A Replacement Bride

Chapter 417 Reshuffling
"Do you have a plan?" Katherine pursed her lips.
Joaquin chuckled. His sour mood was finally lifted. "Don't look down on me. I'm not as weak as you think."
There was a hint of teasing in his voice, and Katherine blushed. She lowered her voice a little while saying, "I didn't say you were
weak."
Joaquin thought she was being coy. He cocked his eyebrow and felt delighted. "Just trust me on this. I can handle things on this
side." He then asked, "What about Noah?"
"She just fell asleep." Katherine pursed her lips and tensed up, then she told him about Emmanuel taking Corey away.
Joaquin frowned. "Emmanuel's men went toe-to-toe with the Vermillion Alliance? Impossible."
Katherine's eyes glinted. "I thought it was weird. Even if he wanted Corey, he wouldn't have spent so much money to hire those
men."
"So..." Joaquin was silent for a moment. "You suspect it was his benefactor?"
"Yes. Emmanuel had no need to take Corey away. The only explanation is that his benefactor lent his power to him."
"Then, his benefactor is not to be underestimated."
Katherine smirked. "Of course. Not everyone can save Gray Corporation. Even the other aristocratic families tried to avoid them.
The fact that his benefactor stepped in meant he wanted to use Emmanuel to get something. He even lent him some of their
men. Obviously, their goal is important." But I still can't figure out what they're trying to get.
Joaquin was worried. "Want me to send in some of my men? If Carmine and her team..."
Katherine declined. She didn't take these enemies seriously. "No. Emmanuel's taken Corey away. He can't take anything more
from me. He knows I've given my grandpa's stuff away, so he won't come after me. Even if he does, he won't win that easily
against the Vermillion Alliance. A battle's outcome is always uncertain." Unbeknownst to her, Emmanuel's team was just a
fraction of the traps Jayden had laid out for her.
Joaquin mused over it and heaved a sigh. "I see. I can't leave for now, but I'll go back once I settle things here."

"Sure," said Katherine softly.
They talked for a bit more before hanging up the call.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Joaquin placed his phone on the table and sat down before saying, "Come in."
Soon, Jeremy walked in, announcing, "He's here, Mr. Levisay."
Calmly, Joaquin said, "Let him in."
"Yes, sir." Jeremy went back out and led a man in a suit in.
The man was obviously an elite of society, but he humbled himself before Joaquin. "You're looking for me, Master Joaquin?"
Joaquin grunted and pointed to the seat opposite from him. "Sit, Mr. North."
The man who just walked in was Arlo North. After saying thanks, he strode to the opposite side of the table to sit down.
Joaquin poured a cup of tea for him and cut to the chase, "Did you bring what I told you to, Mr. North?"
Arlo nodded and handed a file to him before taking a sip of tea.
Joaquin took over the file, skimmed through it, and a sneer curled his lips. "I see we have a lot of parasites."
Arlo put his cup down and heaved a sigh. "Yeah. To think Alexander had raised the company up to the top of this city's hierarchy,
but now it's so corrupt in such a short span of time. It's lost its old glory."
Arlo was a student of Alexander, and Alexander was the one who saw his talent. Back when he was still a newbie in the
business world, he learned a lot from Alexander and saw a lot of stuff. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the crux of the
administrative section. Alexander noticed his talent and raised him to the pinnacle of the business world, and Arlo worshipped
him. In the end, he managed to become Alexander's most trusted ally.
Before Alexander passed on, he told Arlo to keep a close eye on the company but to never interfere unless he absolutely had to.
Alexander knew his son too well. John was not a man who would tolerate the existence of anyone better than him in the
company, so Alexander left Arlo with a task. No matter what happened, Arlo must take Joaquin's side and help him out. Thanks
to that, Arlo became Joaquin's spy.

"Alexander loved you. If he knew you were set up and had your power taken away, he would be devastated." Arlo sighed.
Joaquin put the file down. "I don't care much for this company. They can take my power away for all I care."
Arlo paused for a moment and quickly said, "But this company is Alexander's life's work. I know you might not care about it, but
you can't leave it for dead."
Joaquin fell silent for a moment and said, "Calm down, Mr. North. What I'm saying is if John and Robert can run this company, I
can always leave things in their hands, but things are different now." He paused and narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes, just
because you want to stay away from things doesn't mean trouble won't come knocking. He's running the company to the ground.
Hence, I must act." He wouldn't leave his grandfather's life's work in an incompetent buffoon's hands.
Arlo calmed down and nodded. "If you were to take over the company, I'm sure we can rise back to the top."
Joaquin shook his head. "I can interfere, but I won't be coming back right away. Nevertheless, a reshuffling is in order, and we
can substitute some people out for our men."