A Replacement Bride

Chapter 69

Katherine assumed Aberama had left as it was dead silent when she walked out to get a bottle of coke from the fridge. But lo and behold, something felt off as soon as she took a couple of steps. At that, she looked toward the couch to find two men staring inexplicably silently at each other. Sensing a storm brewing, she diverted her path toward the living room.

"What are you two doing?" she couldn't help asking as she looked back and forth between the two.

Those oblivious might think they had a thing for one another with how they riveted their gazes at each other.

Joaquin subtly withdrew his gaze to look up at Katherine to find her in a loose, casual cotton nightgown and her pair of long legs out on display. Her disheveled hair and I-just-got-out-of-bed look took some of her usual aloofness away, replacing it with seductiveness and cheekiness.

With a barely noticeable quirk of a brow, he asked naturally, "Is my dear fiancée so open that she'd invite just about any man to stay over and even walk around in front of him wearing like this?"

Stumped, Katherine reflexively looked at herself. It was an average nightgown, and whatever shouldn't be on display wasn't on display. There was nothing indecent at all.

Then, seeing how Joaquin looked like he had come to catch her in an adulterous act, she couldn't help chuckling. "Why, Mr. Levisay, are you jealous? Are you upset that I've invited a man to stay?"

"You're free to do whatever you want. It has nothing to do with me." Joaquin looked deadpan on the outside, but on the inside, the stuffiness was making him very uncomfortable.

The feeling was unprecedented, and he wasn't sure just what exactly Katherine meant to him.

What tied them together was merely a piece of the marriage contract. If anything, they had an encounter before confirming their agreement.

This woman was unconventionally temperamental. She might look like a babe in the woods, but she was actually a femme fatale. Not only that, she was an expert in medical science.

The more he interacted with her, the more he found her mysterious; the more attention he put on her, the easier his emotions would be swayed by the woman.

He honestly didn't like this sense of losing control.

Meanwhile, Katherine bypassed the couch and sat on the armchair, leaning back lazily. "Mr. Levisay, we have a marriage agreement. I don't meddle in your business, you don't meddle in mine, and we can all be happy. Why bother yourself with my business?"

Seeing how indifferent she looked, Joaquin honestly thought he had come to humiliate himself.

I must be mad to deliberately come over and see if they have some salacious relationship!

Then again, Beatrice's words from the other day kept ringing in his head.

At that, he took a deep breath to suppress his anger. "Go back to the Levisay Residence with me today. You should just live there comfortably until the day of our wedding." Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"I'm afraid that's against Cechirus customs. According to tradition, the husband and wife are to not see each other before their marriage. I find it pretty comfortable staying here." Katherine smiled and winked seductively at Joaquin, who was rendered exasperated, heaving.

"Kathy, are you hungry? How about I make you some food?" Aberama thought things were going further south by the minute as he watched the two interact.

No matter how you look at it, this is a classic squabble among two lovers! That's it, I'm going to fuel the flames and intensify their fight.

With a yawn, Katherine nodded and answered inattentively, "Yeah, go ahead. Make it a big one. I'm starving."

"As you wish, baby girl. I'll have you eating like a pig tonight!" While speaking, Aberama even looked ambiguously at Joaquin, who clenched his fists grimly without saying anything.

With that, Aberama got up and headed to the kitchen.

"Are you not leaving, Mr. Levisay? Do you want to stay for some food as well?" Katherine asked casually as he gave the man a sidelong glance.

"Sure," Joaquin answered crisply, sitting back down onto the couch when he had already stood up.

Katherine was rendered stumped for a moment before realizing what had just happened.

Can this man get any more shameless?! Was I even asking him to join us?!

Seeing how the man sat firmly on the couch and made himself at home, Katherine rolled her eyes and left him be.

It's not like I can't afford to feed another mouth anyway.

Meanwhile, Joaquin quirked his brow slightly, seeing how indifferent Katherine was behaving.

Aberama was a fantastic cook, and the smell of food traveled from the kitchen very quickly.

While waiting, Katherine flipped through a magazine idly, but her focus was long out the window when she kept smelling the whiffs of aroma.

At last, Aberama announced that the food was ready about half an hour later.

With that, Katherine put the magazine down. Joaquin happened to have stood up at the same time. Because the two moved at the same pace and in the same direction, they got stuck in the gap between two couches.

"Mr. Levisay, my apartment is actually pretty big," stated Katherine with exasperation as she looked at Joaquin.

"I know, so why are you still standing here? Are you taking this chance to get close to me?" Joaquin smirked as he glanced at the young woman with a quirked brow.

In the end, Katherine quirked her lips and called him a sicko before passing sideways.

Because of their closeness, her scent traveled to his nose, making his heart skip a beat. It's that agitated feeling again.

At that, he looked at Katherine's back. The closer he got to her, the more he thought she was way too familiar. Be it her unique scent or her body, they would remind him of five years ago…