Chapter 508 Must Face
As soon as Katniss stepped out the door, she saw Maximilian waiting outside.
She walked quickly towards him and smiled as she got closer. "Why didn't you wait at the hotel?"
There was a hotel right across from their exam venue. In the morning, she had gone into the exam room while Maximilian took the others to check into the hotel.
"Just came down," Maximilian said, taking her hand. "What do you wanna eat?"
Patrick, standing nearby, rubbed his nose and glanced at Conrad, who was used to being ignored.
He couldn't help but think that Conrad, following these two around every day, might not get much else, but he sure got his fill of their public displays of affection.
"Anything's fine," Katniss said, not being picky. Suddenly, she thought of Ethan and asked, "Ethan should be out soon, too. How about we eat with him?"
Maximilian nodded thoughtfully.
"Patrick, you're here too," Katniss noticed Patrick and smiled at him.
Patrick returned her smile warmly. "Yeah, had some things to take care of."
Seeing Patrick reminded Maximilian of the two police officers waiting at the hotel.
"The cops found drugs in Ryan's car and said they were from you.
So, two officers are here, and we need to cooperate with their investigation," Maximilian explained briefly to Katniss.
"What?" Katniss was completely taken aback. Not only had Ryan blocked their way today, but now he was framing her for drugs?
But who would believe him without any evidence?
"It was probably Emma who instructed Clara to do it," Maximilian speculated, frowning.
After all, this whole mess was his fault, and he needed to explain it to Katniss.
Katniss understood and was about to say something when she saw Ethan coming out. "How about we eat first and then cooperate?"
Maximilian nodded. "I already talked to them. We can meet them after lunch."
With Maximilian's agreement, Katniss nodded and then looked at Ethan, who had just walked out the door.
"Ethan, over here," Katniss called, waving.
Ethan looked over and then walked towards them.
Once everyone was together, they exchanged a few words and headed across the street.
Unlike the desolate area around the exam venue, the other side had plenty of restaurants and hotels, so finding a place to eat wasn't difficult.
While they were enjoying their lunch, Clara was happily going over the final steps with Lucas and then recapping everything with Desmond.
Once everything was confirmed, Lucas went to buy the plane tickets.
Clara watched Lucas leave, feeling quite pleased.
Emma had kept her promise, and the compromising photos had been completely deleted.
Once she returned to Luminous City, neither Emma nor Ryan would be able to threaten her with anything!
Just as Lucas left to buy the tickets, Nathan, looking troubled and pale, came to see Clara.
"Clara."
As soon as he entered, Nathan closed the door behind him.
Seeing Nathan close the door, Clara immediately thought of the compatibility test they had done yesterday.
If she remembered correctly, the doctor had said the results would be out today!
Thinking that she would soon have a kidney, Clara's mood brightened considerably.
Although she was extremely excited, Clara didn't dare show it.
She tried to suppress her emotions, thinking that even if Nathan told her the test was successful, she should accept it slowly and modestly.
At least, she couldn't appear too eager.
After all, Nathan could change his mind at any time before the transplant.
She didn't want to lose everything over a small mistake.
After calming herself, Clara asked in a steady voice, "What's up, Nathan?"
Almost as soon as Clara finished speaking, Nathan's face turned grim, and he felt even more burdened.
All morning, he had tried to act normal, but his mind was racing with thoughts.
He felt guilty towards his family for not trusting them before, but he felt even more guilty towards Clara.
He had given Clara hope by suggesting that the previous test results might have been wrong, even though Dylan had already told her the match was unsuccessful.
But now, less than a day later, he had to crush that hope himself.
Anyone would feel terrible if given hope only to have it taken away. He didn't want Clara to suffer, but he couldn't change the outcome.
Even though he didn't want to face this situation, he had no choice.
"Clara, I came to tell you that the test results are out," Nathan said, gripping the armrest of his wheelchair tightly.
He spoke slowly, not to drag it out, but because speaking slowly was the only way to keep his emotions in check and maintain a calm facade.
Hearing Nathan mention the test, Clara's eyes lit up almost immediately.
But she didn't dare show it too obviously, so she quickly lowered her gaze to hide her emotions.
"Nathan, are the results the same as before?" Clara asked, feigning a hopeful yet innocent look. "It's better if they're the same. Nathan, your health isn't good; you shouldn't donate a kidney to me..."
Nathan felt another pang of guilt seeing Clara's concern for him. He finally nodded, "Yes."
Clara was stunned, unable to react for a moment.
After hearing Nathan's words, she looked up sharply at him, her eyes wide as if trying to see through him to understand what he had just said.
Did she hear wrong?
Clara even thought she might be hallucinating.
She had asked if the results were the same as before, right?
Shouldn't Nathan have answered "no"?
Seeing Clara's confusion, Nathan continued, "Clara, I'm sorry. I was wrong before. The new results are the same as the last time; they're not a match."
As he spoke, he reached out to hold Clara's hand, gently rubbing the back of it to comfort her.
Clara felt like she was hearing a cruel joke from hell. She couldn't cry or laugh.
After a long moment, she forced a strained smile. "Nathan, you don't need to apologize. It's better that the match wasn't successful. Even if it was, I wouldn't take your kidney."
Nathan sighed and shook his head.
"This is my fault, Clara. When I get back to Luminous City, I'll do my best to find a donor for you."
The little bit of joy Clara had felt earlier had long since dissipated, especially now with Nathan's news, leaving her feeling dizzy and disoriented.
She felt physically and emotionally unwell, and her act was starting to slip. To avoid revealing her true feelings, she simply lowered her head and muttered, "Thank you, Nathan."
Seeing her downcast, Nathan didn't say anything more and left.
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