A Replacement Bride

Chapter 242

Joaquin was bewildered after hearing this information, and his pupils shrank in horror. "What did you say?!" His taut voice turned hoarse. One could even deduce from his voice alone that he barely had a handle on his emotional turmoil.

Jeremy knew firsthand how out of this world this news was. It was like a bomb thrown into a calm lake, which caused a massive shockwave. Even he was utterly astonished when he heard it, so he couldn't even imagine what Joaquin was feeling at this moment. He licked his lips and stammered, "That woman in the bar five years ago w-was Katherine!"

Then, he hastily added as if he remembered something, "By the way, when I met the bar owner today, he was muttering something like ''Damn it. What is up with them? Why did everyone come to ask me about that day'. It sounded rather strange, so I asked him about it, a-and he told me that Katherine had gone to meet him earlier and said that she already knew who the man was..."

It meant that Katherine knew that Joaquin was the man from five years ago.

Joaquin squeezed his phone tightly as his veins bulged due to his agitation. He pursed his thin lips into a line, and his well-defined features couldn't even hide his gloominess. He did not say a word. Perhaps, it was more like he couldn't bring himself to say anything as complicated emotions flashed within his dark eyes. Plus, he could barely untangle the mess that was in his mind.

How can it be... She was the woman from five years ago! I've been looking for her for so long, but she has always been by my side!

His eyes fluttered shut as he tried to digest this shocking news. Finally, he suppressed the well of emotions in his eyes as he rubbed his forehead.

"Boss..." Jeremy hesitantly spoke up on the other end of the line since Joaquin hadn't given him a reply, so he was curious to know what Joaquin intended to do.

However, before he could finish his sentence, Joaquin hung up on him. This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

"Hey?! Boss!" He gasped in bafflement when he heard the dial tone. Then, he sighed helplessly.

Who would have thought that Joaquin and Katherine had already met five years ago? Still, the nonsense lawsuit five years ago should finally come to an end.

Moreover, Joaquin had to think about how to explain himself to Katherine. Fortunately for Jeremy, that was none of his business.

At the thought of this, he relaxed since he had successfully finished one of his errands. He even whistled in delight as he boarded the plane.

...

Meanwhile, Joaquin stood rooted on the spot in Katherine's villa after ending the call with shaky hands.

After a beat, he lowered his hand that was massaging his forehead, snapped his eyes open, and frowned. There was a dark and gloomy tide raging in his eyes.

Although the call had lasted only less than 20 minutes, he felt as if he had been out for a decade. It was as though he had entered a stimulation only to experience the incident that had occurred five years ago again.

He was the one at fault back then. Thus, he had always been brooding about it.

Once, when he was dreaming, he thought about what the woman whom he had held and made love to would look like, but he couldn't see anything, no matter how hard he tried.

Even though Beatrice had been by his side these past few years, he had never experienced the same feeling from that night.

When he learned that Beatrice was a fake and not the person from five years ago, he felt angered and dazed. But more than that, he felt utterly relieved.

He had never liked Beatrice the way a boyfriend loved a girlfriend. He even beat himself up because of this. Nonetheless, he was glad that Beatrice was not the woman he wanted, but what followed was bottomless remorse and dilemma.

As his feelings for Katherine deepened, they soon overwhelmed him, and he willingly fell into the abyss of love.

Nevertheless, the feeling of guilt toward the woman he slept with back then only became harder to ignore.

This dilemma had been bothering him for a long time, and he didn't know if he should love Katherine wholeheartedly or back down because she deserved better. However, now that he learned Katherine was the woman that night five years ago, he didn't know how to face her.

Was he happy? Of course! He had never denied his feelings for Katherine. He loved her and didn't want to hide his affection for her.

Initially, he didn't know how to handle all these twisted emotions, but now, since she was the woman he had been searching for, he had nothing to worry about. He loved the right person, so he didn't have to worry about an unknown woman appearing in his life one day. Regardless, the guilt that had been eating him up surged like a tsunami.

He was aware of how repulsed Katherine was toward physical intimacy and how he had scarred her after that night.

What happened that night was her nightmare! How would she look at him now? How should he face her after what he had done? Especially when he knew his actions had deeply hurt her?

His heart and mind were an utter mess. The longer he thought about it, the more irritable he became and the more clueless he was about his situation.

He suddenly remembered that although she looked the same as usual today, he noticed some minute differences when observing her expression closely, especially how she looked at him. Her gaze was tinged with something he couldn't quite place when she sneaked glances at him.

What should I do? Should I come clean about this matter? Will she forgive me when she knows the truth?

He furrowed his brows tightly as his frown seemed as though it was etched on his face. His handsome face exuded an aura of despair and guilt.

Just when he was about to run his fingers through his hair due to annoyance, the door opened, and Katherine walked in.

"Oh? Why are you awake so early?" She had ointment in her hand. It was apparent that she was about to apply it for him.

Joaquin turned and took a glance at her youthful, yet beautiful face that was free of makeup. He pursed his thin lips and nodded hesitantly.

Katherine had something on her mind right now, so she didn't notice anything unusual about him. Therefore, she walked to the bed and handed him the ointment without further ado. "You have to apply the ointment every two hours. Since you're already awake, you can do it yourself."

He had no objections to her suggestion and nodded slightly in response. When he took the ointment from her, his fingertips lightly slid across her palm, and he instantly noticed that she trembled slightly as if his touch had electrified her.

He felt his heart twist in pain when he saw that. It felt like someone had punched him in the gut, making it hard for him to breathe. D-Did she loathe him so bad that she couldn't even handle his touch any longer?

When he arrived on that train of thought, he tried his best to conceal his heartache despite feeling even more distraught and miserable. Finally, he couldn't help but raise his head to look at her. "Kathy, I have something to—"

Before he could finish his words, she sat down on the bed, slightly away from him, but she didn't look repulsed or resistant by his presence. "Do you have something to say?" She looked at him with her bright doe-eyes. Although she looked normal, and there was not a hair out of place, there was still a hint of steel in her eyes that made him straighten in his seat. "That's fine. I also have something to say. Let me say my piece first."

Joaquin was startled by her words. Nonetheless, he could only nod in agreement despite his hesitation. "Okay."

Katherine took a deep breath, and her eyes darted sideways nervously when she saw him staring at her. Finally, she fidgeted slightly and ordered, "You should apply the ointment while listening to me."

"Alright." Joaquin fiddled with the ointment before nodding warily. He had a feeling that she wanted to talk about what had happened five years ago...