Chapter 189 Have You Ever Thought About Going Back to Velvet City?
In the pic, Katniss was rocking some light pink loungewear. Her long blonde hair was up in a loose, fluffy bun, giving her a super youthful look.
Her delicate features and every smile seemed to be etched into Tristan's heart.
Katniss's eyes flicked to her phone, and she started scrolling through her recent chat history with Tristan.
He messaged her all the time—three times a day wasn't enough—and even texted her late at night.
He didn't say much; just asked if she'd eaten or reminded her about the weather in Nightfall City.
Her replies were always short, never missing a message, but each one was just [Okay,] or [Got it.]
The last message was from this morning; he hadn't sent one at noon, and now it was already 8 PM on New Year's Eve.
Without realizing it, she pictured his lonely face in her mind, feeling a bit down as she pressed her lips together and stood up. "You guys go ahead and play; I need to make a call."
She pointed to her seat and asked Ryan to take over. "You play cards for me. Win or lose, it's on me. Play boldly."
By the floor-to-ceiling window, fireworks outside lit up half the sky with colorful lights.
She dialed Tristan's video call, and he picked up almost immediately.
He seemed to be walking; the background looked like home, and she could faintly hear Adelaide and Eudora's voices.
The voices gradually faded as he walked upstairs, his features becoming more defined in the backlight.
His eyes reflected her smiling face on the phone screen.
After closing the door, he spoke in a deep voice, "So, you finally grew a conscience?"
Every time Tristan messaged Katniss, he felt an uncontrollable longing for her, but her brief replies left him a bit disappointed.
But then he thought Sophia was discharged, and Katniss was happy, which was understandable, but only for today; he couldn't tolerate more.
"I haven't found it." Katniss leaned on the balcony railing, looking elsewhere, as she softly said, "My heart is with you. How can I find it if you don't come back?"
On the screen, Tristan's chiseled face froze for a moment before he smiled, "So you know how to sweet-talk?"
Those red lips weren't just for serious matters; when she spoke sweetly, it made his heart melt.
Seeing her ears turn red through the screen, he didn't call her out on it.
"Are you celebrating New Year's Eve tonight?" Katniss changed the topic; she wasn't good at sweet-talking.
Her words earlier were more about missing him than trying to coax him back; she realized she had truly neglected him.
"The Forbes family doesn't have that tradition, but if you want to celebrate New Year's Eve, I can join you." Tristan turned on the light, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, and watched the brilliant fireworks under the bright moon outside.
"My mom needs to rest early, but our family has this tradition of staying up all night for New Year's Eve. Saskia, Mr. Gray, and Aaron are all here; it's super lively tonight." For Katniss, this year was a big deal.
She and Tristan were together.
Sophia was out of the hospital.
And with more people at home to celebrate, it was buzzing with energy, making her smile.
But she couldn't help but add, "It's a pity you're not here."
Her eyes showed a bit of regret, and her slightly furrowed brows had a hint of playfulness, making Tristan's breath catch.
He had the urge to rush over and be by her side right now.
In a low voice, he said, "I'll always be there, Katniss. Have you thought about coming back to Velvet City?"
The project in Nightfall City would eventually wrap up, and with Adelaide there, he couldn't stayforever, especially with some things still needing to be sorted out.
Katniss was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "For the southern region, Nightfall City's central location is a good starting point for developing educational institutions. As for the northern region's market, Velvet City's location is a good choice."
Once this crisis was resolved and the 'free advertising' was out, her educational institution, both physical and online courses, would gain a lot of attention.
It was a good time to expand.
Tristan seriously analyzed the Velvet City market for her.
Moving the educational institution to Velvet City would face some resistance, and establishing a successful one requires time and dedication.
But he believed in Katniss; there was plenty of time to prepare, and Katniss had spent many years in Velvet City with a lot of connections that would benefit her career.
Returning to Velvet City had been Katniss's plan for a long time.
Ever since she frequently saw Matilda and George in contact, she had this idea.
Matilda and George were young, especially George, who was the type to care about his image.
Without help, he wouldn't ask for it.
When George came to Nightfall City, Matilda was down for a long time after he left; Katniss could tell even if Matilda didn't say it.
George occasionally chatted with her secretly, mostly about her career; she knew what he wanted to ask.
It was nothing more than whether she would return to Velvet City, and George couldn't leave Velvet City.
Occasionally joking, he would ask if Matilda had a boyfriend, saying he was afraid Matilda would be deceived because she was too naive.
After chatting for a while, Aaron started shouting for her to come back and play cards.
