A Replacement Bride

She lowered her head and ate silently while occasionally looking up to glance at Joaquin.

Meanwhile, Joaquin stayed silent throughout as if he hadn't noticed Beatrice's gaze.

Joaquin knew what she was thinking. Ever since she walked through that door, she

seemed to be hinting at something, but Joaquin ignored it on purpose.

"Joe." Since she was unable to savor the steak in her mouth, Beatrice pursed her lips

before speaking up faintly.

Joaquin put down the fork in his hand and looked up at her.

"Joe, l-let's not meet again in the future." Beatrice spoke those words with great difficulty,

a pitiful expression on her face.

Joaquin was a little surprised that she would suddenly bring this up. He was thinking that

she probably had something else to add when he saw Beatrice taking off the sunglasses to

reveal a swollen face.

The mark on her face was quite obvious, and it was a palm-shaped mark as a result of a

slap.

Joaquin's eyebrow twitched a little, slight fury hidden in the depths of his eyes. "Who did

that, hm?"

"I'm sorry, Joe. I was the one at fault for saying the wrong things and upsetting Miss

Cornell. She was right to hit me, and I deserve it. I've considered it carefully, and even

though we got intimate five years ago, you couldn't help it back then, so it shouldn't

count. W-We should just give up," Beatrice said, then covered her face and sobbed

pitifully.

Joaquin frowned.

Did Katherine hit her?

After all the interactions he had with Katherine for so long, he knew her considerably well.

If she actually hit Beatrice out of jealousy, that would be quite the anomaly.

Seeing Joaquin's pitiful look, Joaquin darkened his gaze.

However, since she mentioned the incident five years ago, he couldn't stay cruel. He

sighed in his heart and comforted her by saying, "Don't cry, alright? You shouldn't provoke

her next time."

Hearing that, Beatrice was stunned. She never thought Joaquin would say something like

that.

He didn't even try to stand up for my injustice, she thought.

"Joe…" Beatrice's tears kept falling as she raised her head to look at Joaquin. She had

been pretending to cry before this, but now, she felt incredibly wronged.

Is he not going to help me?

Fortunately, I've arranged things beforehand, so that wretched Katherine must be dead by

now! If not, Katherine might really snatch Joaquin away!

Beatrice's thoughts were vicious, but she sobbed even harder.

"Tsk, if you keep crying like that, people might think your family died." Just as Beatrice was

heaving sobs, a cold voice sounded from behind her.

That familiar voice and tone caused Beatrice to freeze as she looked at the entrance in

disbelief.

Katherine? Why isn't she dead?

Seeing the mark on Beatrice's face, Katherine curved her lips and walked forward. She

stood in front of Beatrice, then gave the latter another forceful slap on the face without

hesitation.

The sound was crisp and clear, and Beatrice was dumbfounded by the slap.

"Miss Cornell, what have I done for you to be treating me like this? I got to know Joe first,

and even if I love him, it shouldn't affect you at all, right? H-How can you just hit someone

for no reason?"

Katherine glared coldly at the woman in front of her who was still faking it. Beatrice was

sobbing so terribly that she did look quite pitiful.

It was too bad that she wouldn't be fooled by this. She grabbed a few tissues from the

table and carefully cleaned her hand. Then, she tossed the tissues onto Beatrice's face.

"You know what you've done, Beatrice. Don't provoke me again. I really have the worst

temper."

Katherine felt that she had been pretending to be harmless for too long, so everyone

dared to step over her now.

After hitting Beatrice, Katherine turned around and left after her warning.

Beatrice remained silent, sitting there and covering her face as she sobbed tremendously.

Her sobs were giving Joaquin headaches, and he was extremely annoyed.

From what he knew of Katherine, she wasn't the type to cause trouble out of nowhere. She

wouldn't come all the way here and hit Beatrice for no reason.

Beatrice must have done something, but she hid it from him.

"I'll send you back first." Seeing how Beatrice refused to say anything, Joaquin didn't ask

further.

Beatrice opened her mouth to explain, but now, it was best if she kept quiet.

Joaquin sent her to the entrance of Muller Residence. Beatrice looked at him, looking as

though she wanted to speak. In the end, she covered her face and sobbed as she ran

through the door.

Joaquin looked at her figure, deep in thought. He then sent Ben a message and asked Ben

to figure out what happened today.

Halfway on the road, Ben called. "Mr. Levisay, is that Beatrice out of her mind? Some time

ago, there was an accident at the construction site of the Cornell Family. Three workers fell

from a great height; two of them died on the spot and another was sent to the hospital,

but he also died after a few days. The Cornell Group refused to take responsibility for this

incident, claiming that it was already after working hours. Since the three workers didn't

fall during working hours, it wasn't their business. They even wanted to hold the workers

responsible. The families of those workers weren't familiar with the law, so they believed it

and dared not cause a ruckus. In the end, the Cornell Family compensated the families

with ten thousand each and just ended the case…"

He continued, "Ruby Murphy's husband died, and her uncle was also beaten into an invalid

by the Cornell Group. He's still in hospital now, and they have yet to pay the bills. Beatrice

gave Ruby a sum of money so that she would cause Miss Cornell trouble. She even gave

Ruby the address, and when Ruby heard that Miss Cornell was the young mistress of the

Cornell Family, she believed it and went to the entrance of the research institute to stop

her. In the end, Miss Cornell was in one piece, but Ruby almost died. She's now in the

research institute, and Miss Cornell has saved her life."

"Is that so?" Joaquin tapped the car window twice with his finger. His gaze was cold and

sharp.