the floor, I reach into the side pocket of my backpack and pull out a small matte-black USB drive that Jace had given me, just in case of emergencies.

I plug it into the port, and a new interface materializes on the screen.

“That’s because I never needed it,” I say coolly, my heart racing. “Until now.”

The code deploys instantaneously, slipping under the trace and erasing all the digital fingerprints we might have left behind at the crime scene. As the wipe reaches 100%, I seamlessly switch back to the main terminal and push the virus through the backend vulnerability.

72%… 81%… 93%—the transfer accelerates within three minutes.

**100% Deployment Successful**

**Time: 3:49:55**

I exhale slowly, disbelief washing over me as I take in the scene.

“It’s done!”

Zina covers her mouth with her hand, stifling a squeal that escapes her lips.

“Holy shit! Gemma, I’m going to name you my goddess and worship at your altar! Daily!”

A wave of laughter bubbles out of me, relief flooding my senses. Just then, the door behind us slides open, and a young man dressed in a tailored suit strides in, looking more like a model than a soldier.

“The Don has requested your presence,” he says, his smile tight and formal. “Please follow me, ladies.”

We follow him into a lounge that seems entirely out of place for a facility like this. The white marble floors, plush rugs, and dark-paneled walls evoke the ambiance of a gentleman’s speakeasy, rather than a hidden military installation.

“Well done, ladies,” Smith greets us as we enter, his demeanor shifting to one of approval. “Your funds will be transferred to you shortly, and I must commend you on the incredible job. I have to admit, you’re full of surprises. And you…”

He looks directly at me, as Zina bows exaggeratedly, “You’re the strongest female hacker I’ve ever encountered, young lady.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify