A Replacement Bride

Chapter 237

Katherine had gradually come to terms with the fact at this point, and she smirked enigmatically. "Yeah, who would have thought, right? Surprise, surprise."

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't stupefied the second the revelation hit her. It was such a bolt from the blue that it felt like she was in a prank show. But as she let it sink in, her mind grew more ruffled.

Those b*stards up there sure like to pull pranks, sending me on such a wild goose chase!

To think the man from five years ago, the one who took her virginity and gave her nights after nights of nightmares was none other than her husband!

Huh, to think something this outrageous would happen to me…

Suddenly, a memory hit her. Beatrice once claimed Joaquin vowed to hold himself responsible to her and that she had already shared a bed with him.

She was referring to the incident five years ago, wasn't she? So, Joaquin feels guilty about the incident, too, huh? He just got the wrong person.

However, it didn't mean it could be an excuse to offset the harm he gave her from that night!

Though she had to spare the mystery man for the sake of Noah, she'd make his life a living hell after hunting him down. But now that the face of the loathsome man and Joaquin's overlapped, she was actually beginning to question her decisions.

To think it's him… But how can it be him?!

Savannah, on the other hand, didn't look too happy too when she saw her boss looking somewhat lost. "Boss, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," monotoned Katherine after pondering for a while, baffling Savannah. "Sorry?"

Katherine nodded and reiterated, "I don't know."

She genuinely didn't know what to do. Her head was a mess, and she still couldn't comb through her thoughts yet.

"Whatever. Whatever it is, the most important thing now is saving Noah."

Savannah could only nod at that. As she had other things to deal with and the case of the mystery man had pretty much been sorted out, she left temporarily.

Meanwhile, Katherine fixed her gaze on the unconscious man grimly, staying motionless for a long time as her mixed emotions for Joaquin ruffled her mind.

The truth she had been finding for so long was now in front of her, and yet not.

She believed the Joaquin she had been interacting with all this while wasn't a scoundrel, so what made him do that to her back then?

She never dared revisit the details of that night all these years, but for some reason, right then, she actually wanted to dig up the very memory she had buried deep within her head.

Sure, the discomfort still lingered, but it was no longer as intense as it used to be.

Gradually, the night returned to her. Though he had been very impatient, he had actually also been holding himself back as much as possible and didn't just do whatever he wanted with her.

Now that it was all coming back to her, she also remembered how he kept soothing her with great patience and even… even vowed to hold himself responsible to her.

Thus, because he mistook her for Beatrice later on—or perhaps she had deceived him—that he would keep her by his side and even spared her because of 'their past' even though Beatrice had done such wicked acts.

At that, an indescribably odd feeling arose within her.

A while later, she took a deep breath and massaged her temples. Don't let your imaginations run wild anymore, Cornell. There's no point in overthinking, anyway. Now that we've finally found the guy, the truth will be laid in front of you once you two come clean.

On the contrary, she was finally getting somewhere with the toxin in Noah's body.

If she remembered correctly, the toxin in Joaquin's system was Zephyr. No doubt the toxin was already in his system back then.

Though she used neurotoxins to combat the Zephyr built up in his system, the same method couldn't be applied to the toxin in Noah's body.

Just as she was deep in her thoughts, the doorbell rang.

However, she had just arrived at Fontan, and Savannah was the only one who knew she had come. What was more, the latter knew the password to the door, so there was no reason for her to ring the doorbell.

So, who can it be?

At that, she headed downstairs with caution, and when she checked the surveillance at the door, she was surprised by who she saw standing outside.

"Jayden, what are you doing here?!" Katherine asked after answering the door.

Jayden smiled amiably but didn't answer her question. "Are you not going to invite me in?"

A glimmer of light flashed across the young woman's eyes as she led him to the living room and sat across from each other.

"What brings you to Fontan, and how do you know where I am?" she asked, filled with questions.

On the other hand, he looked tenderly at her, his eyes filled with nothing but adoration. "I didn't go back to Kyoland that day after you left. I was actually hoping to persuade you to go to Kyoland with me, but by the time I tried looking for you again, you were already on your way to Fontan. So, I came as soon as I got your address from Corey."

When it came to old friends, Corey was probably the closest to Katherine and also the one she trusted the most. Thus, she told him about the address of her residence in Fontan once.

"That big mouth…" Katherine quirked her lips in dissatisfaction after learning of the story.

"Don't blame him. He didn't want to say anything at first. He only finally said it after he couldn't stand my questions anymore." Jayden defended the man, then smiled. "Besides, what do you have to hide from me? Do you not trust me, Kathy?"

There was more or less a hint of probing in his question, but Katherine decided to play dumb and quirked a brow. "It's all just in your head. I just don't want too many people to visit me."

She brushed it off, then changed the topic. "I know you're worried about me, but I already made it clear to you last time. I won't go back to Kyoland with you. As for protection, I can defend myself just fine."

However, the man wasn't giving up, still trying to convince her. "Kathy, I know you're completely capable, but I'm sure you know many in Hovington already know how skilled you are as a medicalBelongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

practitioner. That identity alone was enough for many influential families to want to make you theirs. Even those in Kyoland were itching and constantly sending their men to screw with you. There's nothing apart from danger there. What's the point of staying?"

Katherine began growing impatient, seeing that he was nagging again, and just as she was about to tell him to mind his own business, a voice came from the staircase. "Kathy?"

Katherine looked in the direction in response and found Joaquin, awoken at some point, standing at the corner of the stairs in a bathrobe.