A Replacement Bride

Chapter 19

Theodore and Katherine came out of the hospital room shortly after and headed into the office.

He handed her the scientific data he had compiled recently and said, "Right now, we've only got one patient in the clinical trial, so there won't be enough statistics to determine if this medication can help regenerate brain cells in patients who are in a vegetative state. I'm still working on getting more next-of- kins to agree to let their loved ones participate in our research." Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Katherine nodded as she flipped through the documents. "Take your time. The world will be shocked once this medication is launched, but a large-scale promotion is unsuitable for now. Make sure you look into everyone who agrees to the clinical trial. A single blabbermouth can put you in grave danger."

They had run the test on white mice previously and gotten satisfactory results.

Alex Rosenburg, who had been in a vegetative state for three years, had woken up after they had used the medication on him, which meant it had to be effective to some extent.

"I'll be in Hovington for a while, so give me a call if you need anything," Katherine said as she handed the papers back to Theodore.

Seeing that she was leaving, he grumbled, "Are you actually going to marry into the Levisays? Why bother with the Cornells when you can do more good for mankind instead?"

He could not understand why Katherine insisted on personally taking out the trash that was the rest of her family when she could easily have someone else do the dirty work for her.

"You don't get it," she said with a dry smile. There was no describing the anger that came over her each time she remembered her mother's agonizing death. Everything Jorge had stolen from her mother

and the Olsens, she would make him pay for it in kind.

"I'll get going now," Katherine said. She glanced at her watch and figured Rosemary would be home by now. She smirked and waved goodbye to Theodore, then headed out of the research institute.

An hour later, the ride she had booked through an app pulled up outside the Cornell Residence, and she disembarked.

As she looked up at the brightly-lit architecture in front of her, a wicked smile curled on her lips.

Presently, things in the Cornell household were in a mess. An angry grimace twisted Lisa's features. Abandoning her image as the ever-loving and demure housewife, she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to tear Katherine into shreds right now.

Katherine walked in with her hands in her pockets, looking perfectly insouciant.

The butler was holding his breath as he appraised her anxiously and could not help fearing for her safety.

"Katherine, I can't believe you have the nerve to come back here!" Lisa snarled the moment she saw Katherine walk through the door. Her nostrils flared as she marched up to the girl and made to slap her.

"You might want to reconsider slapping me, Lisa. I'm the young lady of this family, and I'll be the lady of the Levisays household soon." Katherine did not dodge as she said this breezily. She even turned her cheek as though to challenge Lisa, whose hand froze in mid-air, just inches away from striking.

Lisa glowered at Katherine viciously. She wished she could quarter the girl, but Katherine was untouchable now that she was about to marry into the Levisays.

"Why would you do something like that to Rosemary? She goes all out to throw you a welcoming party, and this is how you thank her? How could you be so evil, Katherine?!" Lisa snapped, trembling with

anger. Now that hitting Katherine was out of the question, she resorted to hurling abuse at her instead.

Lisa could not even imagine how terrified Rosemary had been when she nearly got violated at a place like that.

For years, she had made sure that Rosemary was brought up like a young lady of nobility. The girl was going to marry into an elite family one day and become the matriarch, but not if she was ruined!

"What did I do to her? Has there been some sort of misunderstanding, Lisa?" Katherine feigned innocence, though she was secretly cheering when she saw how outraged Lisa was.

There were few things in life she enjoyed more than watching Lisa being rendered helpless against her.

"Misunderstanding? Oh, no. Don't try to fool me. You were the one who gave Rosemary that wine even though you knew it was laced—" As though realizing that she had slipped up, Lisa quickly paused and bit her own tongue.

She shot Katherine a sharp look and snapped, "Regardless, you shouldn't have abandoned your sister in a den of vices like that in the first place! What if something had happened to her?"

"Den of vices, you say?" Katherine blinked. An innocent expression etched itself upon her pretty face as she pointed out unassumingly, "Lisa, it was Rosemary who brought me there in the first place. I couldn't possibly have forced her into bringing me there, could I? Also, she was the one who insisted on downing that wine. Did she tell you I made her drink it?"

Lisa choked on her own rage, her words dying on the tip of her tongue.

Katherine was right. Rosemary was the one who had asked her out to the bar, and the former had initially rejected the invitation at first. Now that the latter had gotten herself into trouble, she had no reason to blame anyone, and certainly not Katherine, but herself.

Lisa could not understand how anyone could be so infuriating. Katherine was neither passive- aggressive nor hostile, but the effortless way in which she shot down the accusations directed at her was agitating all the same.

As things were, Lisa had nothing on Katherine. She had to swallow her pride and admit defeat.

This was the first time since becoming the matriarch of the family that she was put in her place. Gritting her teeth, she glowered at Katherine's smug face, but she held back her anger in a bid to keep the Levisays out of this.

"Why did you come home so late anyway? It's unbecoming for a young lady like you to stay out so late, especially since you'll marry into an important family soon. You wouldn't want the Levisays to call you out on your poor behavior, would you?" Lisa said snarkily, picking on the tiniest of Katherine's flaws after losing out on the previous argument.

Katherine flashed her a goody-two-shoes smile and replied solemnly, "You're right. I'll be going up to my room now. I promise I won't stay out so late in the future. I shall stay at home until the day I get married."

Lisa looked as if she had swallowed a bug. She was trying to imply that Katherine had questionable behavior, but the last thing she expected was for the girl to be so congenial about it. It was as if Lisa had shot herself in the foot.

A yawn escaped Katherine as she happily marched up the stairs.

Not two minutes later, Rosemary's shrill cry filled the house. "Argh! Katherine, what the hell are you doing?"

Katherine checked her nails lazily as she looked at Rosemary with mild disinterest. "Dad told me I could pick whichever room I liked in the house. I rather like this one, and I'm used to it too. Go pick another room for yourself."

Rosemary blanched as she gaped at Katherine incredulously. "You want me to give up my room for you? Did you forget that I'm the real young lady of the house? You have no right to make me do this!"

"Oh, really? In that case, you can take my place and become in-laws with the Levisays. It's Miss Cornell they want, not some secondary heiress like me," Katherine drawled in a bored voice as she assessed Rosemary with a raised brow.

At once, Rosemary felt as if there was a lump in her throat that she could not get rid of.

She ultimately gave up her room even though it had the best lighting and ventilation in the house. She knew she did not have a choice after Katherine had put her foot down on the matter.

Katherine's changed, Rosemary recognized bitterly. She's no longer that naive girl from five years ago.