Chapter 141 Creating an Excuse to See Me Again
"No way!" Daniel shook his head like he was trying to shake off a bad idea. "But I feel like I'm missing something here."
"Who's Mr. Forbes anyway? He doesn't seem like the type to just hitch a ride with a tutor." Wren started counting on her fingers. "And let's be real, this dinner was probably all about Katniss. Mr. Forbes showed up because of her. There's definitely something going on between them!"
Daniel hesitated for a moment before asking, "What do you mean by 'something going on'?"
"Didn't you see the way Mr. Forbes looked at Katniss? It was super intimate." Wren dragged Daniel into the house, clearly annoyed.
In just a few seconds, a misty rain started to cover them, making them shiver.
Daniel grabbed a towel from a servant and gently wiped the mist off Wren's face. "What do you mean by 'intimate'?"
"Come on, the injury on Mr. Forbes's wrist? Katniss probably bit him!" Wren was frustrated but explained it anyway. "So, Katniss is Mr. Forbes's girl. Don't even think about making a move on her!"
"So, you didn't send that message by accident. You actually invited Mr. Forbes and Ms. Grey on purpose?" Daniel asked, suddenly putting the pieces together.
Wren rolled her eyes at him, clearly exasperated.
The rain tapped against the car window, and the silence inside made their breathing sound loud.
Katniss drove as fast as she could, eager to get them home.
Finally, they pulled up to the villa. She was about to say something, but Aaron had already jumped out of the car. Her surprised eyes met Tristan's intense gaze.
"He..." Katniss's voice caught in her throat, and she quickly turned to face forward.
She watched Aaron go inside, leaving her alone with Tristan in the car.
Why wasn't he getting out?
She swallowed hard and glanced at him before quickly looking away. "Mr. Forbes, we're here."
"What? Trying to avoid me?" Tristan leaned against the door, his lazy eyes locked on her.
Katniss forced an awkward smile. "No, of course not, I..."
"Good, because you can't avoid me," Tristan said coldly, loosening his tie.
But he still didn't get out of the car.
After waiting a while, she finally said, "It's still raining. I have an umbrella in the trunk. I'll get it for you!"
Giving him an umbrella to get him out of the car seemed like a good idea.
"Hypocrite." The word from Tristan's lips stopped Katniss from unbuckling her seatbelt.
She turned to look at him. "How am I a hypocrite? I'm trying to help you. I don't want you to get wet!"
Tristan smirked. "So you say you want to keep your distance, but then you get me an umbrella to create an excuse to see me again. Isn't that hypocritical?"
As Tristan finished talking, Katniss grabbed a pack of tissues and chucked it at him. "Shameless! I'm not getting you an umbrella! You deserve to get soaked!"
She threw whatever she could find, but Tristan had already opened the car door and stepped out. His movements were so quick that the door bounced back everything she threw.
The car's headlights lit up his tall figure as he walked away, rain pouring down on him.
Even his back screamed arrogance and recklessness. She could almost picture his smug face.
Fuming, she turned the car around and headed home. By the time she got there, the rain had gotten worse. She climbed from the front seat to the back, popped the trunk, and grabbed an umbrella to avoid getting drenched.
She'd spent quite a bit of time at the Wilson Family's place, so she had put her phone on silent out of courtesy.
When she got home, she saw several missed calls on her phone, some from Saskia and two from unknown numbers.
There were also a few messages from Jesse, sent in the evening, saying he was waiting for her at a coffee shop outside the education center and he wouldn't leave until she showed up.
Saskia wasn't home. When Katniss called her back, Saskia's voice sounded a bit off.
"What's up?" Saskia said.
"Where are you?" Katniss asked directly.
"Me? I'm out. I won't be coming back tonight. Wish you a good sleep," Saskia replied.
Her tone was hurried, and she hung up before Katniss could respond.
Feeling uneasy, Katniss called several more times, but they were all declined.
Then Saskia sent a voice message, "I'm fine, just got bitten by a dog!" It was her way of reassuring Katniss.
Since moving to Nightfall City, Saskia rarely went out, so she probably didn't have any enemies.
Katniss replied that if she didn't see her in the morning, she would call the police, then opened her chat window with Jesse.
The messages were sent five hours ago. After thinking it over, she decided to ignore them. 'Jesse must have left by now.'
In the middle of the night, the rain outside got even heavier.
Katniss, whose mind had been in turmoil, fell asleep as soon as she lay down, overwhelmed by fatigue.
She slept until her phone alarm went off. Turning it off, she found two messages from Saskia.
They were to reassure her, but Saskia mentioned she would be busy for the next couple of days and might not be back.
As adults, Katniss didn't want to meddle in Saskia's affairs, only reminding her to stay safe.
