A Replacement Bride

Chapter 245

"Are you saying that the poison on your body was gone as soon as you woke up? But your sensory pain nerves are busted. What happened then?" Katherine felt something was amiss, so she questioned him with a frown.

"I'm not entirely sure about that. In short, after I woke up, I did an examination and found that the residual poison in my body was gone, and along with it was my sense of pain. It went on like this for years. Later, I discovered that it could be cured using Xyadin by some odd coincidence. Unfortunately, the treatment was dangerous, and it was hard to locate the cure. Thus, I've delayed treating my illness for so long."

This time it was Katherine's turn to look grave as an idea popped into her mind.

She clearly remembered that the rose birthmark on her body had been aching for several days after that incident that year. Then, she was highly preoccupied with her alleged rape and didn't pay it any mind, especially since she was a traumatized victim at the time. But now, she couldn't help but speculate something when she observed the changes her rose-shaped birthmark would show following her physical condition.

Perhaps, that unique patterned birthmark could detoxify poisons? Or something in her body could do so, and that also affected the birthmark's changes. That would explain why the poison on Joaquin's body was gone after their tryst.

They were physically intimate, and the rose birthmark detected the toxin, so it took effect and neutralized the poison in his body.

Despite the detoxification, the toxicity of the poison was so potent that it left a severe side effect, which was shown through his damaged nerves. Moreover, due to the high toxicity of the poison, some of it entered her body during the neutralizing process, and she couldn't clear the toxin completely.

Furthermore, she had a unique constitution because of the rose birthmark. As a result, the toxin was transferred to the fetus, which would explain why Noah was born with poison in her system!

The longer Katherine thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

She didn't tell Joaquin about the rose birthmark because she didn't know anything about it so far; it also sounded like something straight out of a fairy tale. So, she left it out of her theory and only told him about the rest.

became sullen after he heard this, and his eyes turned icy. He didn't expect the incident five years ago to

me..." He pursed his lips and apologized

"You don't owe me any apology. This matter is beyond your control. Besides,

demanded, "You said that you were infected with Zephyr five years ago when you breached into TruMark

my men to eliminate the toxin. Plus, the operation was extremely classified. So, only those

It was different from the Third Research Institute. By that, she meant that it was a secretive organization, be it in Fontan or even worldwide. No one knew what they were researching or the fruits of their labors, but it was

she didn't expect that the powerful Zephyr

your destruction operation fail?"

the contrary, we succeeded in

Didn't you say that someone had exposed the

point, Joaquin cast her a meaningful glance. "This

years ago, he led his men and finally found TruMark Research's stronghold, only to find the place empty and chaotic, as if a storm had ransacked the facility. When he laid his eyes on the facility, he immediately guessed that his mission was exposed, and the research facility employees had already

he didn't give up. Instead, he asked his men to conduct a carpet search just in

lone research left behind in one of the laboratories. Joaquin checked it carefully and found

men and ordered them to destroy all the toxins in the facility. But, to their bewilderment, the people of the research facility suddenly returned and

had no qualms about using dirty tricks. It also didn't help that Joaquin and his men didn't know the situation and environment well, so even