30 Days Till I Divorce My Husband

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.

anywhere else? Did

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

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 –

15:24

Chapter 28

sure you’re

myself. Otherwise how can I keep up the good fight

those two?”

chicken soup for Jesse. “Eat up, and next time, don’t be a hero. If you see they have the numbers,

“Yeah, I know.”

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 the existing business tensions between their fathers were enough reason to keep things low-key.

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

will, don’t

go home and rest

just let tonight’s incident slide, okay?

it. I’ll listen to

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 only become more emboldened

about to play

home. Perhaps you

ask you to

attempts, they couldn’t stop Estrella from barging into

but Estrella cut them off with a glare, her hands

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

grabbed an antique vase from a side table and hurled it at Paula. “Did you