HOOK
Angelina thought she was finally saying the words Dinisha needed to hear.
Anthony was not the right man.
He had already caused enough pain.
But Angelina didn’t realize that every sentence she spoke was pushing Dinisha closer to the edge.
And when Angelina mentioned Shayla, Dinisha’s patience finally disappeared.
The room was unusually quiet.
Dinisha sat across from Angelina, her arms folded tightly. She already knew where the conversation was going.
ANGELINA
“Dinisha, please listen to me before you get angry.”
Dinisha stared at her without answering.
ANGELINA
“Anthony is not a good man for you.”
Dinisha’s expression immediately hardened.
DINISHA
“Why are you saying this again?”
ANGELINA
“Because I’m worried about you.”
ANGELINA
“I have watched everything that happened between you and Anthony. I have seen how much stress he brings into your life.”
Angelina’s voice became firmer.
ANGELINA
“Anthony isn’t the kind of man you should build your future around.”
ANGELINA
“He got my daughter pregnant before marriage.”
Dinisha’s eyes widened slightly.
ANGELINA
“And now you can see for yourself how much trouble he keeps bringing into everyone’s lives.”
DINISHA
“Don’t bring that into this conversation.”
ANGELINA
“You need to understand what kind of person Anthony is before you lose yourself trying to defend him.”
ANGELINA
“Dinisha, you deserve peace.”
ANGELINA
“You could have a quiet life. You could focus on yourself. You could move forward without all this drama.”
Dinisha remained silent.
ANGELINA
“Look at how much attention Anthony gives Shayla.”
Dinisha’s face immediately changed.
DINISHA
“What did you just say?”
ANGELINA
“I’m saying that you shouldn’t keep fighting for someone who keeps giving Shayla so much of his attention.”
Dinisha stood up. Her chair moved sharply across the floor.
DINISHA
“Don’t talk about Shayla like that.”
DINISHA
“You keep telling me to leave Anthony, but you don’t understand what he means to me.”
ANGELINA
“That’s exactly the problem!”
Dinisha stepped closer.
DINISHA
“You have no right to decide who I should love or who I should leave!”
ANGELINA
“I have every right to warn you when I see someone hurting you!”
DINISHA
“You’re not warning me anymore. You’re insulting me.”
ANGELINA
“Leave Anthony, Dinisha. Walk away while you still can.”
Silence.
ANGELINA
“Don’t waste your life waiting for a man who keeps looking toward Shayla.”
Dinisha raised her hand in anger and slapped Angelina across the face.
The room fell silent.
Angelina slowly touched her cheek.
ANGELINA
“You actually slapped me?”
Dinisha didn’t answer.
ANGELINA
“After everything I’ve done to protect you?”
DINISHA
“You pushed me too far.”
ANGELINA
“And now you think that makes this okay?”
Dinisha looked away, realizing the seriousness of what she had done.
DINISHA
“I was angry.”
ANGELINA
“Being angry doesn’t give you the right to hurt someone.”
Suddenly, Dinisha’s phone began ringing.
She looked at the screen.
It was Anthony.
DINISHA
“Hello?”
Anthony’s voice came through the phone. Dinisha listened carefully.
DINISHA
“What?”
DINISHA
“No… tell me that again.”
Dinisha slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
ANGELINA
“What happened?”
DINISHA
“Anthony said something about Shayla…”
ANGELINA
“What did he say?”
Dinisha looked down at her phone.
DINISHA
“He said… Shayla has been hiding something from both of us.”
Angelina stared at her.
The argument suddenly felt unimportant.
Because now there was a much bigger secret waiting to come out.
And neither Angelina nor Dinisha knew who would be hurt when the truth finally came out.