She got up, washed, and headed straight to the tutoring center.
After parking the car, she noticed a crowd gathered at the entrance of the institution. She quickly opened the car door and got out.
"Is this guy dead?" someone asked.
"He's still breathing. Can someone record a video while I try to help?" another person said.
"Forget it, don't get involved. Just call an ambulance," someone else suggested.
Someone in the crowd recognized Katniss and quickly made way for her. "Ms. Grey, look! Someone's collapsed at your institution's entrance!"
Katniss looked over and saw Jesse lying on the ground, soaked to the skin, his face pale, lips colorless, and eyes tightly shut.
"Mr. Turner!" She rushed over, dropping her bag on the wet ground without a second thought.
She gently patted Jesse's cheeks and then looked up at the crowd. "Could someone please call an ambulance for me? Thank you!"
Someone immediately called for an ambulance, and within ten minutes, it arrived. Katniss went to the hospital with him.
After a preliminary examination, the doctor told Katniss, "The patient has a weak constitution. It seems like he caught a cold and fever from being in the rain last night. Judging by his condition, he must have been in the rain all night! What happened to make him do this to himself?"
Katniss opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. Could it be that Jesse waited for her all night?
"Are you his family?" the doctor asked again. "We recommend a full examination. If you agree, please sign here."
Katniss quickly shook her head. "I'm not his family."
The doctor glanced behind her, seeing no one else, and said, "Then don't just stand there. Notify his family quickly!"
With that, the doctor left.
The empty corridor echoed with footsteps, and nurses or patients' families occasionally walked past Katniss.
She remembered she had added Jesse's mother on Facebook and quickly tried to call her.
But the call wouldn't go through!
Juliet had block her!
"You need to pay the fees first, or we can't even do the basic tests." A nurse came out with a payment slip.
"Okay." Katniss put away her phone, went to pay the fees, and arranged for Jesse's hospitalization.
When she returned, the doctor informed her that Jesse had woken up, refused the full examination, and had been sent to a ward.
She went to the ward and saw Jesse struggling to get up, with the nurse unable to stop him.
"Stop it. Your girlfriend is here!" The nurse quickly waved Katniss over. "Come and handle your boyfriend. He still has a high fever and insists on leaving."
Seeing her, Jesse immediately calmed down and was pressed back onto the bed by the nurse.
His eyes flickered, avoiding her gaze.
"Sorry for the trouble." Katniss thanked the nurse, who quickly left the room.
She walked to Jesse's bedside, hands in the pockets of her coat.
She had rushed over as soon as she saw Jesse collapsed at the institution's entrance, her long hair all over the place.
She reached out to smooth her hair and said, "You still have a fever. Even if you want to leave, wait until the fever goes down."
"I'm sorry," Jesse said quickly.
"I don't need your apology," Katniss replied calmly. "You have nothing to apologize for."
"It was my mom who went too far," Jesse said, lowering his head like a kid who got caught doing something wrong.
The early morning sunlight highlighted his haggard appearance.
After a long pause, Katniss said, "There's no point in discussing right or wrong in this matter. The best way to handle it is not to worsen the relationship, so there's no need to insist on apologizing to me."
Jesse moved his lips, looked at her for a few seconds, but couldn't say anything.
"Call your family to come and get you. I have work to do," Katniss said, checking the time. It was already past ten after all the commotion.
"I got it. You can go," Jesse said, his eyes flickering as he lowered his head to hide his emotions.
Seeing that he wasn't in good condition, Katniss informed the nurse before leaving.
After a busy morning, she took a bunch of materials to find Aaron in the evening.
To her surprise, Aaron was waiting for her in the study, ready to start his tutoring session as promised.
Although his attitude was still not great, at least he wasn't causing trouble.
To Katniss's delight, Aaron was indeed a genius. He understood many things without her having to explain them in detail.
At least the 6th and 7th-grade material was a breeze for him. The most challenging part was the new subjects introduced in the 8th grade.
She hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked Aaron, "Would you consider studying with Donna? That way, I can teach both of you five days a week, saving a lot of time."
"Will you refund the tuition?" Aaron asked seriously.
"No way," Katniss said succinctly. "No one can take money out of my pocket." She said this with confidence, but not long after, Tristan took money from her bag!
Aaron shrugged indifferently and said, "I don't mind. It's up to Donna."
"Leave it to me then," Katniss said, packing up her things and heading downstairs. She paused by Tristan's room, but he wasn't there.
Even though it was late, she couldn't wait until tomorrow and went straight to the hospital.
As she got out of the car and walked toward the inpatient department with her bag, she suddenly heard an angry voice from a distance.
It was Juliet. "How did you end up here? What were you doing last night, staying in the rain all night and getting yourself into this state?"
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