A Replacement Bride

Chapter 260

She had just finished her sentence when Joaquin curled his lips into a smirk. "I'm not being shameless —I'm just expressing my genuine feelings. Everything that I just said came from the bottom of my heart. Don't you trust me, Kathy?" he said in a gentle tone.

Katherine nearly choked upon hearing his words. Her cheeks were flushed. She had always been quick-witted, but she didn't know what to say at that moment. Her pupils darted all over the room for a while before she calmed herself down and stuck her bottom lip out. "What's there to trust? I know what was going on in your head while you were singing that duet with Grandma earlier," she muttered as she poured him a glass of water.

Katherine was attempting to shift the topic of conversation, yet Joaquin refused to go along with her. He held the glass of water that she had poured for him without sipping it. He held it in his palm while staring into her eyes. "Hmm… Does that mean that you know what I was thinking? Tell me about it, then," he said in a rather playful and provocative tone. It was then that Katherine realized how she had dug her own grave.

However, Katherine immediately pressed her lips together before giving the man her exaggerated eye- roll. She wore a rather awkward expression on her face. "What nonsense are you talking about? Don't you have anything better to do? You faked your pain; you faked your romantic speech—I'm starting to wonder if the surgery did something bad to you. Well, you can be here alone, right? I'll go over to visit Noah," she uttered before turning around.

However, to her surprise, Joaquin reached out to grab her wrist before he pulled her into his arms. He hadn't lowered the cup in his other hand, and the water inside threatened to splash out of the cup. Katherine stumbled into his arms, and she felt her head spinning and her heart racing as she watched the water in the glass. "Hey! What are you—" Katherine instinctively tried to escape the situation that

she was in. However, Joaquin didn't let her go. His grip was just right—firm enough to hold her yet not strong enough to hurt her. He simply held onto her as he watched her cheeks turn red. It was rare to see Katherine looking that way—he narrowed his eyes when he saw how adorable she looked.

Katherine tried to wrestle her way out, but she only felt more helpless when she realized that she couldn't do it. She felt frustrated at the man's silence, so she looked up to glare at him. For a brief moment, their gazes landed directly on each other's, and they both felt a current of electricity shooting down their spines. "You—" Katherine parted her lips as she tried her best to suppress the peculiar sensation that she felt. "What are you looking at?" she cried.

The very next second, Joaquin returned to his senses before speaking in his usual, gentle voice. "I'm looking at your gorgeous face. You're a treat to my eyes," he said. Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

Katherine was utterly speechless. She barely had the time to respond to the man's declaration of romance when she felt the man's warm breath against her ears. His breath made her ear feel itchy— she felt like she was being tickled by feathers. Her first instinct was to shrink away from Joaquin, but he didn't let go. She couldn't escape him as his thin lips pressed against her earlobe. He opened and closed his lips to speak in a tone so sexy that it felt almost illegal. His words felt like spurts of electricity that gave Katherine a buzz. "I'm jealous, so you have to compensate me, Kathy."

Finally, Joaquin lowered his ego to admit the fact that he was jealous. Katherine's gaze widened when she heard what the man said. "You—" She parted her lips as she turned around to look at him. However, before she could say anything else, Joaquin pressed his lips against hers before he started making out with her. All her words were shoved back down her throat.

Katherine had no idea how long the kiss lasted, but she felt like her lungs were about to burst by the time Joaquin finally released her. He pressed his forehead against hers as he panted lightly. After a while, he looked up and stared into her eyes. The warmth and passion were practically overflowing in his gaze.

"I got my compensation," he uttered.

Katherine was speechless—she couldn't seem to stop her heart from pounding against her ribcage. She couldn't soothe the heightened pace of her heartbeat. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were watery. Even though she couldn't bring herself to speak, her thoughts were loud in her head. Damn, this b*stard is so good at flirting!

…

The look on Jayden's face was as grim as death by the time he returned to the hotel. Jayden's assistant, Aaron, braced himself as he brought a cup of coffee over to his boss. Aaron had intended to slip in and out of the room without being noticed. However, he had no choice but to turn back around when he heard Jayden calling for him. "What is it, Boss?"

Jayden didn't explain himself immediately. Instead, he stood by the floor-to-ceiling window that showed him the view of the entire city with a dark and mysterious look on his face. A glint flashed in Jayden's narrowed eyes just before he started speaking. "I heard that the Rosenburgs have been facing a lot of issues lately. Is that true?" he asked.

Aaron froze for a moment before nodding in haste. "Yeah. They had Mr. Walton watching their back before this, and their situation was relatively decent at that point. It seems like Mr. Walton is no longer on their side right now—he no longer watches over them as he did before. It doesn't take much for others to realize this, and the Rosenburgs have been given the cold shoulder ever since then. Tons of other businesses are competing and overpowering them, and it seems like the Rosenburgs are about to collapse."

Jayden cocked his eyebrow as he curled his lips into a smile. "That's all because of the Rosenburg Family's ignorance. They were the ones who got rid of their greatest support." Jayden turned around to

continue giving his orders. "I want you to contact the Rosenburgs. You can get Mrs. Rosenburg to contact Katherine—Katherine will help them through this tough period," Jayden uttered.

"Ah…" Aaron was rather puzzled after hearing this statement. "Well, it's not as if the Rosenburgs hadn't asked Miss Cornell for help in the past. Miss Cornell chased them out back then. Furthermore, the Rosenburgs now intend to use Miss Cornell—they're trying to arrange a marriage with the other family to reinstate their family's name. You…" I know that Boss is interested in Miss Cornell. If that's the case, why would he allow another person to get involved with Miss Cornell?

Jayden let out a laugh even before Aaron could say anything. The sly smile on Jayden's face made it obvious that Jayden knew what Aaron was thinking about. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I just want you to do as you're told," Jayden ordered.

Since Jayden had made his orders clear, Aaron figured that there was no point in saying much else, so he simply went along with his orders. After Aaron left, Jayden continued to stand in front of the large window with his gaze fixed on the view outside. Hah. I know exactly what the Rosenburgs are planning to do. I would never just hand Katherine over, would I? I just want to benefit from the Rosenburg Family for a bit. Once the Rosenburgs arrange a marriage, I'll get to mess with Katherine and Joaquin's relationship. Then, I'll eventually be the greatest winner of all this…

The next day, Katherine was feeding Noah some food when Mrs. Rosenburg rushed over with a look of panic on her face. "You have to save the Rosenburg Family, Katherine! You're the only one we have now!" Emma couldn't stop herself from getting to her point right after she saw Katherine.

Throughout this period, the Rosenburgs were shamed and bullied. As a result, Emma no longer felt as grand or smug as she used to be—her back was slightly hunched as she shuffled her feet over. However, Emma's eyes still lit up with greed when she saw Katherine. It was as if Emma was staring at a bag full of gold.