The substitute husband who has been insulted

Episode 16

"Debora?" Richard called out for his sister-in-law, his gaze sweeping every desolate corner of the street. "Ra, where are you?" he shouted again.

Richard returned to her car with its hood popped open, and white smoke tinged with black billowed into the air. Peering through the window, her bag and all her belongings remained intact, puzzling him greatly.

"Could she have gone home already?" Richard mused to himself. Taking a long sigh, hands on hips, he trudged back to his own car. "Perhaps she got a lift with a friend."

As his hand touched the door handle, he faintly caught a piercing scream.

"Help! Help!" a familiar female voice cried out.

"Debora?" Richard's eyes narrowed. He sprinted toward the source of the sound, occasionally walking backward and turning around, "Ra! Where are you?" Richard yelled.

His foot stumbled upon something. Bending down, Richard picked it up and examined it closely. "Is this Debora's?" he questioned himself, not quite familiar with her possessions.

"Richard! Help me!" Debora's distraught cry made him jump, now convinced that the shoe belonged to her.

Tossing it aside, he tuned in his ears and followed his instincts. His feet led him to some bushes that appeared to be rustling. He vaulted over the shrubbery that came up to his waist and landed right behind two men harassing Debora.

"UGH!" Richard kicked the back of the man pinning her down, sending him rolling away.

Debora quickly crawled away from the men. Another man tugged on her leg, flipping her onto her back, but Richard would have none of it. His kick met the other man's chin, blood spilling from his mouth.

"Shit! Don't you dare interfere! This is our turf. Leave before we end you!" the thin man with scruffy dreadlocks threatened.

"She's my sister! How dare you touch her!" Richard replied, shedding his jacket and tossing it over Debora's form. The front of her dress was torn, and she hurriedly grabbed the jacket to cover her exposed chest.

Richard also carelessly removed his tie, leaving his shirt unbuttoned for ease of movement. His gaze was sharp, trained on the two glaring eyes before him.

"Come at me!" Richard taunted, extending one arm while enticing them with a beckoning finger.

The tattooed pair sneered, nodding at each other before charging simultaneously at Richard. He deftly countered their blows, ignoring the ache in his arms.

After letting them expend their energy, Richard began to unleash his own self-defense moves. His powerful punches and kicks repelled their onslaught in turn. Eventually, the two men lay on the ground, incapacitated and bloodied, while Richard, bruised and breathing heavily, stared down at them.

Brushing off his hands as if ridding them of filth, Richard then carried Debora to his car. Without needing to look, he felt her body shiver and ice-cold in his arms, not wanting to ask any questions since she seemed in shock. Richard immediately took her home. Her soft sobs echoed as she clung to his jacket.

To avoid arousing suspicion upon arrival, Richard opened the car door for her and supported her into the two-story house.

"Debora! What happened to you?" Sabrina cried, seeing the anguish on her daughter's face. "Richard! What have you done to my daughter?" her accusations turned sharply toward Richard.

Hearing her husband mentioned, Velyn raced from her room. Her eyes widened upon seeing Richard comforting her sister, and Debora, disheveled and weeping violently.

"Outrageous! What are you after, you bastard?! You've already got Velyn, and now you're wrecking my youngest daughter!" Rendra bellowed furiously.

Velyn, who had been fearing the worst, grew even more livid, imagining Richard doing the unthinkable to her sister. "Richard, I'm disappointed in you!" she cried, slapping her husband's face.

The fear of loss that had been gnawing at her erupted upon their arrival, compounded by Debora's earlier admiring remarks.

Debora attempted to speak up for Richard, but her lips wouldn't move, her tongue numb. She could only shake her head amidst the cascade of tears.

Richard exhaled sharply, having been bombarded with questions and not given a chance to respond. He looked defiantly at the family members. "Take Debora to a psychiatrist. Before anything worse happens, before it affects her mentally! It's pointless for me to explain, none of you would believe me anyway. Better to hear it from your dear sister!" he said sternly, his gaze icy as he addressed Velyn.