A Replacement Bride

Chapter 431

As Katherine saw this scene, her face became extremely dark. She stared at Noah for a full minute, using her gaze to comfort her daughter before shifting her sharp eyes straight toward Emmanuel. "So, it was you. The fox finally decided to show its tail. You played this whole scheme so well, Emmanuel. If you're not going to become an actor, it's a great loss to the entertainment industry."

Her words were full of ridicule, but Emmanuel didn't seem to care. "Miss Cornell, this is called 'all's fair in love and war.' Even if you know it's me, what can you do? You still have to come to me obediently." Then, he smirked mockingly and looked up at the second floor. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you, Miss Cornell. Thanks to you, I had the opportunity to succeed." Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

After hearing that, she furrowed her brows but didn't say anything.

"If you had come alone, I don't know what I could have done to capture you. Still, who would have thought that you would bring your precious daughter to Kyoland? It's such a good opportunity for me to use, right? This isn’t what I usually do, so you’re the one who gave me this opportunity." Emmanuel's shameless words were spoken so naturally that they made Katherine feel nauseous.

She had not considered the situation well enough and allowed this man to exploit her weakness. She regretted it, but at the moment, it was not the time for regrets. The most important thing was to rescue Noah from these people's hands.

After a moment of consideration, she lifted her gaze. She looked at him again with eyes that were as cold as ice. "You went to all this trouble to go after my daughter just to lure me out. Now that I'm here, can you please release my daughter? If there's anything you want, come directly to me. Taking advantage of a young girl is not something to brag about. Are you not afraid of losing your reputation?"

Emmanuel sneered at her words, seemingly indifferent. "Although it's not honorable to kidnap your daughter and deceive you to come here, the process doesn't matter to me. The most important thing is the result. As long as I get what I want, any means will do. As for losing reputation, heh, Katherine

Cornell, you are underestimating things. Only you and I know about this, so there's no way the word of it would get out to anyone else!"

He was implying in his words that she would fall into his hands.

Hearing that, Katherine coldly smiled. "Emmanuel, it seems you hate me to the core by going through all this trouble to deceive me here. Well, what do you want to do? Humiliate me, or maybe kill me? Or should I ask you what your backer wants to do?" She hit the nail on the head as Emmanuel’s face stiffened momentarily when he heard the word "backer." It was indeed his sore spot.

"What, did I hit the mark, and now you feel embarrassed?" She kept her eyes on his expression, not missing the slight stiffness that passed over his face. Suddenly, she broke into a broad grin, exuding an air of ease and not like someone who had been deceived. "Emmanuel, of course; I know you hate me to the core. After all, I almost bankrupted your Gray Corporation and sent you to try out prison food in the police station for a few days. You naturally hate me and want to kill me to feel better, but at most, you can only think about it in your heart. You can't do so, and you can't do a thing to me."

Katherine's words immediately angered Emmanuel. At that point, his face darkened. His eyes fiercely glared at her like a wolf, and his cheeks tensed. "What nonsense are you spouting? Who says I can't do a thing to you? You are under my control now, aren't you? Stop talking big!"

Nonetheless, she remained calm and composed. She intended to use a small effort to achieve what she wanted. "You are the one talking big. Am I really under your control, or am I under the control of your backer? You and I know it well. There is no need to play guessing games. Troubles have plagued Gray Corporation, and Kyoland's other three noble families have been unwilling to lend a hand. Other families and companies won't help you either. You have nowhere to turn and can only watch yourself become a helpless and powerless loser. Could you walk out of the police station if no one was protecting you?" Then, she continued, "I know exactly who protected you and what he wants to do. You are nothing more than his puppet or a marionette that he can control. He's injected funds into Gray

Corporation to help it come back to life, but it's all a scheme to use Gray Corporation to control you. If you obey his orders and do everything he asks, everything will be peaceful and fine. Your company will continue to prosper, and the Gray Family will be secure. Still, it's all an illusion. You know that once you try to break free from his control or if you mess up, you will no longer be useful to the person behind you. He will not hesitate to destroy Gray Corporation and destroy you."

It was a rational analysis, and Emmanuel felt he had been stripped bare listening to it. Suddenly, anger rose from the bottom of his heart, and his face turned red. He glared at Katherine with a fierce and vicious look as if he wanted to tear her apart. "You little girl, what do you know! It's all nonsense!"

"Oh, really?" She smiled brighter, the angrier he got. "Is it nonsense from me, or do you feel humiliated and don't want to admit it?" She remained calm on the surface, but from the corner of her eye, she glanced toward the second floor. As she spoke, she began to sway back and forth, seemingly careless and aimless, and she was slowly moving toward the direction of the stairs. "Do you think everything you’ve done is flawless? With so many loopholes, how can you still argue? It's not embarrassing to be backed by someone, but it's embarrassing to be controlled by someone. Emmanuel, you're really pitiful. As the chairman of Gray Corporation, you've been in the limelight for half of your life, but now you're being manipulated by an outsider. You’re letting him crush and reshape you at will. You're unwilling but can't fight back. You can only be his lapdog, obediently obeying orders, working hard, and selling your life for him. It's heartbreaking just to think about it—" She clearly wanted to provoke him, and soon he had lost all his calmness.

Emmanuel's emotions were in turmoil, and he was easily ignited with anger. "You're talking nonsense! I'm not doing his bidding. He wants to use me, but he's got nothing! It's me who's using him. Do you understand? He's a little kid who hasn't experienced as much as me and can dream about controlling me. What a joke!"