Ryan was terrible at cards; in a four-person game, Aaron and Ryan's team kept losing.
"You go ahead. No need to hang up the video," Tristan said, sitting down in his study, busy with something unknown.
Katniss put her phone in her pocket and went back to playing cards.
Around ten o'clock, Sophia looked tired, so Katniss and Matilda took her to her room, helped her wash up, changed her into loungewear, and put her to bed.
Katniss had prepared a call button in advance, which she placed on Sophia's wrist.
As long as Sophia pressed it when she woke up, they would hear the sound.
After Sophia fell asleep, Katniss and Matilda returned to the living room to continue playing.
Time flew by, and it was exactly midnight.
With the countdown on TV, Katniss seemed to remember something and quickly took out her phone from her pocket.
Tristan happened to be looking at her, too, and at the stroke of midnight, he softly said, "Happy New Year."
She replied the same.
After midnight, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
Matilda only saw George's message sent at midnight after she lay down. [Happy New Year. I wish you lots of happiness!]
Katniss and Tristan didn't hang up the video call; it automatically disconnected when the phone ran out of battery in the early morning.
In Nightfall City, without many relatives to visit, they stayed home from January 1st to January 8th.
On January 4th, Donna mentioned a class reunion and asked Aaron if he wanted to go.
Aaron, being considerate, came to ask Katniss if he could go.
"Do you want to go?" Katniss saw through his thoughts immediately.
But Aaron didn't admit it, "It's not me, but Donna who wants me to go. They're having a gathering at a club, and it's not safe for a young girl like her to go alone."
Katniss couldn't help but laugh at his excuse, "Then you should go. I was planning to take a few teachers from my educational institution out to relax today anyway, so I'll take you there."
Although she agreed to let Aaron go, she wasn't entirely at ease.
Originally, she planned to have a meal with a few colleagues to discuss the surge in online popularity, and now she just needed to change the location.
Aaron excitedly turned around to reply to Donna's message.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Katniss took Aaron to the club.
She dropped Aaron off at Donna's private room, and as she opened the door, she was greeted by the youthful energy of about twenty sixteen or seventeen-year-old students. They enthusiastically surrounded Aaron.
Katniss didn't go in and turned to her private room, where she had invited her colleagues.
It didn't take long for her colleagues to arrive, though a few had made excuses not to come.
"Ms. Grey, we came today because we believe you wouldn't do something like plagiarism, but we don't understand why you've been ignoring this issue," a senior teacher voiced as soon as they sat down.
Someone immediately chimed in. "Yeah, our Facebook has been buzzing non-stop during the holidays. You should have seen the parents' reactions in the online class groups; some even started cursing."
"The key point is that Delphine sent us some photos of you and Mr. Forbes. With such a big issue happening, you still had the mood to go to Velvet City and meet Mr. Forbes." They were understandably upset; Katniss should have informed them in advance, regardless of the situation.
Katniss nodded slightly, speaking with a hint of apology, "Sorry for the trouble, but if too many people knew about the solution, it might not work and could tip off the person behind this. We need to strike when they least expect it. I have some videos here that you can send to the parents as an explanation. Additionally, I've already contacted a lawyer to file a lawsuit against that teacher and the authoritative professor in education."
It was time to fight back, so Katniss laid out her plan. Her colleagues listened in astonishment and then gave her a thumbs-up.
After her explanation, their initial disappointment vanished, and they eagerly discussed Katniss's plan.
Katniss's video was captured by a hidden camera in her office plants, showing Delphine stealing course materials when no one was around.
The camera clearly captured Delphine's face and her actions on Katniss's computer.
After they sent this to the parents and informed them of the lawsuit against Delphine, the teacher, and the authoritative professor, the parents quieted down significantly.
Midway through, Tristan called. Katniss got up and went to the hallway, answering by a half-open window.
"Are you out?" Tristan heard it wasn't as lively as home.
Katniss responded, "Aaron is at a class reunion, and I brought a few colleagues to discuss some matters."
"Where are you?" Tristan asked.
Katniss gave the club's address, and out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw Delphine coming out of a nearby private room.
She was surprised to see Delphine there.
Delphine was equally shocked to see Katniss and quickly turned back into the room, looking uneasy.
Not long after, the door opened again, and Bella came out. She spotted Katniss in the corner, smiled, and walked over.
"I have to go. Something came up," Katniss said softly and hung up the phone.
Tristan seemed to want to say something, but she didn't hear it clearly.
"Katniss, do you like the New Year's gift I sent you?" Bella asked, arms crossed, with a victorious look.
The gift referred to the plagiarism incident.
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