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.

she asked, “Are you hurt anywhere else? Did you

bruises. Took a few kicks to the gut, bleeding a little, but

the injury, Estrella’s heart 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 for her real target,

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Chapter 28

sure you’re

of myself. Otherwise how can I keep up

those two?”

say you’re fine, then I trust you,” Estrella said, ladling out chicken soup for Jesse. “Eat up, and next time, don’t be a

“Yeah, I know.”

wanting to stoke her fiery nature. The Manning family’s involvement and the existing business tensions between their fathers were enough reason

they approached the crossroads in their cars, Estrella warned, “Jesse, call

don’t

go home and

Jesse hesitated before adding, “Estrella, let’s just let tonight’s incident slide, okay? Don’t go after Paula.”

I’ll listen to

speeding towards the Lamont residence. If she let this slide, Paula would take every opportunity to go after Jesse, and Melinda would

to

our young lady isn’t home. Perhaps you could come back another

Estrella, I must ask you

attempts, they couldn’t stop Estrella from barging

glare, her hands deep in the pockets of her

sooner had she demanded this than Paula, in her loungewear, descended the stairs, clearly annoyed. “Estrella, what’s all this racket about? Is this the kind of manners you

a side table and

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

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