Chapter 3

Yasmine’s POV

I make it inside of my house, quickly making my way upstairs, crashing on my queen-sized bed. After a long day of work, I'm finally home. As much as I want to crawl in bed and rest, I have to go over to my parent's house. My father called me before I got off work to ask me to come by the house for a family meeting. I kick my heels off as I lay In bed facing the ceiling for a few minutes until I drag myself off of the bed to take a well-needed shower. After a 20 minute shower, I walk into my walk-in closet with my towel wrapped around my moist body to find some comfortable clothes to wear. I'm going through my clothes when I hear the front door close.

He's here.

As I pick out a plain black crop top and a pair of blue jeans to put on, Alex walks into the room.

" Yas, where are you, baby?"

I don't answer him, which causes him to walk around the room searching for me until he finds me in the closet.

" Where are you going?"

" I'm going to my parent's house," I answer sharply, walking over to my bed, opening the top dresser, grabbing a bra and a pair of panties. I unwrap my towel, putting them on.

Alex stares at my exposed body for a while until he manages to speak again. " Can I come along?"

I give him a blank expression before saying, " No. First of all, this is a family meeting, and second of all, I don't want you going anywhere with me. Go with the other chick your seeing.

" Here we go with this again," Alex mumbles, causing me to scoff. " For the one-hundredth time, I'm not cheating on you."

I glare at him before walking back into my closet to grab a pair of slides. " I honestly don't care anymore. Just wait for the papers."

" Papers? What Papers? " Alex raises his voice as he follows me.

" The divorce papers. I'm over this marriage. And I'm over you. I'm tired of acting like everything's ok and that I'm happy." I spit at him, looking into his deceitful eyes.

Alex grabs my arm roughly, squeezing it tightly, causing me to wince in pain. " You're not going to do shit. Not if I have something to do about it."

Feeling my blood boil, I quickly knee him in his manhood, making him crash to the ground. I smirk as I see him grabbing himself as he groans in pain.

" You forgot who your dealing with, I see. Put your hands on me again, and I'll have to kill you." I threaten him before stomping on his back, making him scream in pain."

I walk into my room, grabbing my phone from the nightstand, and call my driver Jamal to pick me up. I finish getting ready and wait until he calls me, letting me know he's outside. When I'm outside, I walk to the limo, where Jamal is standing with the door opened, greeting me with a smile.

" Good Evening, Yas. How is your day going?"

I give him a forced smile as he helps me into the limo." I'm doing good J, Thanks for asking." I respond as he gives me another smile before shutting my door. He gets back into the limo and begins to pull off until he stops the limo, looking back at me with concern written on his face.

" Are you sure your ok? You seem a bit down?"

I sigh in defeat, giving up the act. " No. I'm not ok, J." I'm ready for this marriage to end."

" I know you like the back of my hand. I know when you're down, you didn't fool me one bit. And you're a horrible liar, I may add."

I let out a slight chuckle " Oh shut up."

"Do I need to beat some ass? Cause you know, I'll do it."

" No need, J....plus I already took care of that." I give him a mischievous grin.

" That's my girl."

" I didn't want to tell you because I know you would go in there and kill him, but I'm going to tell you anyway."

" You're damn right. I'll break that boy down like a fraction. You know you're like a sister to me. I won't let anybody hurt you. Especially his sloth-looking ass."

" And you know you're like a big brother I always wanted."

" What can I say? I'm that guy." He jokes, popping his collar, which makes me playfully roll my eyes at him.

I roll down the tinted window, looking at the house that haunts me with so many horrid memories, before looking back at Jamal. " Now, let's get out of here, and I'll tell you everything."

************************************

Later

After an hour's ride of telling Jamal about my problems, we finally arrive at my parent's house. Adam, who's the gatekeeper, lets us in the front gate. When we pull up to the house, Jamal opens the door, helping me out of the limo.

" I'll be out here waiting."

I roll my eyes playfully at him " You know you're family, J. Come inside."

" Thanks, but I'm fine, Yas. Tell everyone I said hello."

" Are you sure?" I ask, gesturing towards the house.

Jamal reassures me as he playfully pushes me. " I'm sure, Yas."

After a moment of trying to convince Jamal to come inside, I give in. When I reach the front door, I ring the doorbell, waiting a few minutes until my younger sister Kamila opens the door, greeting me with a smile.

" Hey, Yas," Kamila says excitedly, pulling me into a warm hug, and I hug her back.

" Hey, Mila."

Kamila pulls away from me to get a good look at me. " You look good big sis."

" Thank you, Mila. You look good too." I compliment my sister, making her blush slightly.

" Thanks, sis. I try."

I look around the house, trying to see where my mom and dad are. " Where's mom and dad?"

" I'll take you to them."

Kamila grabs my hand, walking us into the living room, where my mother and father are. When we enter, I see my mom and dad sitting on the couch, having a conversation.

" She's here, Mila announces, catching my parent's attention.

" Hey, baby girl." My father gets up from the couch, walking over to me, kissing me on my forehead.

I give him a small smile as he pulls away. " Hi, dad."

My father then steps aside as my mom approaches me. " Hey, honey. How are you doing?"

" I'm not doing so good, but I'm getting through."

" Talk to me, hun. What's going on?" My mom gives me a concerned look, grabbing my face.

" My marriage is over."

My mom walks me over to the nearest couch, sitting us down. "What's going on with you and Jamal?"

" I think he's cheating. He comes home late at night, he's talking to me crazy, and he put his hands on me before I left the house. I'm tired of his crap. I've been unhappy for a while now, so I've decided to get a divorce."I admit, causing everyone to look at me in shock.

" I'm going to make sure he never puts his hands on you or hurt you ever again."

" Dad, don't do anything crazy. I handled it. He won't be putting his hands on me again." I reassure him, and he calms down a bit.

" What did you do, sis?" Kamila asks curiously, causing everyone to stare at me.

" I kicked him real good. I'm pretty sure he needs some ice down there." I joke, making everyone chuckle.

My dad chuckles slightly, giving me an approving nod. " I taught you well."

" I'm glad you're divorcing that clown. He doesn't deserve you." Kamila asserts, and my parents nod their heads in agreement.

" I always thought that you and Ray would be great together. Ray seems like a nice young man. I haven't met him yet, but from what you tell me, I know he's a good man."

" I agree, sis. I know you got a thing for him." She winks at me, making me cover my blushing face.

" He's a good kid. I can tell he cares a lot about you." My father adds, which shocks me. Knowing my father, he never likes anyone I date. He didn't even like Alex, but since he cared about my happiness, he tolerated him.

" How did you meet him?"

My father takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he responds. " He came by the house today. He told me that he's concerned about you because you're stressing and that he wants to relieve all that stress, even if it's to keep you smiling. He cares about you, sweetheart.

" That's so sweet of him." I blush like a teenaged girl that's in the same room as her crush.

" That's not all. While Ray was here, we came up with an idea to plan something for you ladies. Do you have any idea what it could be?"

My mother, Kamila, and I look at each other cluelessly before looking back at dad.

" WE'RE GOING ON VACATION." My dad announces, causing us to scream in excitement.

“ Where are we going?” I manage to ask through the screams.

“ We're going to Hawaii!!!” My dad says, causing my mom and Mila to scream even louder.

Words can't even describe how excited I am. Thanks to Ray, I can finally get the relaxation that I deserve. No work, and no Alex.