A Replacement Bride

Chapter 374

The night in Fontan was much colder than that in Hovington. Although Joaquin was clad in thin clothes, he didn't feel cold at all.

His eyes were as calm as a still lake, and his gaze seemed even darker than the night sky. He parted his thin lips and said impassively, "Tell your subordinates to handle this matter. Now, I want you to focus on investigating Jayden Hall's background."

"Jayden Hall?" Jeremy was startled for a moment as he found the name familiar. "Isn't that the young master of the Hall Family in Kyoland? Why do you want to investigate him, Mr. Levisay?"

"Do I need to give you a reason before telling you to do something?" Joaquin questioned dispassionately.

A chill ran down Jeremy's spine. "I'm sorry."

He had been working for Joaquin for a long time, after all. As such, he soon realized the crux of the problem.

"Mr. Levisay, do you suspect that the young master of the Hall Family has something to do with Lab X?"

Joaquin's gaze darkened when he heard Jeremy's on-point question.

"It's just a suspicion. After all, there are too many coincidences. Just look into the matter and inform me the instant you find anything."

"Yes." Certainly, Jeremy wouldn't dare to disobey him. He then hung up the call and started taking action.

Joaquin didn't fall asleep the entire night. Since he was suspicious of Jayden, he had to be more alert. Therefore, he couldn't possibly sleep soundly in Jayden's villa.

He went on to keep Katherine safe for the entire night. At the break of dawn the next day, his phone on the bedside table started vibrating.

Jeremy's name was shown on the screen.

Joaquin picked up the phone and got up carefully so that he wouldn't wake Katherine up. After reaching the balcony, he closed the glass door behind him and picked up the call. "Have you found anything?"

Soon, Jeremy was heard speaking over the phone. "Yes, Mr. Levisay."

A glint flashed across Joaquin's eyes. "Tell me at once."

"Jayden has always been a cautious person, so it's not easy to find any information about him. However, he can't possibly erase all the traces. I looked into what he had been doing during this period and found out that he had visited an underground bank in Kyoland on several occasions. The underground bank's owner is involved in the business of mercenaries. After Jayden visited the underground bank for the last time, some mercenaries went hunting Mrs. Levisay down. So—"

He had been babbling on without getting to the important parts. An impatient Joaquin frowned and cut him off. "Cut to the chase."

Jeremy chuckled like a fool. "I was just trying to tell you that the investigation took me a lot of effort. Anyway, I got some people to break into the underground bank and tortured the owner. He soon confessed everything and told us that Jayden had given him a lot of money to send some mercenaries to kill Mrs. Levisay."

Nonetheless, Joaquin was displeased. "I'm already aware of it. Did you spend the entire night only to find this piece of information?"

Jeremy pursed his lips, but he wouldn't dare to talk back. Ignoring his boss' bad temper, he went on to say gently, "Mr. Levisay, please allow me to finish my words as that's not the most important part. What's important is that I've acquired the transaction records between Jayden and the underground bank's owner. Just like what you have expected, Jayden indeed has a different identity. Certainly, he wouldn't strike such deals using his identity as the young master of the Hall Family. As such, he didn't use his real name to transfer money to the owner. Instead, he used an account in Fontan."

Hearing that, Joaquin narrowed his eyes. "Fontan?"

"That's right. The Hall Family has some forces in Fontan. I looked into it and realized that Jayden didn't use the account of his subsidiary in Fontan either. Instead, he used an account that seemingly wasn't related to him. I found the account familiar, so I investigated further and found out that the account was closed five years ago. Back then, Lab X had used that account before."

Joaquin's face fell when he heard that.

Just like what he had speculated, Jayden was closely connected to Lab X.

"Is there anything else?" he asked. "Have you found more useful information? What's the connection between Jayden and Lab X?"

Jeremy was unable to provide an answer.

"That's all we've found so far. After all, Lab X has been missing for years. We couldn't verify many details of the things that happened five years ago, not to mention an account that hasn't been in use for so long."Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

Joaquin certainly understood that, so he fell silent.

"So, do we keep looking into the matter, Mr. Levisay? If we do, where do we start?"

Faced with the question, Joaquin didn't reply to him immediately. Instead, he pondered on it for a moment.

Then, he suddenly curled up his thin lips and formed a faint smile. "Unless he has never done it, there must be some traces he left behind. Two years ago, those from LW Laboratory said that Lab X contacted them suddenly and wanted to collaborate with them. Start from there and investigate that person. Perhaps we'll find something useful."

Hearing that, Jeremy agreed to it at once.

After the call ended, Joaquin looked up at the sun in the sky as a sneer flashed across his dark gaze. Then, he turned gloomy all of a sudden.

Jayden is truly inscrutable. He has different identities that he could use to deal with different people. He appears to be smitten with Kathy, but he's only after the secret scroll in her hands. He has even done things to harm her to get that secret scroll. For those who try to hurt Kathy, I will never let them off!

It wasn't until the coldness and pressure around him dissipated that he reentered the bedroom.

Katherine happened to be awakening. Hearing the noises, she opened her eyes and looked in the balcony's direction.

She was startled for a moment before recalling where she was. Still in a groggy state, she asked in a muffled voice, "Why did you wake up so early?"

Presently, Joaquin's expression had already turned milder. Watching as she awakened, he appeared even more gentle.

"I just woke up." He didn't tell her that he had been wide awake for the entire night, nor did he inform her what Jeremy had found.

Everything was still up in the air for now. He wanted to wait until Jeremy ascertained the relationship between Jayden and Lab X before breaking it to her.

All the same, they couldn't stay in this place any longer.

He wouldn't have minded it if he were on his own, but he couldn't let Katherine spend more time with someone who was ill-intentioned, for he would be worried.

After giving it some thought, he went over and carried the woman up from the bed. Then, he said gently, "Since you're awake, why don't we pack up and leave now?"

Katherine was startled. "Huh? Where are we going?"

"We'll either head straight to Zoscistan or check into a hotel. I don't think it's appropriate for us to keep troubling Jayden." Joaquin came up with a random excuse for them to leave.