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.

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

kicks to the gut, bleeding a little, but

her less favored status in the Manning family to strike at her – a proxy for

15:24

Chapter 28

sure

care of myself. Otherwise how

those two?”

soup for Jesse. “Eat up, and next time, don’t be a hero. If you

“Yeah, I know.”

had intended to run that afternoon, but Paula had been prepared, blocking all possible escape routes. Jesse didn’t share these details with Estrella, not wanting to stoke her fiery nature. The Manning family’s involvement and

cars, Estrella warned, “Jesse, call me the instant anything comes up,

will, don’t

home and rest

just let tonight’s incident slide,

I’ll

to her? Not go after Paula? Estrella might have agreed verbally, but as soon as 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 Melinda would

wasn’t about to play nice.

home. Perhaps you could come back another time?”

ask you to leave.”

couldn’t stop Estrella from barging

began, but Estrella cut them off with a glare, her hands deep in the pockets

in her loungewear, descended the stairs, clearly annoyed. “Estrella, what’s all this racket about? Is this the kind of manners you family teaches?”

vase from a side table and hurled it at Paula. “Did you corner

wall, sending Paula into a panic

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