A Replacement Bride

Chapter 375

Joaquin leaned his back against the chair while retaining his devil-may-care smile. "Why do you think I'm leaving, Mr. Hall?"

He threw the question back to Jayden instead, and the latter's countenance turned grimmer by the second.

Very quickly, Jayden found Joaquin raising an arm, bringing it across Katherine's back, and resting it on her chair.

It was evident that the man was asserting dominance, a blatant challenge toward Jayden, who locked his brows into a tight furrow in response.

"Mr. Levisay, even if you're Kathy's husband, you don't need to have this much animosity toward me, is there? Kathy and I go way back, no matter how. Don't you think you're… being unreasonable? Have you ever thought about how Kathy would feel? Are you expecting Kathy to sever her ties with all her friends?"

A snort of laughter escaped Joaquin upon hearing Jayden's words, but his gaze remained undiscriminating, looking as though nothing Jayden said would get to him at all.

"Look at what you're saying, Mr. Hall. Of course not. That's not what I mean at all. I just think it's inconvenient for Kathy and me to stay here for long. After all…" At that, he quirked a brow and blurted cheekily, "We need our sex life too. It's ultimately not so convenient if we stay over in somebody else's house."

Cough, cough, cough…

Katherine choked upon hearing Joaquin's startling words, and she gazed at Joaquin with her brightly lit eyes widened with shock.

I swear to God, you are a shameless b*stard, Levisay! How can you say something like that like it's nothing?!

Jayden, too, was stupefied, and he parted his lips only to realize he was rendered at a loss for words, unsure of what to say.

It took him a long time to recover his voice, but a ringtone interrupted him before he could even speak up.

pursed his lips tightly and glanced at his phone

young woman—ignoring Joaquin, of course—while standing up. With that, he headed into the study with his

recovering from disbelief when she couldn't

talking about?! How can you say that in front of other people?!" she chided with what sounded like feigned anger, unsure if

to the side, propped his elbow against the table to support his leaning head, and gazed composedly at her with brightly lit eyes.

redness tinted her face and

you don't need to bring it up so deliberately, do you?! These things…" she grumbled with displeasure. "You sure can get

he did, and he quirked a brow while glee enveloped his eyes. "I'll naturally be upset when he has thoughts that he shouldn't have toward you, and it's even more impossible

more, seeing that the fellow had already sorted everything out. After all, she

she just quietly ate her congee, but something inexplicably

as she was, she had to admit that

no plans on revealing it to the

…

more terrifying

say? Are you certain?" He pressed on, looking like he didn't believe the

anxious as he reported, "Affirmative! I've just gotten the news as well. Stonewall from the underground bank had gone missing the whole day yesterday. Then, he shut down the place after showing up. I tried reaching him, but he wouldn't answer my calls at all, and he's nowhere to be found either. I called you immediately when I thought this wasn't right. Also, last night in the middle of the

grimness enveloped his face. "Why would

don't think this is coincidental. It must have something to

left the conversation hanging, animosity flashed across his eyes,

"We're still looking into it, but they're very sneaky. They didn't leave a