Chapter 260 Don't You dare Tell Him
Adelaide said, "I get it. When two people really love each other, there shouldn't be any secrets, especially about something this big."
She thought it over for a while and finally stopped arguing. "But as someone on the outside, I really think you should wait until you're pregnant to tell him. That way, you'll have some good news to soften the blow."
Adelaide just wanted Katniss and Tristan to be happy together; she didn't care if Tristan got mad at her as long as they were good.
If she told him now, Tristan's unpredictable temper might mess up their plans to have a baby.
She had a point. But Katniss felt she should tell Tristan everything before the wedding, even if she wasn't pregnant yet.
"I'm glad you thought about the Forbes family's reputation when it comes to your birth mother. Once everything's sorted out with her, I'll set up a meeting to talk about the dowry..." Adelaide told Katniss everything she could think of, worried she might forget something later.
Around noon, Tristan sent a message with a bunch of layout options for the wedding from the hotel, asking Katniss to pick one.
After hearing that Katniss had been talking with Adelaide all morning, he decided to call Adelaide.
No one knew what he said, but it made Adelaide, who had planned to have lunch with Katniss before leaving, so mad that she cursed him out and left.
Katniss sighed and picked up Tristan's call. "Mrs. Forbes is pretty old. Can't you show her some respect?"
Tristan must have asked Adelaide to leave.
"She might have cursed, but she's happy deep down." Tristan noticed how quickly Adelaide left and figured out that Katniss had told her about their baby plans.
Katniss was speechless.
"Rest up this afternoon. Nicholas is getting discharged today, and we're all meeting up tonight." Otherwise, Tristan wouldn't have insisted Katniss rest.
Who knew how late they'd be out tonight?
After hanging up, Katniss went upstairs to have lunch with Sophia and then came back to take a nap.
She slept until dusk when Tristan came back and woke her with a kiss.
He seemed to be in a good mood, smiling as she groggily leaned into his arms.
"Lila kicked them out," he said in his deep voice.
Katniss responded quietly. She had guessed the outcome when Lila apologized.
"But they haven't left yet," Tristan said. "Ryan said they're staying at a small motel."
As long as they didn't cause any more trouble and disrupt Katniss's life, she had no right to kick them out of Velvet City.But what were they planning by staying?
Katniss's eyes turned cold as she hugged Tristan's waist. "Forget about them. I'm starving," she said.
With Tristan's help, she got up and washed her face in the bathroom. By the time she tied her hair into a ponytail, Tristan had dinner ready.
They were heading to a club for a small gathering that night, where food and drinks would be provided, so there was no need to eat too much now.
After a light meal, they set off.
As the city lights flickered on, the streets outside the car window glowed with neon. The temperature was dropping, and there were few people out on the road.
Tristan was in a good mood, occasionally chatting about wedding details with Katniss.
"Nicholas said his leg should be healed in about two months, and he plans to surprise us on our wedding night." His smile grew even wider at the thought.
At a red light, he hit the brakes and glanced over at Katniss.
"Let him interrupt, then," Katniss said with a laugh. "Some people treasure their wedding night, but we..."
It felt like they had been married forever already. They could easily stay up all night if they wanted to.
But Tristan disagreed. "The wedding night has a special meaning. I plan to set up two wedding rooms to throw him off."
He would take Katniss to a real place but also set up Serenity Villa or another location to confuse Nicholas.
"Don't you dare tell him," he instructed seriously.
Katniss couldn't help but smile. "Got it."
Although Nicholas was discharged, he still needed a wheelchair. Tonight, he stubbornly refused to use it and came with a cane instead.
Saskia was quite angry but couldn't argue with him, so she didn't help him up the stairs.
As a result, he fell and sat at the club entrance for over ten minutes.
When Katniss and Tristan arrived, Nicholas stubbornly insisted, "I was waiting for you two. Otherwise, I would have gone in already."
"Yeah, crawled in," Saskia shot back, showing no concern for Nicholas's dignity. "You fell and went pale from the pain, and it's freezing outside, yet you still think you're being heroic."
"Saskia, whose wife are you?" Nicholas said, draping his arm around her shoulders to prop himself up. "Don't you think about the consequences of your words?"
They used to bicker like this, and Katniss thought they would tone it down a bit now that they were together.
But they were even louder than before.
Used to it, they entered the private room amidst their bickering. Nicholas leaned heavily on Saskia, and once inside, she pushed him onto the sofa.
She then leaned close to Katniss and whispered, "I invited someone else tonight."Katniss replied, "It's your party; invite whoever you want." Nicholas had organized the gathering, and Katniss figured they wouldn't invite Michael.
