Chapter Five

Debra POV (during Chapter 25)

As I shut the door behind my unexpected visitors after they left, I had one thought: kill that sonofabitch!

When the two women first arrived on my doorstep and told me the reason for their visit, I was shocked. I wasn't sure if I could even believe them. It's possible that Rich was just cheating on me with this woman. I know what you're thinking, just cheating? But that would be preferable to him being already married when he married me, wouldn't it? When she showed me that picture on her phone of Rich, her and that adorable little girl with curly brown hair, my heart sank. Instinctively, I knew she was telling me the truth.

My hostess manners have been hammered into my brain since I was a young girl, and I performed my duties by rote while seething inside. My mama taught me to behave as a lady does; my daddy taught me the value of standing up for myself and the philosophy of scorched earth when wronged.

When that woman —Jeanne Ellen?—asked for the laptop Rich kept here, my thoughts were flying across my head almost too fast to process them. On the one hand, I wanted something to hold over Rich's head. But my intuition tells me they'll use it better, especially after they told me about Rich's porn sites. Porn sites! He fucking better not have uploaded those videos we made. I will never live it down if my friends and family see videos of us online. I'm a debutante! I can't be seen to behave like a…like a…wanton slut. It doesn't matter if it's with my husband. The gossipers in town would have a field day, and I'd never live it down. And it matters not that everyone else in town is doing similar things in their own bedrooms.

I picked up the phone and dialled the one man I knew I could rely on above all others. "Daddy?" I cried when the call was connected.

I told my Daddy everything I had learned over the past hour, and he promised he and Mama would come right over. I relayed the conversation to them twenty minutes later as they sat in my living room sipping tea.

Daddy said, "I always knew he was not good enough for you, Princess. I'll get Hammond on this immediately, and he'll be out of your life before the end of next week."

"Daddy, what about the boys? Don't they deserve a loving father in their life?" I asked.

Mama scoffed. "Honey pie, how often does he see the boys? Isn't he always 'travelling' anyway?"

I hung my head. How could I have been so stupid to trust this man? He wasn't travelling; he was likely just home with his other wife. "Do you think your lawyer could ensure I have full legal and physical custody without my ever having to see him again, Daddy?"

"We can certainly try, Princess. Did you say his wife had filed legal complaints against him to the police department?"

I nodded. "That's what she said."

"Then we may be able to use the criminal aspect, in addition to fraud. We'll let Hammond handle it. In the meantime, Princess, do you want to come home or stay here?"

I bit my lip as I thought for a moment. "We should stay here," I said. "Henry and Alex shouldn't have their routines disrupted."

"Honey pie, if you need anything, just call me, okay?" Mama asked.

What I need is to ensure Rich pays for his sins. And I think I know how to make sure that happens.