A Replacement Bride

Chapter 376

Joaquin leaned his back against the chair while retaining his devil-may-care smile. "Why do you think I'm leaving, Mr. Hall?"

He threw the question back to Jayden instead, and the latter's countenance turned grimmer by the second.

Very quickly, Jayden found Joaquin raising an arm, bringing it across Katherine's back, and resting it on her chair.

It was evident that the man was asserting dominance, a blatant challenge toward Jayden, who locked his brows into a tight furrow in response.

"Mr. Levisay, even if you're Kathy's husband, you don't need to have this much animosity toward me, is there? Kathy and I go way back, no matter how. Don't you think you're… being unreasonable? Have you ever thought about how Kathy would feel? Are you expecting Kathy to sever her ties with all her friends?"

A snort of laughter escaped Joaquin upon hearing Jayden's words, but his gaze remained undiscriminating, looking as though nothing Jayden said would get to him at all.

"Look at what you're saying, Mr. Hall. Of course not. That's not what I mean at all. I just think it's inconvenient for Kathy and me to stay here for long. After all…" At that, he quirked a brow and blurted cheekily, "We need our sex life too. It's ultimately not so convenient if we stay over in somebody else's house."

Cough, cough, cough…

Katherine choked upon hearing Joaquin's startling words, and she gazed at Joaquin with her brightly lit eyes widened with shock.

I swear to God, you are a shameless b*stard, Levisay! How can you say something like that like it's nothing?!

Jayden, too, was stupefied, and he parted his lips only to realize he was rendered at a loss for words, unsure of what to say.

It took him a long time to recover his voice, but a ringtone interrupted him before he could even speak up.

Immediately, he pursed his lips tightly and glanced at his phone screen. His pupils suddenly shrank subtly upon seeing the caller ID.

"You go ahead and eat, Kathy. I have to take this," he said to the young woman—ignoring Joaquin, of course—while standing up. With that, he headed into the study with his phone, leaving the couple in the dining room.

Meanwhile, Katherine was still recovering from disbelief when she couldn't help hammering her husband.

"You—what are you talking about?! How can you say that in front of other people?!" she chided with what sounded like feigned anger, unsure if it was because she was mortified or abashed.

Joaquin, on the other hand, turned his body to the side, propped his elbow against the table to support his leaning head, and gazed composedly at her with brightly lit eyes. "Since he's 'other people', you don't have to be bothered by it. Besides, don't you ignore these things?"

At that, Katherine glared peevishly at him as redness tinted her face and the tip of her ears.

"And I still don't. But you don't need to bring it up so deliberately, do you?! These things…" she grumbled with displeasure. "You sure can get jealous…"

Instead of feeling ashamed, Joaquin was, in fact, proud of what he did, and he quirked a brow while glee enveloped his eyes. "I'll naturally be upset when he has thoughts that he shouldn't have toward you, and it's even more impossible for nothing to happen when he and I are in the same space. I've already booked a hotel. We'll leave right after breakfast."

Katherine said nothing more, seeing that the fellow had already sorted everything out. After all, she didn't want to bother others either.

After that, she just quietly ate her congee, but something inexplicably odd was brewing within her.

She knew Joaquin was being jealous, and as mortified as she was, she had to admit that she was somewhat happy.

However… She had no plans on revealing it to the man lest he became insatiable and even cockier.

…

Meanwhile, Jayden's countenance became much grimmer and more terrifying as he answered the call inside his study.

"What did you say? Are you certain?" He pressed on, looking like he didn't believe the caller.

On the other end of the line, Hansel, too, sounded anxious as he reported, "Affirmative! I've just gotten the news as well. Stonewall from the underground bank had gone missing the whole day yesterday. Then, he shut down the place after showing up. I tried reaching him, but he wouldn't answer my calls at all, and he's nowhere to be found either. I called you immediately when I thought this wasn't right. Also,

last night in the middle of the night, someone looked into the account we had just reactivated, and we can confirm someone's tracing the tracks of our lab in Fontan two years ago."

The air surrounding Jayden became sub-zero as grimness enveloped his face. "Why would something like this happen? What about the others from the underground bank?"

"Our men are looking for them, but it's like those people have disappeared into thin air. We can't reach them at all. I don't think this is coincidental. It must have something to do with our account being looked into. Perhaps the underground bank boss disclosed our information."

Moments after Jayden left the conversation hanging, animosity flashed across his eyes, and he asked, "Do we know who it is?"

"We don't know," Hansel answered, biting the bullet. "We're still looking into it, but they're very sneaky. They didn't leave a trace."

"How can there be no traces?!" Jayden flipped out. "The slightest clue, even if you have to dig it up from the center of the earth, dig it up!"

"Yes, sir!" Hansel obliged, but considering the current situation, he still suggested, "But given the current situation, the mercenaries have probably been out. Then, there's Lab X, Mr. Hall. Should we…"

He left his words hanging, but Jayden already knew where he was going with them.

As unwilling as he was to resign to fate, he had no choice but to sever his 'limb', given how dangerous of a situation they were in.

At that, he gritted his teeth and ordered, "Tell everyone in the lab to retreat. Abandon whatever's necessary and retain only the core information and reagent. Get to it ASAP!"

"Yes, sir!" Hansel obliged.

After the call ended, the air around Jayden froze up as he narrowed his eyes slightly. It was evident he was mulling over the entire thing.

Who has gotten to me? Can it be… Levisay? But judging from the way he's behaving just now, it doesn't look like he has any other thoughts apart from being jealous.

Besides, Lab X wasn't the only company operating in the shadows. There were others too. So, it was hard to say who exactly it could be.

Jayden pondered for a long while but couldn't reach anywhere. So, he merely left it aside for now.

It wasn't until after he recollected himself and went back downstairs that he discovered Katherine and Joaquin had already packed up and were ready to leave.

He frowned in response and tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. "Are you sure you want to leave, Kathy? Who's to say the people hunting you aren't still keeping an eye on you? I'm worried for you."

At this point, Katherine had regained her composure, and she smiled plainly. "Don't be. I know what I'm doing."Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.