30 Days till I Divorce My Husband (Estrella and Jason)

Chapter 28

Jesse rubbed her nose with a wry smile, brushing off the concern as she said, “Got into a

scuffle this afternoon.”

“With who?”

“It’s over, Estrella. Let’s not dig into it.”

“Jesse, don’t make me investigate it myself.”

Estrella’s temper was something Jesse was all too familiar with. She might seem all sunshine and rainbows on a regular day, but if you crossed a line with her, you’d be in for a rude awakening.

“I ran into Paula today. She brought backup, and I was outnumbered.”

As soon as Jesse finished her sentence, Estrella was on her feet, heading for the door. Jesse grabbed her arm urgently. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Estrella’s face was a storm cloud as she snapped, “You expect me to sit down for dinner when you’re beaten up like this?”

Jesse held on tighter, trying to calm the storm brewing within Estrella. “Estrella, it’s done, and it wasn’t all Paula’s doing. Don’t do anything rash.”

Estrella saw there was more to the story. She reined in her anger and sat back down. “Fine. I won’t. Just tell me everything.”

They settled back at the dining table, and Jesse began recounting the story. “A few days. ago, I got into it with Melinda. Guess she couldn’t let it go and teamed up with Paula.”

Melinda was Jesse’s stepsister. Jesse’s mom had passed away when she was just a toddler, and her dad had quickly remarried Damita, who was pregnant at the time. Damita never took a liking to Jesse and would often take advantage of her husband’s absence to berate and mistreat the child.

After a particularly nasty incident in middle school, Jesse had changed. Her father, under the constant influence of Damita’s whispers, had grown colder towards her. Life as a Manning wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for Jesse.

face was grim as she asked, “Are you hurt anywhere else? Did you get checked. out at the hospital?”

a few kicks to the gut, bleeding a little, but the hospital said it’s

clenched with pain. She knew Paula must have ambushed Jesse on purpose, taking advantage of her less favored status in the Manning family to strike at her – a proxy

15:24

Chapter 28

sure

Otherwise how can I

those two?”

I trust you,” Estrella said, ladling out chicken soup for Jesse. “Eat up, and

“Yeah, I know.”

with Estrella, not wanting to stoke her fiery nature. The Manning family’s involvement and the existing business tensions between their fathers were enough reason to keep things low-key.

the crossroads in their cars, Estrella warned, “Jesse,

don’t

home

just let tonight’s incident slide, okay? Don’t go

got it. I’ll listen to you.”

they parted ways, her foot slammed down on the accelerator, speeding towards the Lamont residence. If she let this slide, Paula would take every opportunity to go after Jesse, and

about to play nice.

home. Perhaps you could come back

ask you to leave.”

they couldn’t stop Estrella from barging into the Lamont’s grand hall.

cut them off with a glare, her hands deep in the pockets of her slacks. “Bring Paula down to me.”

in her loungewear, descended the stairs, clearly annoyed. “Estrella, what’s all this

from a side table and hurled it at Paula.

vase shattered against the wall, sending Paula into a panic as she dusted off

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