A Replacement Bride

Chapter 407

Chapter 406 Bailout

Katherine slept for a long time. When she woke up, it was already dusk. She looked outside the window and wondered why she was there. A moment later, she realized she had returned from Lab 7.

"You're awake," someone said. "Are you thirsty? Do you need any water?" the husky voice asked.

She paused for a moment and turned around in surprise. Joaquin was lying on his side, resting his cheek in his hand as he stared at her.

Noticing her blank stare at himself, he smiled and pulled her into his embrace. "Well, why aren't you talking?"

Katherine didn't refuse his hug and rested on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Slowly, the fog in her mind lifted. "I'm not thirsty," she said, her voice a little hoarse. "How's Corey?"

Joaquin cocked his eyebrow, staring at her. "The first thing you care about right after you wake up is a man other than me. I'll get jealous, you know."

He's teasing me. Katherine rolled her eyes. "Just answer me."

The man smiled and didn't tease her further since she was worried. "He's fine. He didn't puke any meds anymore, and he's looking better, too." Joaquin pulled her hair back and touched her cheek. "He's fine now. Get some sleep if you have to. David is keeping an eye on him, so don't worry."

"Okay." Finally, she could relax. Instead of getting out of bed, she leaned into his embrace.

She took her time to calm down, then she blurted, "What about Gray Corporation?"

Joaquin smiled. Confidently, he replied, "On the brink of bankruptcy. Gray Corporation's liquid assets are all trapped in a project, so they can't pay their partners' damages. I've told all the banks not to approve any of their loans. A lot of their projects are on hold, so now, they're on their last legs."

Katherine wasn't surprised to hear that at all. She planned this, after all. "Did he send anyone to check on Corey?" she asked after a moment of thinking.

Joaquin sneered. "He's locked up. He has no time for his son. I thought it would be easy for him to get out, but no one came to help him. He's in the police department, and no one in the family can keep things under control, so they're in a mess. Guess karma does come for everybody. This is payback for all the dirty deeds he did."

Katherine thought so, too. "Honestly, he poisoned his own son. He can die for all I care, but I think he gets off a little too lightly if he only suffers an easy death."

"What about his company? Do you want to leave it as it is, or should we just destroy them?"

Katherine mused over it and remained firm on her old stance. "Leave it as it is. We'll wait until Corey wakes up to decide what to do with it. He can call the shots. He did work on part of the company, and he's given a lot to it, but his stupid father just can't see it."

They chatted for a while longer before someone knocked on the door. Joaquin looked at the time and got out of bed. "It's probably David."

And true to his words, David was standing at the doorway. He then looked inside. "Is Kathy awake?"

Joaquin nodded. "She is. Why?"

David frowned. "Corey's getting a fever."

Katherine froze for a moment and quickly got out of bed. "I'll take a look." She changed into her slippers, and only then she realized she was in a bathrobe, much to her surprise. "When did I…"

Joaquin cleared his throat and closed the door, keeping David from seeing Katherine. "You were sweating and couldn't rest well, so I bathed you."

She blushed upon hearing his explanation and stammered, "Y-You could have told someone else to do it."

He cocked his eyebrow at that. "Carmine isn't here. I had no one else to call." Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Katherine didn't say anything else after that, and she blushed. Even her ears turned red.

Joaquin wanted to laugh but figured she might feel even more embarrassed if he did that, so he covered his mouth behind his fist. "It was just a bath. Besides, we're a couple. That was nothing."

Even so, she still blushed hard. She bit her lip and thought she was overreacting, but still, she shot him a look. "G-Get out. I want to change."

The man was delighted to see Katherine getting flustered, but he knew it wasn't the time to flirt around. Regrettably, he had to break the air of romance, so he nodded. "Sure. I'll check on Corey." With that, he left the room.

Katherine remained in her spot and touched her blushing cheeks, her eyes filled with embarrassment. She had to force herself to push that weird feeling down. Afterward, she quickly changed and checked on Corey. He wasn't in a severe condition. It was a low fever, and she was relieved after checking his pulse to find he was fine. "It's alright. The reagent is working its magic. He'll be fine once the poison is cleared." She then looked at the time. "He might wake tonight. He's been having IV fluid for days, so

give him some real food. Liquid food would be best. And make sure he doesn't eat too much. He'll be fine after tomorrow or so."

"Okay," said David.

…

Emmanuel was still locked up, but then an officer came in. "Emmanuel Gray, you can leave now."

Emmanuel had been staring at the ground, but as soon as he heard those words, he froze for a brief moment before looking at the officer in disbelief. "I-I can go now?"

The officer clicked his tongue impatiently. "Do you want me to repeat myself? Someone bailed you out. Now, leave before I close the door."

Emmanuel couldn't believe that someone had bailed him out, but when he emerged from the police department and saw who it was outside, he frowned. Hansel politely greeted him, "Mr. Gray, our president wishes to meet with you. He's in the car."