"This person is related to you," Saskia said, raising an eyebrow. "Benjamin."
As soon as the words were spoken, the door to the private room opened, but it wasn't Benjamin who entered; it was Eudora.
Seeing Eudora, Tristan couldn't help but frown.
Eudora had only told Tristan that she was with Michael; she hadn't mentioned it to Nicholas and the others yet.
So Nicholas had invited her, thinking she was just there to hang out.
"Tristan," Eudora greeted Tristan first, then chatted with Katniss and Nicholas.
After the initial greetings, she directly asked about Ember, "How's the situation? Have they caused you any more trouble?"
Katniss shook her head and replied, "No."
"That's good. I never expected this to involve Lila..." Eudora always spoke bluntly, trying to build rapport and integrate herself into their group.
However, Tristan's expression remained icy, and Katniss's demeanor was distant, with only a few words exchanged.
If Eudora hadn't been talking about something related to her, Katniss wouldn't have spoken at all.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Nicholas and Saskia exchanged glances and only made a few polite comments without expanding on the topic.
"Katniss, has Aaron been causing you any trouble? Has he been behaving lately?" Eudora had to switch to a topic that would force Katniss to respond.
Talking about Aaron made Katniss feel proud that she had intervened just in time to steer him away from a dangerous path. She responded, "He's been no trouble. He takes the bus to school every morning, eats lunch and dinner at school, and sometimes I don't see him all day when I'm busy. But he always leaves me a note before he goes to school."
"I still remember him with green hair," Saskia said, unable to imagine what Aaron looked like now. "Katniss, you're amazing. You saved his life. Without you, he would have been lost."
Nicholas took pride in his judgment, knowing that Katniss not only won Tristan over but also excelled in everything she set her mind to. He said, "Look at how capable Katniss is. She used to be an assistant and helped Tristan a lot. Now she's an excellent tutor. I knew I wasn't wrong about you."
Katniss didn't know how to respond to such praise.
But Tristan, with his arm around the back of the sofa, encircling Katniss, glanced at Nicholas. "She doesn't need your compliments."
Tristan knew well that Katniss had many more excellent qualities."Tristan, that's enough. He's complimenting your wife, and I'm not even jealous. What's bothering you?" Saskia couldn't stand seeing Nicholas get teased.
She could bully Nicholas, but no one else could.
But Tristan didn't back down. "You're not jealous because you don't care about him all that much."
Just one sentence made Saskia's throat tighten.
Nicholas sat up straight, turning to stare at Saskia. "Yeah, why aren't you jealous?"
"Katniss and I are close, and what you said is true. Why should I be jealous?" Saskia replied.
"No matter how close you are to Katniss, Tristan never praises you because he knows he should only praise his wife. So why aren't you mad when I praise Katniss?" Nicholas pressed on.
Hearing this, Tristan leaned closer to Katniss, a low laugh escaping his lips.
Katniss admired Nicholas's determination. His playful maneuvers seemed like a child trying to impress an elder next to Tristan.
"I'm mad!" Saskia snapped, slapping Nicholas on the back of the head and pinching his waist hard. "Why are you praising his wife?"
"I won't praise her anymore!" Nicholas only realized he had fallen into Tristan's trap after suffering the consequences.
Seeing this, Katniss had to mediate. "Alright, he just got out of the hospital. Don't send him back in."
Amid their laughter and teasing, Eudora felt out of place, always wanting to say something to Tristan.
But Tristan, aside from teasing Nicholas, only spoke quietly to Katniss.
She couldn't get a word in.
Benjamin's arrival broke the awkward atmosphere.
Tristan knew him but had no significant interactions with him. Seeing him arrive, Tristan was slightly surprised.
But he quickly regained his composure, remaining distant but polite.
Saskia remarked, "Benjamin arranged the lawyer's letter that day for Katniss. I originally planned to ask him about the fees today, but he said we should catch up and not worry about the cost."
Saskia thought it was a good idea and invited Benjamin tonight.
Yet Katniss had no idea Saskia had agreed to that and quickly replied, "That won't do, Benjamin. Let's keep it professional; it's already a favor for you to make this trip so late."
"There's no need to be so formal," Benjamin said, greeting everyone and then nodding seriously to Tristan. "Mr. Forbes, it's been a while."
He offered a cigarette, a gesture of goodwill.
Tristan took the cigarette with his long, clean fingers but didn't light it. He responded, "Indeed, it's been a long time. The last time we met was ten years ago when you were the first son of the White family, the future heir."
"And I still will be," Benjamin said with a gentle smile.
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