A Replacement Bride

Chapter 318

Katherine didn't have any ill intentions toward the Moran Family. She had chosen not to take any further action because she had more important things to handle then. She didn't have the extra energy to fool around with the Morans. Joaquin understood her intentions, so he went along with her will and settled with a relatively insignificant punishment for the Moran Family. As long as the Moran Family got the message, then Katherine wouldn't mind ignoring their existence and letting this matter slide.

…

The Morans were all shocked to hear that Mason had been taken to the police station. "How did this happen? Didn't he go to look for Katherine? How did he end up in the police station?" Melise panicked the moment she heard the news, and she circled the hall like a headless chicken. Xander simply sat on the couch with one hand resting on his walking stick. His wrinkled face darkened as he sat in silence for a while.

"Say something, Dad! What are we supposed to do now?" She was even more anxious when she saw how silent the man was.

He shot her a displeased glare before he parted his lips to speak in a hostile tone, "What else can we do? We'll have to head to the police station to bail him out, of course." He had already sent his men over to speak to the police after he heard the news. He was waiting for his men to get back to him.

She didn't know this, so she continued pacing around the room as she tried to think of a plan.

After a while, Xander got tired of her actions, so he snapped at her, "That's enough! Calm down! All this pacing around is giving me a headache! I've already sent someone over to bail him out, so he'll be home soon!" However, Mason didn't get home even after Melise waited for a long while. Tears

threatened to trickle down her cheeks as the sun started setting. "Why isn't Mason back, Dad? It has been a few hours! He should've been out by now if your men managed to bail him out!"

Xander was starting to hesitate at this point. He knitted his brows before he gave his men a call. "Why are you guys taking so long to handle such a small matter? Is this the best that you guys have got?" His assistant responded in a troubled voice, "I'm sorry, Mr. Moran. It's not that we're not trying, but…"

"But what?" Xander asked in a sharp tone.

"T-The police aren't willing to let us bail him out," the man replied. Xander let out a frustrated huff. "How could that be? How dare they mess with us, Morans! Didn't you clarify things with the police?"

"I did… I've been doing it for the past few hours, but the police insist that they want to conduct the investigation for a while longer and make sure that everything's settled before they set Mr. Moran free…" the man uttered meekly. Xander could tell something wasn't right at that point, so he ended the call before dialing the police chief's number.

To Xander's surprise, the police chief sounded as if he had been expecting his call all along. "Hey, look who's calling! It's an honor to receive a call from you, Mr. Moran." Xander knitted his brows as he tried his best to sound civil. "It's been a while since we last spoke, Mr. Houston. I was thinking we could have lunch together someday," he uttered.

Irvin Houston was well aware of the reason Xander was calling him, so he simply chuckled without exposing the other man. "Sure. I'd definitely show up if you asked me out for lunch, Mr. Moran." Before Xander could say anything else, Irvin got straight to the point. "I know why you're calling, Mr. Moran. However, I'm in a tough spot this time."

Xander was surprised to hear this, and his face darkened as he continued speaking, "What do you mean, Mr. Houston?"

Irvin narrowed his eyes before he came up with some irrelevant excuse. "My higher-ups have been breathing down my neck recently, so I'm required to run a thorough investigation for anyone who has been brought into the police station. This is simply a bad time for Mr. Mason Moran to be brought into the station. I want to help as best as I can, but I have my limitations, too."

After being in the business industry for more than half of his life, Xander could easily tell that Irvin was just coming up with some lame excuse. So, he simply gritted his teeth before questioning the other man in a deep voice, "You can tell me what you want, Mr. Houston. We Morans will try our best to fulfill your needs."

Irvin didn't hesitate to reject the other man's offer. "I'm not trying to disrespect you here, Mr. Moran. All I can promise is that I'll try my best to let Mr. Mason Moran out as soon as possible. However, I can't promise when I'll be able to do that. Also…"

He paused for a moment before he continued talking, "Mr. Mason Moran wasn't very nice when he was first brought into the police station. He cursed at all of our staff members, and he wasn't cooperative at all. If I had been the one in charge of the investigation, this wouldn't have been an issue, but the headquarters sent their men over to take charge of this case, so… I'm afraid he might have to suffer for a bit."

The look on Xander's face turned sour upon hearing Irvin's words. Xander wanted to continue the conversation, but Irvin claimed that he had other matters to handle and ended the call soon after that. Melise felt her heart racing when she saw the sour look on Xander's face. "What is it? When will Mason be released, Dad?" He simply tightened his grip on his phone as his face twisted into a grim expression.

…

In the meantime, Joaquin was speeding on the highway when he received some news on the phone. He gave out his orders to the person on the other end of the line. "I want you to make sure that he suffers. You don't have to inflict any critical injuries, but I want you to make sure that the Morans know who they're messing with."

After he ended the call, Katherine glanced in his direction. "Did the Moran Family take action?" she asked. He responded with a half-hearted nod. "Yeah. They tried to bail Mason out, but things are not going to be as easy as they expected it to be."

She raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

He steered the vehicle as he responded in a flat tone, "I didn't do much. Technically speaking, what Mason committed wasn't a huge crime. Furthermore, with the influence that the Moran Family has in the area, Mason will probably get away without any proper sentence. The Morans will eventually manage to bail him out—I just made sure that the police went through all the necessary procedures before releasing him." In other words, Joaquin simply didn't want Mason to be set free without having to go through the procedures that a regular person did.

Katherine curled her lips into a smile when she understood what the other person meant. "You didn't have to go through all that effort to exert extra pressure on that man." He gazed at her before he reached a hand over to give her a light pinch on the cheek. "It's nothing. I just used my connections to teach the man a lesson." Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

He didn't want the issue with the Morans to affect her mood, so he quickly changed the topic. "By the way, isn't this odd? We're living in modern times, yet the Scott-Tuttons are still staying in a place so deep into the woods. They're way too far from Kyoland's city center. Don't they find this troublesome?"

Katherine was distracted by his comment, and she shifted her attention toward the rocky roads that lay in front of them. "The Scott-Tutton Family specializes in brewing poisons, and all generations of their

family work to gain a deeper understanding of ancient medicine. So, they've always preferred inhabiting places that are far away from the city. They don't like being in densely populated areas."