The Don Tore Up Our Divorce (Gemma and Cassian) novel Chapter 524

Chapter 524

+2 Bonus

Gemma’s POV

Jeremy is so startled he fumbles his fishing rod, the tip dipping toward the water before he catches it. He hears Zina’s shout and his head snaps toward us.

His eyes take in her flushed face, the telltale glaze in her eyes, and his expression shifts from focus to weary recognition. He puts the rod down carefully and walks over, his pace measured.

“How much did she drink?”

He asks me, his voice low. Zina pouts, leaning heavily against my shoulder. “Why do you care how much I drank?”

I start to answer, keeping my voice a whisper. “Two bottles…

No.”

My words trail off as my gaze catches on the pile of discarded items near the cooler. Nestled beside the empty beer bottles are two small, distinctive bottles of Jägermeister. I stare, my surprise turning to alarm. Zina mixed beer with Jägermeister!?

No wonder she’s unspooling so fast.

1/8

10:46

क्ष

+2 Bonus

<Chapter 524

of helplessness settles over his features. Zina chooses that moment to detach from me and latch onto him, her arms winding around his neck like clinging vines. If we weren’t in this relatively remote spot, I think he’d be bright red with embarrassment.

“Jeremy,” she slurs, her face tilted up to his, “do you like me?”

I immediately look away, pretending to be intensely interested in a distant cloud. But as a best friend, a small part of me is focused on them too, my hearing sharpened.

“I like you,” Jeremy says, and his voice holds a note of strained patience. “I like you to death!”

It comes out with a hint of gnashing teeth.

“Then why do you always hurt me?”

I see the genuine confusion flash across Jeremy’s face, as if he is thinking out loud: ‘when did I hurt her? I almost worship her as my Goddess…‘

He softens his tone, trying to gently calm her. “I didn’t hurt you. How could I bear to hurt you?”

“You won’t admit it. You are hurting me! This is torture!”

The protest ends in a hiccupping sob, as if she’s suffer a great6

+2 Bonus

< Chapter 524

A knot forms in my stomach. This isn’t her usual tipsy silliness. Zina is carefree, not dramatic. If nothing was wrong, these words wouldn’t be spilling out now. The alcohol has stripped away her mask, and something raw and painful is hiding. underneath.

She pulls back slightly to look him in the eye, her voice trembling. “If you really like me, why don’t you propose to me? Do you just want to play me and never thought about marrying me?”

The question hangs in the sunny air, stark and vulnerable. Jeremy and I are both stunned into silence.

Is she drinking alone today just because of this? A wave of guilt washes over me. Could it be that Zina is so upset today because of what I said last night?

I pushed, and now she was cracking under the pressure I had unknowingly applied.

Jeremy just blinks, momentarily thrown. How did the topic finally get to marriage?

Seeing his silence, Zina interprets it as confirmation. She slaps his shoulder, the gesture loose and clumsy. “Look. You just don’t want to marry me, right? I know it!” Her voice rises, sharp and

carrying.

3/8

10:46

18

+2 Bonus

< Chapter 524

It successfully pulls Mikhail and Cassian from their fishing contest. They both turn, their postures shifting from competitive focus to the relaxed amusement of spectators watching a live soap opera.

Jeremy seems to gather himself. He pulls Zina, who is now swaying, firmly against his side. “I want to marry you.” He says it clearly, forcing her to focus. “But what do you think? If I propose to you, will you agree?”

The question acts like a circuit breaker. Zina’s energy falters. She blinks her already unfocused eyes. “I… Let me think about it!”

The response is so unexpectedly earnest, so adorably confused, that it drains the tension from the situation.

Jeremy lets out a soft sigh, part exasperation, part affection. He clearly decides this is not a conversation for a public lawn. “Okay, you think about it,” he murmurs, and in one smooth motion, he scoops her up into his arms. She doesn’t fight it, just rests her head against his chest as he carries her toward the parked cars, leaving a sudden quiet in his wake.

Zina’s tote bag sits abandoned on the blanket. Curiosity, mixed with concern, gets the better of me. I need to see the full inventory of her liquid courage. I reach over and peer inside.

Agould have been better if I hadn’t looked.

10:46

42 Bonus

< Chapter 524

Among the remaining snacks and a water bottle, there are… other items. Small boxes, discreet packaging. My brain doesn’t process what they are at first. Then it does. They’re adult products. Intimate items, not fishing tackle.

My face floods with heat. I scramble, shoving everything back into the bag with frantic haste, as if the objects themselves might combust.

Just as I’m trying to school my expression into something neutral, Mikhail and Cassian amble over. “Where are those two?” Mikhail asks, glancing toward the now–empty cars.

My face, I know, is still brilliantly red. I keep my eyes down, fiddling with the strap of the offending bag. “Zina was drunk. Jeremy took her to the car.”

Mikhail finds it odd. “Is she drunk? How could she get drunk in the daytime?” His tone is purely puzzled.

But Cassian notices. Of course he does. His eyes narrow slightly, taking in my flustered state. His gaze flicks from my face to the bag beside me. He must catch a glimpse of a corner of something that didn’t get fully tucked away, something that clearly doesn’t belong on a family fishing trip.

He coughs gently, a low, understanding sound, and very deliberately looks away, giving me a moment to collect myself, his own cheeks tinged with a faint pink blush.

10:46

+2 Bonus

< Chapter 524

Jeremy’s POV

Carrying Zina is like holding onto a warm, indignant hurricane. I set her down in the passenger seat, the cool leather a contrast to her flushed skin.

“Stay here for a while,” I say, my voice tight with a helpless patience. “I’ll go buy you some yogurt.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify