A Replacement Bride

Chapter 116
"Oh?" Joaquin looked at Katherine curiously, but she did not have the intention to explain to him. She yawned before pushing
him to the car, which was parked outside.
The driver was waiting at the side to carry Joaquin into the car. Katherine was deep in thought as she looked at him and only
entered after both of them got in. "Now that Robert and the Levisay Family are already in this situation, you don't really have to
pretend to be a cripple anymore. So, why are you keeping the act up?" she asked.
"Do you really think that there's no hope for Robert?" he answered her question with a question as he smirked.
Hearing that, she touched her chin while she thought about his question. Since she had crippled Robert, it was unlikely for him to
make a comeback, unless Joaquin's father had another capable illegitimate child who was competent enough to inherit the
Levisay Family business.
"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders after giving it some thought, but soon decided that she should not waste her time on
it.
Seeing her expression made him smile. He did not realize that he could now interact with her casually and smile whenever he
spoke to her.
The episode at the Cornell Family did not take up too much of their time and both of them headed straight to the Levisay
Residence right after that. Elizabeth was hosting a banquet at her house and all of the Levisays members were present, which
made the whole place lively. As they stepped into the house, they could hear laughter and voices of people chatting. Noticing
Joaquin, most of them had wry expressions on their face as they stared at his legs.
"Joaquin, why are you late?" one of them asked jokingly while ignoring Katherine, who was pushing him into the house. It
sounded like they were gloating over his disability.
Katherine glanced over at the person who spoke. He was in his early forties, with thin lips and eyes that were slanted upwards.
From the looks of it, he seemed to be a difficult person. She merely took a brief glance at him before looking away as she had to
maintain her simpleton facade in front of everyone.
Joaquin ignored that person and shifted his attention to Elizabeth, who was sitting among the crowd. "Grandma," he greeted her
coldly.

However, she seemed unhappy and ignored him as she whispered to someone sitting beside her. It was obvious that she was
snubbing him on purpose.
"Joaquin, since Grandma is now old, she might be experiencing hearing loss, so you should speak louder for her to hear you."
Katherine could not stand how rude Elizabeth was since she was the one who called and asked them over for dinner. Yet, now
that they were here, she was not a least bit happy to see them.
Katherine was reminded of that one particular member from the Cornell Family who had the same revolting behavior as
Elizabeth. Back when she was still around, both she and Elizabeth were basically twins when it came to their mannerisms and
behaviors.
Meanwhile, everyone in the room could clearly hear what Katherine said since she spoke loudly. Noticing that, the embarrassed
Elizabeth glared at Katherine with a grim expression.
However, Joaquin seemed to take Katherine's words seriously and nodded as he responded, "Yes, I think Kathy is right."
Elizabeth almost snapped at him when she heard his reply.
Her expression was grave as she simply waved her hand at them to make them leave since it did not seem like she could
pretend to not notice Joaquin anymore. "You're here? Just take a seat somewhere for now. We aren't starting dinner just yet
since some of them are still not here."
"Okay," Joaquin replied impassively. Katherine then pushed him to a quiet corner and both of them waited there. Tonight, the
Levisay Residence was crowded with people whom Katherine had not met before. It really seemed like something big was about
to happen later on.
"Do you know what the occasion is? Is it your Grandma's birthday?" She was holding a delicately wrapped gift box and could not
help but ask as she looked at the people who entered the house. By the looks of it, she was expecting someone to humiliate her
and Joaquin as the agenda tonight.
"I have no idea," he replied nonchalantly as if he had nothing to do with the Levisay Family.
She looked at him with sympathy as she realized that his status in the Levisay Family did not seem to be much better than hers
in the Cornell Family. In fact, he might have it worse. Looking at Elizabeth's attitude, it did not seem like she only treated him that
way because he was crippled. With that, Katherine stopped talking.

Nothing much happened as time went by. It was only until 5.00PM when Elizabeth suddenly got up and walked toward the door.
A group of people followed behind her as they lined up around the entrance. It seemed like some big shot was visiting.
"Could it be your extended family that is based in Kyoland?" Katherine leaned in and whispered in Joaquin's ear as she noticed
the commotion.
He could smell her faint scent and her hot breath on his ears. It was ticklish, which made him want to avoid it subconsciously, but
he did not resist such an intimate interaction surprisingly.
Before he could figure out the reason, Elizabeth, who was at the door, exclaimed surprisedly, "Mr. Leventhrope, it's an honor to
have you here today."
Hearing that, Katherine could not help but turn to look at the door and was surprised that the guest had the last name
'Leventhrope'.
"This is?" Declan frowned at the sight of a crowd standing in front of him.
"Mr. Leventhrope, I'm hosting a family banquet tonight and I hope you'll like it. Please come in." Elizabeth was beaming from ear
to ear, which was a stark difference from how she behaved when she spoke to Joaquin and Katherine. She then stepped aside
and made way for Declan to enter the house.
Declan finally entered the house after a brief hesitation. Elizabeth stood by his side with the other younger Levisays members
walking behind them; they tried to make eye contact with Declan in order to strike up a relationship with him. However, Declan
merely ignored them and was disappointed after scanning the room to find the person that he was looking for to be absent.
"Butler, please inform the kitchen that the dishes can now be served," Elizabeth informed the butler with a smile and the butler
immediately did as told.
Soon after, everyone headed over to the dining area. Since it was a family banquet, there were a few tables prepared in order to
accommodate all the guests. Katherine, who was famished since she did not have lunch, slowly pushed Joaquin over to the
dining area.
"Oh, there's no seats left for both of you. What took you so long to get here?" someone spoke sarcastically when she saw both of
them approaching the dining area.

Katherine glanced at the person and ignored her before pushing Joaquin over to the main table. Being disabled did not change
the fact that he was the first born of the Levisay Family's eldest son. Since she now held the status of Mrs. Levisay, she refused
to be embarrassed.