A Replacement Bride

Chapter 243

Joaquin's guess was right on the money. Katherine did want to come clean. Yet, it was a tricky topic to discuss, but for the sake of Noah, she couldn't drag it out any longer. She had to talk things out with him.

When she thought about her daughter, she tried her best to ignore the discomfort in her heart and suppressed the anxiety in her bright eyes. Finally, she opened her mouth and said softly, "I've told you about Noah's father, but that's not the whole truth. I want to tell you everything today. Do you want to hear it?"

When Joaquin heard this, he almost lost control. There was a crack in his usual calm demeanor as his hands trembled when applying the ointment to his injury. Hence, he lowered his eyes, and for the first time in his life, he did not dare to look at her. So, he merely hummed softly as his eyes flickered with trepidation.

Then, Katherine told her version of the incident that had happened five years ago. Although her voice had a faint tremor, in the beginning, her voice became firmer as time passed. It felt as though she was tearing through the mess of scars from her past; it was both painful and cathartic. "Back then, I was terrified and desperate. I had no room to fight back, so I could only bear it miserably. That night was a nightmare that I will never forget. I've been looking for that man and wanted to ask him why he did this to me. I needed an explanation. I wanted closure."

There... I finally said it. As she exposed the bloody wound that had been lingering in her heart, it didn't feel as agonizing as she expected. Instead, there was a faint sense of relief as those words left her lips.

She exhaled lightly, and it felt like her very breath carried a faint sense of corruption that had finally left her body. Then, she looked straight at Joaquin and stared intently into his eyes. "Joaquin, I want to know where you were that night five years ago."

Joaquin remained silent in the face of her questioning gaze. When he heard her side of the story, he felt invisible vines had taken root in his heart as they ruthlessly strangled it. Every breath brought a sharp pang as the vines' thorns twisted and poked bloody holes into his heart

Although her tone of voice was calm as she spoke, he could still feel the fear and despair she had felt back then. He truly wanted to slap himself for doing something so dastardly!

Even if he had no choice and had lost his mind due to the drug, how could he have done such a thing?! He was an utter b*stard!

she thought his actions were one of avoidance, and he didn't want to answer her. As the seconds ticked by, the hope in her

had thought this through. As long as he admitted what he had done and gave her a

away into nothing when she saw him. She didn't know why, but she felt that she could trust Joaquin. She felt that maybe

he refused to

nothing, he suddenly raised his head and looked at her solemnly. His eyes were filled with complex emotions

fateful day five years ago, I received a task from my superiors and was ordered to destroy a harmful toxin at the TruMark Research in Fontan. But the news was leaked somehow, and TruMark Research set a trap and prepared for

about the past so bluntly. The last shred of hope in her eyes grew as it burned like a

to find a place to hide. The bar was the best place because of its loud music and chaotic environment. But I didn't expect that the poison in

he paused and forged on, his voice deeper

that time, I was completely confused, and all my rationality and whatnot were

the truth was out in the open, plain and simple. Joaquin's expression was filled with guilt and misery. For the first time in his life, he felt extremely ashamed and

everything had already happened. At that time, I only had one thought, and that was to marry you. I had made a vow to take care of you for the rest of my life, and I wouldn't marry another woman. Even though it was an

was the first time Katherine had heard him say so many

silent and simply looked at him steadily. It was as if she tried to see through him and glimpse at his very soul. People had always said that the eyes were the windows of the soul; she wanted to peek through his

behind the terrors that had been plaguing me. It was all a misunderstanding—a terrible yet frustrating misunderstanding. He is not a frivolous man, nor did he intend to hurt me that night.