A Replacement Bride

Chapter 21

"Daddy, let's head in. On our way here, I heard Rosemary say that she could not come as she had something going on. We cannot let the Levisays wait for us, right?" Katherine sweetly said as she took Jorge's offered arm. They looked like a lovely father-daughter pair.

Jorge frowned upon hearing that, and he agreed with her as well.

When he saw that Lisa was still throwing a fit while the Levisay servants watched from the doorway, his face twisted with dissatisfaction. He cleared his throat and said to Lisa, "Enough, Lisa. Rose has something to do, so we shall not wait for her. Let us head inside. This is more important."

Naturally, Lisa was not happy to hear that. However, she did not dare to argue back. Thus, she had to suppress her rage. However, as she walked past them, she shot Katherine a menacing glare.

Katherine remained calm though as she happily walked into the Levisay Residence with her arm linked with Jorge's.

She was looking forward to meeting the fiancée she had yet to even see.

There were quite a few people gathered in the living room. When Jorge and the others walked through the door, dozens of faces instantly turned to look at them.

Even though Jorge was someone who had seen and met a lot of people, the sight still made his heart tremble and his stomach roll in anxiety.

Lisa immediately noticed the handsome young men in the room; all of them look like great, capable men. The sight made her hate Katherine even more for being in Rosemary's way.

"My dear in-laws, you're here. Come, sit," greeted Hera.

Hera was as friendly as ever. In fact, when she saw Katherine, she looked as if she had just seen her own daughter walk into the room.

The other people in the room all frowned at Katherine's gaudy outfit. Elizabeth Levisay's face was the most unpleasant as her face was scrunched up so hard that it was evident that she was not happy at all.

"You are so beautiful today, Katherine." Hera could not help but scoff when she saw the blinding shine of sequins on Katherine.

It was obvious that Katherine was not someone who was up to standard. After all, no proper lady would wear something so gaudy and vulgar that it resembled a dancer's outfit.

Still, she would be marrying Joaquin, so that put Hera into a good mood.

"This is Joaquin's father. He was unable to come along last time because of an urgent matter at work," Hera introduced as she led Katherine and her family to their seats. She then sat down beside a stern- faced middle-aged man and held his arm while smiling at Katherine.

Katherine looked at the man and said with a sweet smile, "Hello, sir."

While John Levisay did not like the girl he saw, he was raised with manners. Hence, he was able to politely respond to Katherine without letting his displeasure show.

Seeing that, Hera introduced the other people in the room as well. "This is Joaquin's grandmother. You can just call her Grandma as he does."

Elizabeth had a sharp and extremely unfriendly face. When she heard what Hera said, she let out a scoff. "Please, do not. I am afraid it will shorten my lifespan."

Katherine smiled even brighter than before. "Hello, Grandma."

That pissed Elizabeth so much that the corner of her eye twitched. She was about to burst out in fury when the person sitting beside her stopped her.

It was then that Katherine noticed the young woman seated beside Elizabeth. The woman looked to be around the age of 23 and was dressed in a pure white silk dress. She looked elegant and refined.

When the woman noticed Katherine staring at her, she smiled at Katherine and softly said to Elizabeth, "Grandma, she is Joaquin's fiancée after all. Be polite for his sake. Think of how upset he would be when he knows what you just said."

Elizabeth continued to frown but kept quiet afterward.

Katherine could not help but take a closer look at the meek-looking woman. Although the woman had spoken up to defend Katherine, it felt like she was making a claim instead.

She smirked, finding the situation more interesting than before.

It seemed like the Levisays were a much more treacherous family than the Cornells.

She did not have time to fool around with rich family politics, though. She had to find a chance to get this engagement canceled.

"Oh, Hera, I had meant to ask you this last time; where is Joaquin? We are engaged with each other, right? I did not see him last time, but why do I not see him here in his home?" Katherine asked Hera with an innocent face in a soft and sweet voice.

Hearing that disgusted Hera. She did not expect Katherine to be so good at acting. The last time they met, she had acted so crudely.

It seemed like the Cornells had particularly taught her a few lessons as they were afraid of being embarrassed.

Nevertheless, coal would always be coal. No matter what, it could never turn into a diamond. Hence, she was not worried about any big changes with Katherine.

"Him? He is upstairs," replied Hera. "Oh, he had been brooding and depressed ever since that accident. He rarely speaks nowadays. If you wish to see him, you can head up to his room. It is the second room to the left."

Hera raised her hand to her eyes as if to wipe her tears away.

Katherine's lips twitched as she bluntly said, "Okay. I'll head upstairs to greet him."

She then got up and walked to the staircase.

Everyone in the room went pale, especially John whose face turned ugly.

The average daughter of a good family would never be so rude! What Katherine did was over the line.

His displeasure was so obvious that Jorge became furious as well.

However, Jorge could not burst out in anger before the Levisays, and it was not a good time to berate Katherine. Hence, the only thing he could do was smile apologetically. "Kathy has a rather straightforward personality. She likely wanted to have some bonding time with Joaquin."

Hera covered her smile with her hand after hearing that, but she did not expose the lie for what it was.

Jorge's explanation had the opposite effect he wanted though. The more he said, the more he emphasized her rudeness.

Meanwhile, Katherine headed upstairs as she could not be bothered to deal with the tense situation downstairs. She then pushed open the second door to her left, as Hera directed. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

There was a faint scent of blood in the air, along with a rather familiar scent.

She could not help but frown when she stepped into the room. She paused to ponder about the mysterious scent but could not recall where she had smelled it before.

"Is anyone there?" she tentatively called out. She did not wait for an answer though and walked further into the room.

To her surprise, the room was extremely clean. Inside the room was a man sitting in a wheelchair with his back to the door and facing the balcony.

He seemed to have heard her open the door as his fingers pressed a button on his wheelchair to slowly turn him around. At the same time, he turned to look at her.

Katherine was stunned at the face she saw. Her eyes lingered on the silver mask on his face.

It was a very exquisite mask.

For some reason, he felt strangely familiar to her.

"Have we met before?" Unable to hold back her curiosity, she blurted out the question after staring at him for a few long moments.

His deep chuckles echoed through the room as he shot back in a sharp voice, "Do you always flirt like that with every man you meet?"

That was not the voice she knew.

It only took a second for her to arrive at that conclusion. This man was not the annoying man she had met twice before. The two of them merely held themselves the same way.

"No, but you felt rather similar to someone I know. Are you Joaquin Levisay, my fiancée?" She sat down on the bed and blatantly studied him.

His skin was quite pale, and his brown hair hung before his forehead, blocking out half of his mask.

He was clean-shaven, and his jaw was rather pleasant to look at. His lips were very thin and somewhat flushed red; he was likely burning up slightly with something.

He was dressed in a tailored black dress shirt with the top three of his buttons undone, revealing beautiful collarbones, and a pair of suit pants.

Despite being in a wheelchair, the way he held himself exuded a somewhat oppressing presence.

"You seem interested in me." His voice suddenly rang out beside her ear, stunning her.

The sense of familiarity was back.