A Replacement Bride

Chapter 71

Katherine flipped through a file Theodore handed over after she entered the car. "Are all of these the latest data from the clinical trial? Why does this patient's reading have such a massive fluctuation? Did you guys encounter a problem?" she asked as her gaze landed on a patient's data.

Theodore leaned over to take a look before taking the file from Katherine. "This patient's situation is a little complicated. I'm afraid we'll only know the details after you've taken a look at him. He has been in a coma for a solid twenty years. During the early stages, his condition was pretty positive after taking our medicine. However, with time, his body seemed to have built up a tolerance for the medication and is now suddenly immune to it. The medication does nothing to him anymore."

"Is that so? I'll go and take a look after I get there." Katherine nodded thoughtfully, then asked for the file again. After scrutinizing the reports a few more times, she returned them to Theodore, who paused for a second while taking the file from her and said, "By the way, we have a newcomer in the institute. However, since she isn't working on your experimental medicine, I didn't tell you in advance."

"Your hires have nothing to do with me, so there's no need to tell me about it. It's fine even if they're involved in the experimental medication's research, as long as you're certain they're trustworthy and won't leak any information." Katherine took a strange gander at Theodore, wondering why he would suddenly tell her this.

At that, Theodore cleared his throat and explained, "It's sort of personal. The newcomer's my granddaughter, you see. She's my only granddaughter, so I tend to—"

Mid-speaking, the chauffeur suddenly screamed and turned the steering wheel in a panic, causing the car to ram onto the guardrail on the opposite.

Because of the car's impeccable shockproofing system, the airbag at the driver's seat deployed in time, causing the chauffeur to suffer only minor injuries.

Meanwhile, at the back, as neither Katherine nor Theodore had put their seatbelts on, they hurled forward, slamming themselves against the front seats due to the momentum from the intense collision. Fortunately, a Rolls-Royce car was reliable, and the two suffered no physical injuries.

However, Theodore held his chest with a pallid face, short of breath.

Startled, Katherine hurriedly helped the professor up.

"I-I'm fine… I'm fine…" Theodore spoke weakly with closed eyes and a ghastly pale face.

"Don't say anything. Where are your meds? Do you have it with you?" Katherine reached into the professor's pockets but didn't find any of his regular medication.

However, Theodore couldn't speak anymore, only heaving. Worse, his face was beginning to turn purple, looking to be in a dire situation.

"Sh*t!" Katherine cussed as she pulled out three of the needles she normally had on her and inserted them into Theodore.

At last, the professor's breathing finally eased, and his complexion was looking better.

Relieved, Katherine turned to the chauffeur. "Who else apart from you knows that Professor Muller is out today? Has his whereabouts been leaked?"

Though the chauffeur was still overcome with fear, he recollected gravely before shaking his head. "No, the professor decided to pick you up on a whim. No one else should've known about this."

Katherine frowned and mused in response but asked no more.

Theodore, on the other hand, turned grim, for he had a guess.

No outsider would know of his whereabouts, but there was this one person he would never hide anything from.

He recalled how Beatrice had deliberately asked him before he headed out if he was picking up Katherine.

Though he didn't want to believe his dear granddaughter could be so wicked, he had to be suspicious at this point.

At that, he closed his eyes and said nothing.

Later, the chauffeur got out to check on the vehicle to find only the front suffered some scratches thanks to its near indestructibility. But because the brake suddenly failed just now, the chauffeur dared not choose to be rash and continue driving the car, calling for a tow truck instead.

With that, Katherine and Theodore got out of the vehicle. Since the professor was still pretty weak, Katherine supported him while waiting for aid on the side of the road.

Just then, a black Phaeton drove past them but very quickly reversed and rolled a window down, revealing a familiar face.

"Miss Cornell, Professor Muller?"

Ben was initially somewhat stumped when he saw Katherine, but he nearly cussed out loud when he finally realized who the elderly next to her was.

Katherine knows Professor Muller?! They even seem pretty close!

"Do you need a ride?" Despite the plethora of questions running through his mind, he didn't know which one to ask first. As he looked at Katherine, he thought something might be off with the world.

Though already having overestimated the young woman, it still never occurred to him that she would have connections with an academic and legend in medicine.

It was currently the end of June. As it neared July, the temperature outside was at a staggering hundred-plus degrees fahrenheit.

Katherine wasn't bothered by the scorching weather as neither the cold nor the heat ever bothered her. However, Theodore had just suffered an episode and was currently frail. His face had already begun blanching when they had only stood outside for a short while.

After a moment's hesitation, Katherine led Theodore toward Ben's car.

At that, the young man hurriedly got out and opened the door, welcoming Theodore and Katherine into his car deferentially.

"Where are you guys heading?" Ben asked intentionally, causing Katherine to glance at him with a quirked brow. At the thought of his closeness with Joaquin, she bet this big mouth would tell the whole world about his encounter later. Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

It's going to be a problem if people know who I am. Should I maybe poison him so that he can never speak again, or should I just turn him into a retard with one needle to keep this secret…

Suddenly, Ben felt an eerie chill coming from behind him, and he looked into the rearview mirror only to find Katherine's gaze at him was one of inexplicable malice, very much similar to when Joaquin wanted to kill.

At that, he tucked his neck and dared not ask any more questions but only kept his eyes on the road.

There was barely anyone in Hovington who didn't know the location of Theodore's research institute, so Ben found the entrance pretty easily, dropping the two off safely.

After Katherine helped Theodore out of the car, she turned to Ben, zipping her mouth and slicing her hand across her neck to serve as a threat before assisting the professor into the institution.

F*cking hell! Ben felt as though he had just died right then. This woman's animosity is even f*cking stronger than Joaquin's! Just how many people has she killed to be able to bear such intense hostility?!

While the man was shuddering, Joaquin's call came, frightening him into hanging up on the latter by accident.

It was only after he hung up on the call that he realized what he had done.

He, the great Ben Carlson, barely made any mistakes his entire life, but lo and behold, he made all sorts of them on this day of all days.

At that, he returned Joaquin's call with trembling hands. The second the call connected, Joaquin's vitriolic voice traveled from the other end of the line. "What? Is Mr. Carlson enjoying the company of a woman so much that he's unwilling to get up and answer my call, hmm?"