A Replacement Bride

Chapter 277

Chapter 277

As soon as the researcher finished her sentence, the other researchers covered their mouths and tried to hide their laughter.

"Rita, that's very rude of you!" Howard lifted his brows and chided her, but from the tone of his voice, he didn't hold her accountable. NôvelDrama.Org © content.

Meanwhile, Katherine maintained a neutral expression throughout. She shot an indifferent look at Rita and lifted her well-shaped brows slightly.

Suddenly, Katherine spoke up and her cold voice rang out. "Your surname's Cornell too."

At that point, Rita lifted her chin and revealed an arrogant expression. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

Katherine curved her lips into a slight smile and replied calmly, "Yes."

Clearly, Rita didn't expect this reply from Katherine, so the former couldn't help but frown before expressing rudely, "What's the problem?"

Katherine countered as rudely as Rita, "The problem here is that we've both got the same surname, Cornell, but you're foolish beyond words."

As soon as Rita heard that, her expression turned quite ugly. "What do you mean by that?!"

However, Katherine didn't respond to Rita immediately. She turned to look at the large screen in front of the lobby, which displayed the details of each team member within a research unit, their research topics, and their research progress.

"E1 reagent. That's such a simple research topic and yet, your team has spent three years on it without making a breakthrough. What's the point of continuing your research? You should give up your lab coats and leave this place."

As soon as Katherine said that, Rita and the other team members in the same research unit glowered and revealed angry expressions.

"What sort of nonsense are you on about?! You make it sound as if you're very knowledgeable, but do you even know what an E1 reagent is?! Do you have any idea how difficult our research is? How dare you brag loudly in front of us?! You're quite boastful, aren't you?"

"Yeah! You make it sound as if you've found the research outcome, but you're just giving us crass comments here."

Katherine smiled briefly when faced with the group's accusations. However, she didn't bother to rebuke their words. She merely took a pen and a piece of paper from the reception area and started scribbling.

The crowd wasn't sure what she was doing, so everyone glared at her with frowns.

Rita loathed the sight of Katherine, and the former couldn't contain herself as she immediately stepped forward and snatched the paper and pen from Katherine's hands.

"Stop with the act! Don't you dare touch the items in our laboratory! You should just—"

However, Rita didn't get to finish her words. She was about to get into contact with Katherine when suddenly, she felt a pen prick her shoulder. She immediately froze in place and was unable to move a single inch.

Katherine's expression remained unchanged, but there was a stern look in her eyes as she pricked Rita with the tip of a pen to stop the woman from approaching.

"What's the rush? I'm figuring things out for you to avoid being troubled by such a simple topic. I wouldn't want you to suffer hair loss from worrying about this. More importantly, it's such a waste of Lab 7's resources. Furthermore, the loss incurred would be quite substantial for the country too."

"You—" Rita clenched her teeth in anger upon noticing Katherine's arrogance and with a furious glare, she attempted to move forward.

Katherine had only pressed a pen against Rita's shoulders but for some inexplicable reason, Rita found herself unable to move a single inch.

"You annoying woman! Y-You'd better let go of me!"

At that instance, Rita was about to blow a gasket, but she could only lash out with her words.

Katherine lifted a well-sculpted brow and did not bother to correct Rita's rudeness. She didn't even have to exert force as she shoved Rita to the ground by using the pen's tip.

"Ouch!" Rita tried to maintain her balance but failed and fell to the ground. At that point, she winced in pain.

Just as she fell to the ground on her bottom, Katherine had swiftly finished writing the final sentence of the content and she casually tossed it to the woman on the floor.

"You!" Rita scrambled to get up quite awkwardly and her eyes looked molten-red from anger. She was just about to scrunch up the piece of paper tossed to her when she noticed Katherine's lazy smile.

"Are you quite sure that you won't take a look? I've written down some groundbreaking achievements regarding the E1 reagent."

As soon as Katherine mentioned that, everyone's jaw dropped. Even Howard had a look of disbelief on his face.

At that point, Rita froze in her act but soon enough, she frowned and scoffed derisively.

"Stop bullsh*tting us! We've conducted three years of research without any conclusive outcome, yet here you are just randomly scribbling on a piece of paper and then boasting about some groundbreaking achievement! Do you take us as fools?"

Katherine remained exceptionally calm and continued to stare at Rita patiently.

"Well, I don't know how foolish the others are, but you…"

As Katherine spoke, she lifted a hand to tap her temple with her slender fingers before expressing nonchalantly, "You're a bit off here so I guess you must be quite foolish."

Rita nearly blew a fuse upon hearing Katherine's words. The former clenched her teeth and was about to crush that piece of paper in her hand. It was quite fortunate that Howard stepped forward and snatched the paper from Rita's hand.

"Professor Walt!" Rita had an incredulous look on her face upon seeing Howard study the paper's content.

Howard's eyes became as wide as saucers in just a minute, and there was a surprised and excited look in his gaze.

"So that's how it is! I can't believe that's how it should be! Why didn't I realize this?!"

As soon as Howard finished his sentence, the other researchers who were engrossed in the drama unfolding crowded around Howard to retrieve the paper from his hand as they passed it around and studied it.

Subsequently, everyone was in shock, especially the team members in Rita's research unit. They were elated and yet in disbelief. None of them could tear their eyes away from the piece of paper.

Meanwhile, Rita's expression turned uglier than ever upon seeing their reaction. Even a fool could tell what was going on right now.

This woman has solved the issue in my research topic! How can that be possible?! Isn't she just a pretty face who had to pull strings to get in here?! How can she possibly be so capable?!

Just then, Rita couldn't quite swallow her pride to go over and find out what was written on the piece of paper. She remained frozen in place as her body stiffened. There was a beaten expression on her face, and she wished so badly to be able to leave this place right away without anyone realizing it. She felt utterly humiliated.

At the same time, Howard finally realized the capability of this woman in front of him, and he immediately regretted his bad attitude from before.

"Look… Miss Cornell. I-It was just a misunderstanding from before, so please don't take it personally."

At that moment, he had no other option but to let go of his pride and apologize to her.

His logical mind overcame his pride, and he finally realized that Marcus hadn't just randomly brought Katherine into this laboratory. She was actually of crucial value to them.

It was likely that her research topic contained some extremely critical content too.

Initially, Howard had assumed that she would be incapable of achieving anything, so even if she complained to Marcus about being treated badly, Howard could still come up with an excuse for her incompetence.

However, things were quite different right now.

If she complained about today's matter to Marcus, then Howard would be relinquished of his professor position and his role as the person in charge of Lab 7.

At the thought of that, Howard broke into a cold sweat and quickly tried to appease Katherine in hopes that he could smooth over his rude behavior from before.

"Miss Cornell, please rest assured that I will make the arrangements for every single thing you're after. There won't be any issues at all. I'll give you priority to obtain even the rarest reagents. You've traveled all the way to get here, so you must be exhausted. Why don't you go over to the lounge to take a rest? I'll make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible and once everything is sorted, I'll inform you immediately!"