The Don Tore Up Our Divorce (Gemma and Cassian) novel Chapter 441

Chapter 441
Gemma's POV

The confession turns the air sour. 

Aiden had a child with another woman, perhaps a lover. 

When Ava found out, their marriage almost broke apart. He swore it was a mistake, and for William’s sake, she chose to stay. 

However, the price was the other woman and her son being paid off and exiled abroad. Sent away like a problem to be solved. Who could have predicted the problem would return, ready to take revenge?

“But why does he look just like me?” 

William’s voice is choked with tears and emotions that he hasn't even processed yet. 

For him, the question is bigger than his parents' wedding. This half-brother whom he has never met is out there, stealing his identity and putting his reputation at stake. 

Aiden shakes his head, a feeble attempt at denial. “He does not. It just looks similar on the surveillance footage. If you saw him in person, you would see the differences.” 

He says it with the shaky confidence of a man who hasn’t laid eyes on that child in decades, clinging to the hope that they aren’t perfect mirrors.

William just stares at his father, a storm of emotions churning behind his eyes. The estrangement over his career was one thing.  But this?! A secret half-sibling, a living proof of his father’s betrayal, is something else entirely. 

It’s a poison growing in the foundation of his family.

“Have you had any contact with them over the years?” 

William’s question is accusatory.

“No,” Aiden insists, his gaze darting toward the stairs where his wife has barricaded herself. “After they went abroad, we lost contact. I swore to Ava I would never see them again.” 

Until this video came up, reminding them of a past he thought he’d buried.

“Is he back to find you?” 

William presses on. 

“I don't know!”

Aiden says, but his face shows an emotion of embarrassment and hope, all together. 

The possibility that his son is here for him, even out of anger, is enough for him to feel grateful for. And Mr. Clarke is not very good at hiding his emotions. 

“If that’s the case,” William continues, “this man shouldn’t know Gemma at all. Why does he keep trying to harm her?” 

He looks at me, his confusion genuine. First the pool, now the light stand. Who knows what’s next? If he’s a psychopath and follows me to Florisdale… The unspoken fear hangs between us all. 

Security abroad is a different, looser beast.

We leave Clark Manor under a pall of grim revelation. On the sidewalk, William turns to me, his expression solemn, shadowed by the cast on his arm. “I am very sorry, Ms. Marino. Although I was unaware of this situation before, it does not change the fact that this person resembles me and is my half-brother. I have a responsibility to apologize on his behalf.”

I shake my head. The formal ‘Ms. Marino’ underscores the new, painful distance between us. “No need. This has nothing to do with you. If anything, I should apologize for throwing water on you in the cinema last time.” The memory feels like it belongs to another lifetime, to different people.

William just nods. Any flicker of romantic interest he’d had was thoroughly doused that day, along with his shirt. Now, there’s only this bizarre, burdensome familial connection to a would-be killer.

“Gemma, what do we do now?” Zina asks, her usual bravado deflated. “You’re leaving tomorrow. If he doesn’t show himself, how can we catch him?”

I feel the same helplessness. Mikhail’s surgery is a ticking clock. I have to go. “I don’t know,” I admit, the words tasting like ash.

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