Lady Warrior's Warth on Divorce Day novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5

*Ease up, Zoya. They’re just running their mouths. It’s not like they meant to hurt you,” Nicolas said, brushing it off with a shrug.

Zoya’s eyes glinted with hurt. After all the garbage she’d taken, Nicolas hadn’t lifted a finger to back her up. Not once.

“What’s it gonna take for you to give a damn, huh? Me on my knees, begging forgiveness for marrying you?” Zoya’s voice cut like a knife, dripping with sarcasm. “Don’t forget, Nicolas-you’re the one who got down on one knee.”

His buddies swapped uneasy glances. Jasmine’s face froze, her lips a thin line.

Nicolas’s eyes darkened. He grabbed Zoya’s wrist. “Whatever’s eating you, we’ll sort it out at home.”

“No way.” She yanked her arm free. “We’re hashing this out here. And you know what? You and Jasmine are a match made in heaven. The cheater and his side chick. Here’s to a lifetime of bliss.”

Nicolas’s face turned hard. Jasmine went pale as a ghost.

One of Nicolas’s pals, Darren, jumped in. “Who do you think you are, Zoya, trashing Jasmine? What makes you think you’re hot stuff? Some nobody from a sketchy college, an orphan with zero to her name? You think Nick’s picking you over her?”

“Watch it!” Eowyn snapped, stepping forward. “Sketchy college? Zoya’s an NDU grad!”

The table erupted in laughs. “National Defense University? You’re seriously trying to sell that hole-in-the-wall as NDU?” someone jeered.

“You and your friend are both full of it, Zoya!” another piled on.

Jasmine, smirking now, stood up. “If you’re gonna talk big, at least have something to show for it. Faking a degree just makes you look like a total loser.”

Eowyn was fuming. “Fake? Check the registry, genius!”

Zoya grabbed Eowyn’s arm, her stare icy as she locked eyes with Jasmine. “I don’t need your okay to know what I’m worth.”

Jasmine faltered. ‘Zoya should’ve been sweating, caught red-handed. So why is she standing there, cool as ice? It is straight- up unnerving.’

Just then, Jasmine caught sight of a few people heading their way. One she knew.

“Professor Mckay!” she called, flashing a fake-sweet smile. “Didn’t expect you here. Grabbing dinner?”

Russell Mckay, who ran in the same circles as the Ingram family, gave her a nod. “Jasmine, been a while.”

“You’re at National Defense University, right? Funny, someone here claims they’re an NDU grad. Wonder if you know them,” Jasmine said, her voice all honey and venom.

The others grinned, ready to watch Zoya eat dirt. “Yeah, Zoya, you’re NDU, right? Bet you know your old prof,” one of them taunted.

Zoya stepped up, calm as ever. “Professor Mckay, good to see you.”

“Oh, she’s putting on a real show!” someone mocked.

“Acting like she’s actually NDU material!”

1/3

“No way Professor Mckay knows her!”

The taunts kept flying-until Russell clapped a hand on Zoya’s shoulder, and the table went dead quiet.

“Zoya! Didn’t think I’d run into you here,” Russell said, grinning. “What’s it been, three years?”

“About that,” Zoya replied with a small smile. “You holding up okay?”

“Fit as ever. Heard about your folks-sorry for your loss,” Russell said softly.

Zoya nodded. “Thanks.”

The group, braced for a laugh, sat there stunned.

Jasmine’s jaw dropped, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Professor, you… you really know her?”

“Know her? She was my student,” Russell said with a chuckle. “Back in the day, she was Ranard City’s ‘admission legend.’ Nailed the SATs with a near-perfect score. Heck, she caused a total frenzy when she got accepted.”

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“Professor Mckay, let’s hit the private room,” he said.

Russell nodded, gave Zoya a quick pat, and followed Wren off.

Nicolas slid up to Zoya, his voice low and annoyed. “Admission legend? NDU grad? Why’d you never tell me?”

Zoya met his gaze, her face blank. He’d never cared enough to ask.

ི་ ཚ་ཌཱ ས་འ་ཆ ོ

“Does it matter?” she said, her tone flat as pavement.

Before Nicolas could answer, a gunshot cracked through the restaurant.

Screams erupted as bullets flew toward Wren’s group.

Zoya stumbled as someone shoved her hard, nearly sending her to the floor. Her eyes caught Nicolas-he’d grabbed Jasmine and ducked behind the screen.

It was Nicolas who’d pushed her.

When danger hit, he’d chosen to save Jasmine, not his wife.

‘Nicolas, how many more times is he gonna let me down?’ Zoya’s heart turned to ice, her face blank as she stared at him. ‘Did it ever cross his mind that pushing me aside might’ve left me in the line of fire?’

Catching her gaze, Nicolas’s face flickered with guilt. When the shots rang out, his first move was to shield Jasmine.

Only after did he realize he’d pushed Zoya aside.

He’d fix it later, he told himself. Zoya was a pushover-a few sweet words, and she’d let it go, like always.

But then he saw her lips move, silently shaping words that hit like a gut punch. ‘Nicolas, I’m done with you.’