A Replacement Bride

Chapter 349

As expected, the people sent by Carmine were mobbed as soon as they left the casino. However, the situation didn't turn out as William had expected. Not only did he fail to teach them a lesson, he even had the sh*t beaten out of him.

When Mason learned about this, he nearly fainted in anger. "That good-for-nothing b*stard! He's nowhere to be found when our company is in such a huge crisis. Turns out he's gone gambling again! He should've gotten beaten to death out there!"

Melise immediately spoke for her son, objecting, "What are you talking about? That's our son! How could you wish him dead as his father?"

Mason growled at the top of his voice, "Do you mean I should let him anger me to death instead? It's all your fault for spoiling him rotten! Look at him now; I have to lose face going around begging for help because of the mess he caused! I'm gonna break that b*stard's leg when he comes back!" After that, he slammed the door and left straight for his office.

However, no sooner had he reached his office and sat down in his chair than the bad news arrived. "Bad news! Bad news, Mr. Mason! The results of the investigation have come out, and two-thirds of our company's projects have to come to a complete halt!"

The instant Mason heard this, his eyes widened in disbelief; he nearly overturned his chair as he jumped to his feet. "What?"

His assistant had only learned of the news just now, and he was still catching his breath after rushing here to report on it. "H-Here's the list of the projects," he said while handing over a document.

Mason took the document and flipped through it, upon which his face turned ghastly pale at once. Almost all of the projects included on the list were the backbone of the Moran Corporation!

His assistant looked all anxious, too. "Mr. Moran, our company's phones are now ringing nonstop with phone calls either asking to terminate collaborations or demanding compensation. Well… What should we do now?"

The last vestige of color drained from Mason's face. His lips trembled as he muttered, "What should we do? What else can we do…" Without these collaborations, the Moran Corporation would be left as an empty shell, and the breach-of-contract damages combined would be sufficient to reduce the Morans to poverty!

…

That afternoon, Katherine took a trip to the new development zone in Ewing.

After the car pulled up in front of a towering building in the most central part of the development zone, she stepped out of her car and took off her big sunglasses, which covered half of her face. Looking up at the sparkling glass building, she was very satisfied.

This was W Co.'s new headquarters after its relocation to Hovington.

Owen Barber, W Co.'s general manager, was already waiting for her at the entrance. He welcomed her, saying, "Welcome, Miss Katherine."

Toying with the sunglasses in her hand, Katherine went in like a boss while mumbling a response. She asked impassively, "How is everything going?"

Owen replied honestly, "Everything is almost done. The building can officially go into operation the day after tomorrow, and the online campaign is also ready."

Shortly after that, Katherine sat in the presidential office on the top floor while slightly raising her attractive eyes at her spacious and simplistic surroundings. "You've done a nice job."

Owen replied with a smile, "I was just following your orders without the slightest deviation." Then, he switched to a different subject, saying, "Miss Katherine, the Blatt Corporation, the Hall Enterprise, the Gray Corporation, and the Grant Group's branches in Hovington have sent representatives to negotiate collaboration with us, saying they can accept any condition."

The first three branches were run by those old friends of Katherine's, so it was only natural for them to help create fanfare for her as soon as W Co. moved back to the country. Although this wasn't necessary, she appreciated their kindness. As for the Grants, though…

Katherine's eyelashes fluttered at the thought of Josiah, but she said nothing in the end. Instead, she ordered impassively, "It's not necessary to take advantage of them. Just do everything by the book. After all, collaborations are all about win-win."

Understanding what she meant, Owen replied submissively, "Yes, Miss Katherine."

Katherine then processed some documents that had to be handled by herself before leaving.

The evening sun was setting in the west, dyeing the sky a brilliant orange. As Katherine drove mindlessly, Josiah inadvertently came into her mind. That guy was my biological father. I also have a brother, the seriously ill Kian…

Bang!

Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by a crash, the impact of which threw her forward before she was yanked back by her seat belt.

Realizing that she'd been rear-ended, she frowned slightly before unfastening her seat belt. Before she could step out of her car, though, someone dashed over from behind and pounded on her car window, yelling, "Hey! What kind of driving was that?! Get out of the car!"

A hint of displeasure flickered across Katherine's eyes at the person's shrill voice. Looking at the person through the car window, she somehow thought the person looked familiar. After turning it over in her mind, she realized that the person was none other than Joaquin's cousin, Bella. Ha! What a coincidence.

She darted a glance in her rearview mirror at the red sports car that had rammed her car from behind before raising her beautiful eyebrows. Then, instead of stepping out of her car, she slowly rolled down her car window.

Bella was surprised to see her. "It's you?"

Leaning back in her seat, Katherine stared at the lady for a long time as if she didn't know her. "You know me?"

"You!" Bella was rendered speechless for a moment. "I'm Bella Cooper, Johdy's cousin!"

"Oh." Katherine languidly rested her hands on the steering wheel. She said nonchalantly, "Sorry, but I have a bad memory, especially when it comes to idiots."

Bella grew even more exasperated when she heard this. "You… How could you call me an idiot?!"

Katherine got amused by her response. "When did I ever call you that? But I never thought you'd know yourself so well."

Bella's eyes reddened in anger. She grabbed the door handle in an attempt to break the car door open, but the car door was locked and wouldn't budge. "Why you… Get out of the car right now! The front of

my car got wrecked because of you! Are you blind or something?"

Katherine blinked her intelligent eyes innocently. "Sorry, but I do have no eyes in the back of my head. Could you have eyes in the back of your head instead? Well, that's out of the ordinary. Why don't you turn around and let me take a look?"

"You…" Bella began, but she struggled for words to answer back. Unable to outspeak Katherine, she simply stretched out her hand in an attempt to yank the former's hair, but before her hand could even touch Katherine, it was smacked away with a loud slap, which caused the back of her hand to turn red. As a result, she flew into a rage at once. "Katherine! How dare you hit me!" she yelled, her voice raising several pitches. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Katherine rested her cheek in her hand with her elbow propped on the car window. The corners of her mouth turned up, but the look in her eyes was frosty. "The surveillance camera is watching. It was you who struck first, so what I did was only self-defense. And besides, I was driving normally ahead of you. You were the one who rear-ended me, so how could you blame someone else instead? It's nice enough of me not to ask you to pay for the repairs. Who would've thought you'd make a spectacle of yourself on the street by shifting the blame onto me?"

"Damn you, Katherine Cornell!" Bella uttered between clenched teeth while looking infuriated.

Katherine let out a snort before correcting her. "Are you ill-mannered or something? How could you act so insolent toward me? I'm married to your cousin, which makes me your cousin-in-law, you know."

"In your dreams!" Bella glared daggers at her upon hearing this. She uttered between clenched teeth, "Like hell if you're my cousin-in-law! My cousin will divorce you sooner or later; I'm the one who's supposed to marry him!"