Chapter 132: Knight in Shining Armor
"Son of a bitch! You bitches looking for trouble?"
The man who'd been getting verbally demolished by Daphne finally snapped, glaring with murderous eyes as he moved to physically confront her.
The rich kid they called 'Mr. Kelly' casually waved his hand.
"I keep telling you guys—you need patience with the ladies. Acting like savages is exactly why you can't get any decent women to look at you twice."
Miguel Kelly put on his most charming facade, extending his hand toward Isabella. "My friend's got a bit of a temper problem. Hope he didn't scare you too much?"
Isabella stared at him with ice-cold contempt.
Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. These guys all ran in the same pack—was any one of them really better than the others?
"As I said before, I'm not interested in drinking with strangers tonight." Isabella refused again.
"Mr. Kelly, I told you already—some women are like dogs. You gotta train them before they learn to behave!"
The guy Daphne had just humiliated was grinning as he spoke, now openly insulting both Isabella and Daphne.
"What the hell are you all standing around for? Call security!" Daphne snapped at the bartender.
Even though they were holding their own verbally, Daphne was genuinely worried these guys might resort to physical force.
They were just two women, after all—easily overpowered by this group of men.
Surrounded by the crowd, Miguel dropped his fake gentleman act and burst into raucous laughter.
His entourage joined in the laughter, while the bartender remained completely indifferent, keeping his head down and focusing on cleaning his equipment, pretending not to notice the commotion.
"Guess you ladies don't know yet—Mr. Kelly, here is a VIP member of this establishment! You can scream your heads off tonight, and nobody's coming to rescue you!"
The man reached out and grabbed Isabella's arm, applying pressure.
"Stick with our Mr. Kelly, and you'll never want for anything again!"
"Exactly! Looking at those cheap clothes you're wearing, you're obviously not rolling in cash. Here's a golden opportunity to snag yourself a sugar daddy, and you two idiots don't know enough to grab it!"
Isabella jerked free from the man's grip and quickly grabbed Daphne's hand. "We're leaving."
If you can't beat them, avoid them. There was no point winning an argument with these scumbags—once they latched onto you, they were like a parasitic infection, nothing but pure disgust.
Miguel let out a derisive snort and quickly stepped sideways, blocking their path.
"Who gave you permission to leave?"
Daphne's temper flared again as she snatched up a liqueur bottle from a nearby table. "Are you going to move, or do you want your skull cracked open?"
The mob of losers erupted in mocking laughter again.
Miguel tilted his head down slightly, pointing to the center of his forehead with obvious provocation: "Right here. Go ahead."
"Smash his brains in!" his cronies jeered.
Isabella grabbed Daphne's hand and forcibly wrestled the bottle away from her.
"If we hit him tonight, we'll both end up at the police station. Not worth it."
Miguel nodded with mock seriousness. "See? Your friend's the smart one. Since you'll end up coming with us either way, why waste time putting up a fight? If you had any brains, you'd come along quietly."
He reached for Isabella once more.
But this time, before he could grab her, his body suddenly lurched forward as if struck by some external force.
Then, like a kite with its string cut, he went flying straight into the bar counter.
Both Isabella and Daphne were startled by the scene.
They hadn't done anything!
Richard emerged slowly from the shadows, wearing a suit and removing his jacket as he walked, his white dress shirt outlining the defined muscles beneath.
It had to be said that Richard was absolutely flawless in both looks and physique.
His expression was unusually stern, his eyes fierce as he glared at the troublemaking rich kids, casually tossing his suit jacket to Isabella.
"Hold this for me."
Then Richard started rolling up his sleeves while walking toward the rich kid who'd just been kicked.
Daphne grabbed Isabella, stunned by the scene unfolding before them.
"How did Richard get here? What is this, some cheesy knight-in-shining-armor scene? Isabella, does he have feelings for you?"
Isabella was equally baffled.
She hadn't told Richard she was coming here, so his appearance was coincidental enough—but now he had this intimidating demeanor.
Was he angry because these rich kids were bullying people? Isabella wondered.
Richard radiated lethal menace, his face glacial with an aura that promised wholesale carnage.
These rich kids clearly didn't keep up with financial news—they stared at Richard for ages without recognizing him.
Miguel actually had the audacity to crane his neck and demand: "Who the fuck are you? Do you have any business here? Just jumping in to play hero!"
He'd taken that kick right in the kidney and his lower back was still burning with pain.
But for the sake of his reputation and maintaining face in front of his crew, he gritted his teeth and endured it.
Richard let out a cold laugh, having finished elegantly rolling up his sleeves.
"Do you deserve to know?"
These spoiled rich kids were used to throwing their weight around, and rarely encountered anyone who dared act so arrogant in front of them—they were instantly enraged.
Miguel glared at Richard: "What the hell! Are these two bitches really that irresistible?"
He frequented bars constantly and had never encountered women this difficult to handle.
What was everyone's problem tonight? They'd made him lose complete face!
"All of you, get him! Today we're going to beat the shit out of this guy!"
When it came time to actually fight, his crew all got cold feet.
Miguel's family had power and influence, but they were just his lackeys—who would dare cause real trouble?
"Even if we stir up trouble tonight, I've got your backs! What are you scared of? All of you, attack!"
With that battle cry, he grabbed a bottle like Daphne had done earlier and lunged at Richard.
He refused to believe they couldn't take down Richard in a group fight!