A Replacement Bride

Chapter 296

Mike was stunned and speechless upon hearing Eddie's words. With his hand on his chest, he had no idea what to say. At that moment, Joaquin, motivated by his anger, asked with a glacial expression on his face, "So, what do you want then?!"

"There is only one thing I want to do—kill Mike to avenge my son!" Eddie responded coldly, staring at Joaquin and Katherine for a moment until he grunted. "But guess what? It seems that I don't have to do it myself. If you want the woman you love to live, you should do what I want you to do, Mr. Levisay. Kill Mike in exchange for the antidote! So, it's Mike's life for her life. What do you say? Deal?" All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

When Katherine heard that, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "What a clever plan you have there!"

"Haha. I was never planning to use the two of you, but since you insisted on sticking your nose into my business, I had no choice but to do what I had to!" Eddie laughed maniacally. "No matter what, I'm taking Mike's life today! Mr. Levisay, if you don't kill him for me, you're going to watch the woman you love die right in front of you. Mind you that she won't last for more than a few hours with the poison attack. By then, the only thing that awaits her is death, so think about it carefully because time isn't on your side."

Stiffening from head to toe, Joaquin was holding Katherine with one hand while his other one was seen clenching. In the meantime, Katherine, who was resting in his arms, could barely keep her eyes open as she fixed them on his chin and shook her head. Deep down, she didn't care about Mike's fate because it wasn't important to her. Instead, it was Eddie whom she had been trying to stop from creating trouble because she still needed him.

As for Joaquin, he didn't want Katherine to get into trouble because of him. After all, no one else was more important than Katherine. Thus, if he had to do it, he would kill Mike to make sure Katherine could survive. At the thought of that, he only knitted his eyebrows, his eyes filled with a strong, indifferent aura.

"So, how is it, Mr. Levisay? Have you thought it through? My patience is wearing thin." Eddie smiled complacently while wiping the blood on the corner of his lips, thinking he had won the battle against them.

Just when the atmosphere intensified, Mike suddenly held onto the bed frame and used all his strength to get up. Placing his hand over his mouth, he coughed a few times before catching his breath. "Eddie, this is between you and me. I admit that I made a mistake back then, so I'm going to brace myself for what's coming to me. Do your worst now. My days are numbered, anyway. Since you want me dead so badly, just kill me and settle our score once and for all!"

He sighed and looked at Joaquin. "Colonel Levisay, please listen to him and do what you must." Nevertheless, he smiled bitterly a few seconds later when something seemingly crossed his mind. "Fine, you don't have to do it, Colonel Levisay. It's only going to get your hands dirty and put you in a lot of trouble, so I'll do it by myself."

Upon hearing that, Joaquin knitted his eyebrows in silence, but on the other hand, Eddie seemed rather surprised about that. "Did I just hear that from you, old man? That you're going to put an end to all this by taking your own life? What's wrong with you? Did your conscience find its way back to your heart?"

Mike clenched his shivering fists for a while and let them go after that. "I knew this day was going to come, not to mention the fact that you want revenge on me. Miss Cornell is right. I should be punished for my sins, so I'm not surprised that you want me dead. Nevertheless, I want to make one thing clear —since my life is now yours, you will give Miss Cornell the antidote. She is just as innocent as the rest of the Fraser Family, so give me your word that you will not hurt them."

Satisfied with the deal, Eddie nodded gleefully. "Yes! Yes, I will give the woman the antidote as soon as you die right in front of me. After that, we're even; but if you ever dare to fool me, the Fraser Family is going to pay for that."

In the meantime, Eddie didn't say a single word as he turned his attention to Joaquin with a painful look on his face. "Colonel Levisay, I'm deeply sorry for putting you and Miss Cornell in so much trouble because of me, but once I'm a dead man, you will no longer be kept under Eddie's thumb. By then, you and Miss Cornell will be free. Therefore, I hope you can forgive me as a token of appreciation for keeping your hands clean."

Soon, he paused and paced back and forth for a few seconds before he added, "Apart from that, I don't want the Fraser Family to be in trouble because of me. For that, I would like you to keep an eye on them for me because everyone else in the Fraser Family is innocent." Mike was hoping he could get Joaquin to protect the Fraser Family by killing himself without getting Joaquin's hands dirty.

While Joaquin pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows, Katherine was gritting her teeth in agony, her forehead covered in a cold sweat that rolled down her cheeks to her shirt. When Joaquin saw that, he felt as if the pain that was tormenting him mentally was greater than the one tormenting Katherine physically. Thus, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, his eyes turning red.

However, Eddie wasn't concerned about Katherine's condition because all he wanted was to see Mike dead. Because of that, he kept urging them to do what he wanted. "Enough already. What's taking you guys so long? If you're going to kill yourself, you'd better do it now, or I'm keeping the antidote!" He then produced a knife from his pocket and tossed it onto the bed. "Show me your sincerity. Slit your throat with this blade. It's going to be painless!"

Keeping his eyes on the knife, Mike gritted his teeth and stuck out his shaking hand to reach for it. Just when he was about to end his life, someone suddenly barged into the room.

Stunned by the sudden commotion, everyone else in the room was drawn to the source of the noise, especially Eddie, who was furious and irritable at that moment. "Who's there?! Show yourself…" Before he could finish growling, he was shocked by the person who stepped into the room, his mouth wide agape just as he went silent.

At the same time, Katherine and Joaquin were both surprised when they saw the visitor, their eyes widened. "G-Grandma…"

With a serious expression on her face, Jennifer looked around her after setting foot in the room. When her eyes fell upon Katherine, she was overwhelmed by pity and anxiety. However, instead of checking on her granddaughter immediately, she put her emotions aside and directed her attention to Eddie.