A Replacement Bride

Chapter 365

The secret door led out through the back of the laboratory to an abandoned vacant land. For the safety and secrecy of the laboratory, its location was quite remote, without any industrial or residential buildings nearby, even though it was somewhat close to the city. The entire swathe of land belonged to the laboratory, and except for the actual building itself, the rest of the land remained empty.

After stepping out of that secret door, Katherine raised a hand to touch her changed face with slightly raised eyebrows.

When she was about to head back to Soulin International using the way she came, she suddenly heard a loud rumble from a distance. She had always been a perceptive woman. The moment she noticed something wrong, her gaze turned sharp, and she stuffed the wooden box into her bag. She then clenched tightly to the backpack's straps.

The next thing Katherine knew, over a dozen men came out of nowhere and charged over to her to surround her. One look at their outfits and her entire face went cold.

These men were mercenaries. It seemed like her opponent thought highly of her. They even hired mercenaries to attack her. Nevertheless, how did these men find her here? She had already thrown off two of her shadows and even disguised herself. Why were these men here?

However, Katherine did not have time to think. She looked around at the mercenaries closing in on her, and she coldly let out a tsk. "Persistent pest. Who sent you? I'll pay you twice the amount if you disappear from my sight now."

The mercenaries were all stronger than the average fighter. Every individual was as strong as her Red Web killers. Even then, there were so many of them here. With her skills, it was no problem to defeat them. Still, she only had two hands, and it was impossible to get out of the situation unscathed.

When they heard that, there were blank looks on their faces. "Enough with the nonsense," one of them crudely barked. "Hand over the thing, and we'll let you go!"

As Katherine suspected, they were after her grandmother's possession. Then, she smirked as her hands tightened around her backpack. In a calm and unbothered tone, she asked, "What if I don't do that?"

"We won't be holding back then!" he snapped.

As soon as he said that, he shot the other mercenaries a look. Soon, they moved closer, a clear sign that they would snatch the backpack from her.

Suddenly, a sharp look flashed in Katherine's eyes. As they moved in, she swiftly sent Carmine a message before dashing to the side and dodging an attack. Afterward, she scanned her surroundings. In her current situation, she should save energy and keep avoiding it. She thought she would be fine if she could stall until Carmine's arrival. Unfortunately, she miscalculated once more on that day. Soon, in a matter of minutes, the mercenaries had backed her into a corner.

Seeing the worsening state of her situation, she scowled. Her beautiful eyes turned frosty.

These men seemed to insist on forcing her to retaliate.

In that case, she slid the backpack on, tightly knotting the straps, and took a few more steps into the dead-end she was back into. Then, with some space between her and them so that she could adequately fight, she lowered herself into a fighting stance.

The mercenaries stared at her in disdain. In their eyes, trying to fight them showed that she did not know her own strength. Two of them immediately charged forward, reaching for her backpack's straps. As they did so, her upper body suddenly bent backward as she dodged their hands.

Next, Katherine viciously gripped their arms and flung them toward each other. As they had put all their strength into their attacks, they were caught off-guard and swiftly crashed into each other. That was not the end of her counterattack, though. She raised a leg, took a moment to aim, and kicked them hard behind the knees.

Bam! The two of them were still hurting from slamming into each other when they were suddenly sent crashing into the ground again. The rest of the mercenaries had ugly looks on their faces when they saw that. They quickly charged at Katherine soon after.

Due to her exceptional spatial awareness, she deftly swerved around all their attacks while striking back. She was both defensive and offensive at the same time. However, she was still one woman fighting against many men at once. Her stamina was depleted fast. Soon, her breath came out in harsh pants as her limbs slowed down. Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

She was slowly being cornered when she suddenly heard someone running closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a few newcomers. One of them looked extraordinarily familiar.

Her eyes lightened up. Before Katherine could call out at them, the familiar figure defeated one of the mercenaries attacking her before sauntering over to her.

"I'm here." Joaquin's voice was deep yet comforting to hear.

Katherine looked up at him and smiled. "Are you that worried about me, Joaquin? Why are you here?"

He gently pursed his lips as a solemn look was painted over his handsome face. "No matter how strong or skilled you are or how many people you have by your side, I will never stop worrying about you."

The abruptness of his statement stunned her. Her mouth dropped open. She was about to say something, but then her eyes went cold as they focused on something behind him.

Two of the mercenaries were suddenly charging over to attack Joaquin. At that moment, an icy gleam flashed across her eyes as Katherine instinctively reached out to grab his hand. She was going to drag him to stand behind her so that she could protect him.

Then, as she did so, he swiftly turned his hand around to grab her, firmly holding her petit hand in his.

"Don't worry." Those were the only words he said, but he spoke so casually and softly that it sounded like he knew everything that was happening at that moment.

The two mercenaries were soon stopped not far away from him. They had been dragged away by Joaquin's men to be beaten up.

A few minutes later, the arrogant mercenaries had all been beaten to the ground by Joaquin's men. Seeing that the tables had turned, the mercenaries quickly ran away, limping due to their injuries.

The scuffle lasted only a few minutes, ending swiftly due to Joaquin's arrival. It was only then that Katherine's anxiety faded away. She stared into his eyes as her lips tilted up in a smile. "Thank goodness you came in time. Otherwise, grandma's possession might be lost. Still, why are you here all of a sudden?"

Even if he was worried, there was no need to bring so many men with him. He scanned her up and down for a moment, only replying after he was sure she was not hurt. "There are hidden cameras in the living room."