A Replacement Bride

Chapter 376
Joaquin, too, echoed with a devil-may-care attitude aside. "That's right, and I will naturally keep my wife safe at all times, Mr.
Hall. Your concern is unnecessary."
Jayden's expression stiffened for a second. Instead of entertaining Joaquin, he turned to Katherine. "You really won't stay?" He
tried retaining her once more but not insisting on it, as one, he didn't want Katherine to sense his utilitarianism, and two, he was
in no mood to retain her given the tricky situation he was in and that he had a lot to deal with.
"No." Katherine smiled. "Thank you for saving us and even letting us stay for the night. We won't trouble you further."
"Alright. I'll take you to the hotel then." Jayden said nothing more but only nodded, seeing that she insisted. Then, as though
purposelessly, he asked, "So what's next? Are you guys heading straight to Zoscistan?"
A twinkle flashed across Joaquin's eyes, and he answered with an ambiguous smile, "It's our private matter, Mr. Hall. No need to
worry too much."
Jayden frowned in response, and his displeasure was palpable.
Seeing that the tension between the two men arose again, Katherine, worried the two would be at each other's necks again,
hurriedly eased the atmosphere and answered without much thought. "I plan on resting for another day before leaving for
Zoscistan tomorrow."
Then again, she didn't reveal too much either, as she fell silent for a moment before smiling plainly. "After all, I've been staying in
Fontan for far too long. It's boring here and a waste of time, too, if I'm to spend my break here."
She didn't give an entirely honest answer. Not because she was wary of him but just because she didn't want to add to the
trouble, not just for her but for others as well.
Joaquin might have remained silent, but his gaze had been subtly on Jayden the whole time, checking his every expression.
However, the man's expression stayed the same throughout. Even the brilliance in his eyes flashed across within a split second.
Very quickly, he smiled and said, "Alright. Since you have already made up your mind, go and enjoy yourself. Have a good trip."

After bidding goodbye, Katherine and Joaquin left Jayden's mansion, and since entering the car, Katherine couldn't help wanting
to laugh when she recollected Joaquin's out-of-the-ordinary behavior in the past two days.
That said, she didn't say anything, for at this point in time, she was still oblivious to what was to come and believed her man was
only kicking up a fuss from jealousy.
And what she didn't know was that after the two checked into their hotel room, Joaquin received Jeremy's call while she was in
the shower.
"Mr. Levisay, we've hit a dead end with the clue." Jeremy cut to the chase and gave Joaquin the update.
However, Joaquin didn't seem at all surprised, as he didn't even quirk a brow. "What happened?" he asked impassively.
With that, Jeremy took a deep breath and related the story briefly. "I had wanted to use the account information to trace for any
possible clues, but the account got deleted half an hour ago. So, we can't retrieve any information anymore. As for the
information on Lab X, we don't have any more reliable sources so far. They're all just hearsay. The credibility is iffy."
At that, Joaquin snorted. "Sever his limb to continue surviving, huh? He reacts quickly, that's for sure. Lab X has probably
already received the news and has gone into hiding. It's pointless even if we continue searching with this lead."
"Sorry, Mr. Levisay," Jeremy apologized with shame. "We've alerted them, haven't we?"
"You haven't. They've run away, knowing the place can't keep them hidden. I have a feeling they don't know who's investigating
them."
"What do we do now?"
Joaquin narrowed his eyes slightly and smirked as a hint of malice flashed across his eyes. "Since he's moving so quickly, no
doubt he won't be resting for a while. Have someone keep a close eye on Hall. See that we know his every move and notify me if
there's anything suspicious."
Jeremy obliged at once.
For the rest of the day, Katherine and Joaquin hung out inside the hotel, going nowhere, preparing to head for Zoscistan the next
day.
Lo and behold, they were met with another assassination attempt at three in the morning.

Fortunately, Joaquin was never dead asleep the whole night. After hearing barely audible noise coming from outside the door, he
immediately shook Katherine up.
The young woman was groggy when she awoke, and just as she was about to ask him what was up, she felt his hand covering
her mouth in the dark at once.
His placid eyes looked exceptionally sharp against the crisp moonlight that shone through the window.
Shh... he whispered barely audibly.
A split-second gaze at his icy face was all it took for Katherine to realize something wasn't right, and her drowsiness was gone as
her eyes cleared up in an instant.
She perked up her ears, and her gaze turned frosty when she acutely sensed the noise coming from outside the room in the
dark.
Someone's out there, and they're not alone!
Realizing that, she immediately exchanged a glance with Joaquin, and the couple understood each other's thoughts wordlessly
quickly.
At that, they hurriedly got out of bed, dashed carefully and silently to the side of the door, and pressed against the wall where the
direction of the door panels would open.
Very quickly, the people outside unlocked the door, and with a soft click, the door opened.
With breakneck speed, Katherine and Joaquin booted the door, slamming it against the person coming in with a bang.
Instantly, two cries of pain rang out, alerting the people behind to rush into the room.
At the same time, the couple made their attacks.
As the two were exceptionally skilled fighters that not just about anyone could defeat, their opponents were defeated in two
shakes despite outnumbering the couple.
Just like that, the scene quieted down after five minutes, and Joaquin turned on the lights, illuminating the chaos of five
mercenary-dressing men sprawled across the room.

Katherine, on the other hand, moved her leg away from a mercenary's back while frowning. "Why are these guys everywhere?
It's like they've put a tracker on us."
At that, Joaquin gazed profoundly at her. "Maybe you're right."
Katherine blinked in stupefaction and asked, "No way, haven't we checked for them at Jayden's after fighting these mercenaries?
We didn't—"
The young woman stopped abruptly, and her countenance shifted multitudes, clearly having thought of something.
"You're saying..." She looked skeptically at Joaquin a dozen seconds later, having trouble believing the possibility.
Joaquin, too, didn't give her a direct answer but drawled, "Kathy, think about it. Don't you think all that we've been encountering
has been too coincidental?"