A Replacement Bride

Chapter 401

Chapter 400 Trap

Carmine and David exchanged a look and left the kitchen.

Joaquin said, "What's the matter?"

Katherine opened her mouth, but her phone rang, and it was a call from an unidentified number. She narrowed her eyes, smirked, and took the call.

As expected, it was Emmanuel. "So, Miss Cornell, have you come to a decision?" he asked confidently, and there was smugness in his voice.

Katherine looked at the kitchen counter coolly. "I have, and you're not taking anything away. Not the file, and not your son's life."

The refusal came as a surprise, and Emmanuel stopped smiling, and his face fell. "Is that your choice? You can't save him that easily. Even if you are a genius doctor, he's still unconscious, isn't he?"

Katherine said nothing, and Emmanuel knew he was right. Smugly, he said, "I was right, wasn't I? I didn't give him to you for nothing. I knew you couldn't save him, so give the file to me. He doesn't have long left. You don't want to see him dead, do you?"

Reminded of something, he smiled. "And don't try to pull anything. You're ten years too early to stop Universe from working with me. I'm more experienced in this field than you are. I've just signed a permanent partnership with them. Your company might be powerful, but you can't win here."

Katherine's brow arched, and her eyes flared with a triumphant flame. "Is that so? Congratulations, then, but you're not going to be the one who laughs last, so save that confidence. If or when your plan crumbles, you might just… snap."

It was a confident reply, but Emmanuel shrugged it off, thinking she was just bluffing. "You need to look into the mirror, Miss Cornell. You can never win against me. You have until midnight. If you refuse to hand the file over, I'll feed the cure to the dogs, and then it'll be too late to save him."

He hung up. Katherine heard nothing but beeps, and she smiled.

Joaquin looked into her eyes, then he smiled. "You set him up, didn't you?"

Katherine tucked her phone away and looked at Joaquin. "You figured it out."

"Of course." Joaquin scraped her nose. "He might be smart, but you're smarter."

Katherine blinked. She didn't even bother to be humble this time, and she smiled. "Of course, I am."

"So, what do I have to do this time?" Joaquin looked at the meds. It was almost done, so he killed the heat.

Katherine went into business mode, and she said, "He's fallen for it, and now's your time to shine. I need to concoct the reagent, so I don't have time to deal with this. I told Kelvin to get in touch with and start a partnership so Emmanuel's gonna panic. Universe is world-famous, and the Grays would never want to lose this partner. Worried that I might take them away, Emmanuel would try to keep them by his side, but that was exactly what I was counting on."

Joaquin's eyes glinted. "Why'd Universe listen to you?"

Katherine smiled. "I saved their boss' life once. He owes me one. I don't really care about it, but since he wants to repay the favor, I cashed in. Now that Gray Corporation has signed a permanent partnership with Universe, Universe has frozen all their liquid assets. Aside from their projects, they can't defend themselves against any risk. Once their projects slip up, the whole company's going to descend into chaos."

Joaquin got what she was trying to say. "So, you want me to find the holes in his projects?" Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Katherine nodded. "The Grays have established themselves for many years. Strong, yes, but not impregnable. There will be projects that don't meet the requirements. You can always use that to your advantage."

Joaquin mused over it. "Sure. Leave it to me. I'll make sure they're taken down while you're making the reagent."

"Yeah, but…" A moment of silence later, she said, "Don't actually take them out. Corey is still part of them, and he worked on part of the company too. Leave some room for survival for them. Corey can call the shots once he wakes."

Joaquin cocked his eyebrow. "It's not like you to let your enemies survive." She usually takes them all out.

Katherine didn't mind. "Emmanuel might fight back and rise from the ashes, but he's not a threat. I'm just doing this for a friend." She quickly called Marcus.

Marcus quickly made the arrangements and picked her up, then they went to Lab 7.

…

It was afternoon. Emmanuel was in his office, waiting for Katherine to beg for the cure, but then his assistant came running in. He was sweating. Upset, Emmanuel chided, "Slow down. You're embarrassing me."

The assistant stood still, his face pale, and his eyes were filled with horror. "Bad news, sir. It's about the Coast Resort. It's in trouble."

Emmanuel looked shocked. "What did you say?"

The assistant shivered, but still, he answered, "The contractor for that project swindled our money and ran away. They stopped the project, and now the workers are outside the company demanding payment. And the component supplier just called. They found out we've been using subpar components, so they want to cancel the contract and demand recompense."