Chapter 272


    Katherine never expected him to say that, and her expression looked a bit unnatural. Then, keeping a


    straight face, she darted a look at him from the corner of her eye with feigned indifference. "Sticking up


    for you? What are you talking about? Why would I care about you? I just hated to see them act


    snobbishly, that''s all."


    "Oh? Really?" Joaquin raised an eyebrow as amusement flickered in his good-looking eyes. "Are you


    sure… that you didn''t do that for my sake?" he asked, slowly raising his tone of voice toward the end of


    his sentence.


    Katherine continued to stubbornly deny it, saying, "Of course not. And besides, nobody asked you to


    insist oning to Kynd with me. Given your condition, you''re supposed to rest and recuperate!"


    Obviously, she was rather dissatisfied that he had insisted on following her around despite his health


    condition. However, when it urred to her that he had done all this for her sake, she felt indescribably


    warm and rather happy inside, so her feelings were somewhat mixed.


    Joaquin''s eyes flickered for an instant when he caught sight of this. The next second, though, his face


    assumed a different expression. Looking as if disappointed, he hung his head and fell silent.


    Katherine had thought he''d say something and was waiting for him to speak. When she didn''t hear


    anything from him after waiting for a long time, she couldn''t help but turn to look at him in puzzlement,


    only to see him looking like this. Stunned, she felt at once speechless and helpless. After gently biting


    her lip for a moment, she had no choice but to feign a cough, clearing her throat before saying, "Okay,


    it did have something to do with you…" As she spoke of this, she seemed to feel quite embarrassed.


    Rubbing her petite, upturned nose with her hand, she muttered in a whisper, "How dare those men


    actuallyy hands on you? Like hell I could put up with it…"


    Hearing every word that she said, Joaquin was instantly blissed out; he smiled and raised his hand to


    stroke her hair. "That''s more like it. Honesty is a virtue, so one''s got to be honest."


    Katherine was rendered speechless. Virtue, my *ss! What a sly fox you are! she thought to herself


    before attempting to leave.


    At this moment, Marcus hurried outside and blocked their path while panting heavily. "Miss Cornell! Mr.


    Levisay! Please stay, the two of you!"


    Katherine shot a nce at him expressionlessly in a chilly manner. "You don''t have to say anything


    else, Marcus. Since they don''t trust me, I don''t have to go out of my way to save them." Never have I


    done such a thing as to kiss somebody''s *ss!


    Marcus'' face screwed up into an utterly helpless expression. "Please calm down, Miss Cornell. The


    Frasers only offended you because they were addled by illness. Please be the bigger person and


    forgive them this once!" he said. Then, he quickly exined, "I''ve called Mr. Fraser just now. He''s


    conscious right now and will exin everything to his family—"


    Before his voice could fade, Lexie hurriedly ran outside and spread her arms in front of Katherine as if


    fearing that Katherine would leave. "Miss Cornell, my madam only doubted you just now because she


    was confused, so please don''t take it to heart. My madam would like to ask you to go back and save


    her life; she even promised that you''ll be rewarded handsomely if you can save the lives of the


    Frasers!"


    At this, Katherine suddenly let out a snort ofughter as if she had heard some funny joke. "Reward me


    handsomely, eh? Does it seem to you that I''m short of that kind of money? Just tell your madam to use


    her brains. Such insincere words will only make peopleugh their heads off," she said before slightly


    narrowing her eyes with a look of mockery. Then, she continued, "But that''s no longer necessary. After


    all, she''ll die very soon and no longer has to use her brains anymore." With that, she walked past Lexie


    and was about to leave, not bothering to pay more attention to the maid.


    Just then, a weak voice suddenly rang out from behind them. "M-Miss Cornell… Please stay… I-I''m


    begging you…"


    Hearing the voice, everyone turned around and was instantly surprised. Patricia, who had been


    bedridden at first, had followed them outside before they knew it. Feeling light-headed, she staggered


    forward unsteadily, surrounded by quite a few bodyguards and nurses who apparently wanted to stop


    her. However, none of them dared get near her as they were afraid of the man-faced curse on her.


    At the sight of this, Marcus immediately walked up to Patricia. "Mrs. Fraser, what are you—"


    N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.


    Patricia shook her head. No longer looking as arrogant as she had been a while ago, she staggered


    along like an old person until she was two steps away in front of Katherine before stopping. "Miss


    Cornell… Please forgive me for my insolence just now," she said, looking genuinely sincere as tears


    sparkled in her eyes.


    Seeing her change in attitude, Katherine didn''t show much emotion. Her expression still cold, she


    lowered her gaze upon the woman without saying anything.


    Patricia pursed her lips with tremendous effort before shooting a look of displeasure at Lexie. "I told you


    to do your best to ask Miss Cornell to stay, and that was all you said? Don''t you think it''s insulting to


    judge someone in mary terms?"


    Lexie shuddered for a moment while looking at a loss for what to do. "H-How would I know what to


    say…" sheined under her breath.


    Patricia, who was seriously ill and had poor hearing, didn''t hear what she said, but Katherine heard


    every word of it. She shot a frosty sideways nce at Lexie, sending a chill down thetter''s spine and


    causing her to hold her breath in fear.


    At this moment, Patricia hesitated for a moment and let out an apologetic sigh. "Miss Cornell, I''m very


    sorry for offending you and hurling insults at you just now. It''s just… It''s just that I really couldn''t believe


    at first that you could be so highly skilled in medicine at such a young age, so I thought you were a


    fraud. My husband isn''t home at the moment, and there was no word about him while I was confined to


    bed. To me, there''s no knowing whether he''s dead or alive. How can I trust a stranger to treat my


    children and me under such circumstances?" she said, exining her previous attitude in fairly sincere


    words.


    "That was why I got anxious for a moment and feared that you''d do harm to our family. As you know,


    the Frasers are a huge family with arge family fortune, but we have a lot of enemies, too. I''d been


    worried in the first ce that someone might take this opportunity to destroy our family, and you


    showed up right at this moment. As a result, I got nervous and thought you were some unknown


    person sent by our enemies who wanted toy a hand on my children and me. If that were to happen,


    I''d be too ashamed to face the Fraser Family''s ancestors even if I died…"


    When Marcus heard this, he couldn''t help but let out a sigh. "Mrs. Fraser, it''s okay if you didn''t trust


    Miss Cornell, but how could you distrust me as well? Am I that gullible to you? You''re too paranoid."


    Patricia nodded with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Mr. Town. Indeed, I wrongfully assumed you


    guys to be up to no good," she said before shifting her gaze back toward Katherine. "Miss Cornell, I


    know my exnation may not soothe your anger, but surely you have a kind heart as a doctor. I''m


    begging you, please save our family! However you want to vent your anger on me after this, I''ll ept


    it; I don''t care even if you refuse to save me. But please save my innocent children…"