Chapter 328 The Showdown is a Surprise
Tristan looked at her expectantly, making her find a resemblance to Evie when she was tired, looking at her, waiting for her to lull her to sleep.
Her heart softened, and she put down the bag that was on her shoulder, sat by the hospital bed, and placed her hands on his shoulders.
Tristan raised his right hand to grab Katniss's wrist, seemingly knowing what she was about to do, and lowered his head to meet the kiss she offered.
Their lips met, and his left hand tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, then slid down to her shoulder and waist.
His breathing quickly became heavy and rough, after all, it was his brain that was injured, not his lower body.
His eyes darkened significantly, and when she wanted to pull away, he lifted his body off the bed and deepened the kiss.
She was pulled into his arms and kissed fiercely, as if he wanted to make up for the lost time.
"Don't," Katniss's voice was very gentle, avoiding Tristan's increasingly passionate kiss.
He rested his head on her shoulder, panting heavily, "After I get discharged, come to my place?"
"Let's not plan so early, wait until you're discharged... I'll give you a surprise?" Katniss looked at the bulging vein on Tristan's neck, about to burst, and reached out to press it gently.
Katniss's wrist was suddenly grabbed by him, "If you don't want to do it here, then don't touch me."
Tristan's hoarse voice was filled with extreme pain.
After a while, he said in a deep voice, "A surprise? Last time you said, that when your position at White Corporation is stable, you would come clean with me, what is it?"
"The surprise is the coming clean, you'll know when the time comes."
Katniss pushed his shoulders to create some distance between them, got up from the bed, and tidied her disheveled clothes.
Benjamin's engagement party started at four in the afternoon, and Katniss went back after lunch.
She first took a shower at home, changed into clean clothes, and then went to Emory's place to see Evie.
Evie was lying in the baby chair playing, and when Katniss suddenly appeared, with her familiar voice and somewhat familiar scent, she seemed very happy.
She waved her hands and feet, then suddenly her little eyebrows turned red, her mouth pouted, and she started to cry.
Katniss was stunned, thinking she had scared Evie.
Emory was also anxious, quickly running over to push Katniss aside, picking up Evie, and soothing her gently.
"Evie, it's okay, Godfather is here, don't be scared."
But the more Evie cried, the louder she got, tears kept falling, and her eyes kept searching around.
Katniss observed for a while, seeing that Emory couldn't calm her down, tentatively asked, "Do you think she might be looking for me?"
"How is that possible? She must have been scared by you." Emory said without thinking, "My mom said, babies don't recognize people until at least five or six months, she's only four months old, how would she know who you are? You don't even breastfeed."
His disdain was really deep.
Katniss felt a bit hurt, couldn't stand Evie's crying, and walked over to take the baby.
Emory didn't want to give her up, but was scared by her fierce look, and obediently handed Evie over.
Evie's chubby little hand grabbed the button on Katniss's clothes, and her crying gradually subsided.
Crystal-clear tears slid from the corner of her eyes onto Katniss's sleeve, Emory brought over two tissues, muttering about how heartbroken he was, and wiped Evie's tears.
These days, Evie was being soothed by a group of people in turn, but most of the time she was monopolized by Emory.
At night, whoever could hold her without making her cry would hold her to sleep, making her seem like a child without a mother.
Katniss held the heavy little one, her eyebrows softened, and her clear eyes reflected Evie's chubby face.
She bent down and kissed her repeatedly, unable to let go.
After a while, Evie fell asleep in her arms, Sophia came over to take the sleeping Evie away, and then Katniss and Emory prepared to go to Benjamin's engagement party.
Katniss chose a black off-shoulder dress, the bun added a bit of playfulness without losing its neatness.
Wearing high heels, she arrived at the engagement venue with Emory.
But due to their identities, they didn't go in together.
Samuel was waiting for Katniss at the entrance of the banquet hall, his eyes lit up when he saw her, but quickly dimmed.
"How is Mr. Forbes doing?"
"He needs to rest well, but he's not in any life-threatening danger." Katniss smiled at him, "Thank you for your concern."
She thanked him on behalf of Tristan, Samuel was silent for a few seconds, seemingly understanding something, "It's my duty, after all, we are partners. I heard from Mr. White that you are going to take action against White Corporation, did you bring the preparations today?"
Katniss raised her eyebrows slightly, took out her phone from her handbag, looked at the time, and said, "Hazel said she would bring it to me."
On this day, she originally didn't want Hazel to come over, and had arranged to meet her at the company to get it.
But Hazel insisted on bringing it to the engagement venue.
She knew, Hazel wanted to take this opportunity to see the engagement party that was causing a sensation in Velvet City.
"She should be here soon, I'll go to the entrance to wait for her, you can go in first."
Samuel glanced into the engagement hall, then said, "I'll wait with you."
There were already many people inside, and going in would mean endless socializing.
Now the two of them had successfully transitioned from top assistants to corporate executives, and top ones at that, they would attract a lot of attention.
Any moment of peace they could get was precious.
As soon as they walked out of the hotel, they saw Hazel getting out of a taxi, running up the steps.
"Ms. Grey, here's what you asked for." She handed a document to Katniss, along with a USB drive.
"Did they give you any trouble?" Katniss casually flipped through the documents, which were White Corporation's financial statements for the past ten years.
Every company has its financial secrets, and White Corporation was no exception.
This information was bound to be exposed by Benjamin sooner or later, but he planned to wait until White Corporation was completely stable.
Hazel shook her head, a bit excited, and said, "I said everything just as you taught me, and the manager of the finance department was completely intimidated by me."
"Alright, thank you, go ahead and get busy." Katniss noticed Hazel glancing into the hotel from time to time and added, "He's getting engaged today, there are a lot of people inside, and you can't get in without an invitation. You should go back."
Today's engagement party couldn't afford any mistakes, and Hazel was likely to be a key point of failure.
Katniss couldn't take her inside.
"Got it." Hazel's eyes dimmed, and she turned and walked down the steps slowly.
Katniss turned and walked back into the hotel with Samuel, striding towards the engagement hall.
Hazel, who had already reached the roadside to hail a cab, stopped and looked back at the hotel, her pursed lips gradually turning into a tight bite.
After a long while, she finally turned back and said to the security guard at the entrance, "That was my boss just now, she left something behind and asked me to bring it in. Can you make an exception and let me in for a moment? I'll be quick."
The security guard, having seen Katniss and Hazel meet, hesitated for a moment and said, "Alright, but be quick."
Hazel successfully got in, put on a mask to cover herself tightly, and headed straight for Benjamin's engagement hall.
Inside the banquet hall, most of the guests were from the business world, all dressed in suits and looking spirited.
This engagement party was unprecedentedly commercialized, and Benjamin and Nora didn't mind, the two of them walked arm in arm among the guests.
Benjamin introduced Katniss and Samuel to Nora.
"These are my most capable partners, Ms. Katniss Grey and Mr. Samuel Bennett."
Nora lightly swirled the wine glass in her hand, her gaze swept over Katniss and lingered on Samuel for a moment.
Then she raised her lips in a greeting, "Ms. Grey, Mr. Bennett, nice to meet you."
"Miss Adams." Katniss smiled politely and clinked glasses with her, "Congratulations on your engagement."
"Congratulations," Samuel said, clinking glasses with Benjamin.
The four of them took a sip of wine, and then Benjamin turned to Nora and said, "I need to have a private word with Ms. Grey, let Mr. Bennett introduce you to the senior staff of White Corporation."
Nora quickly let go of Benjamin's arm, took a spin step to Samuel's side, and unhesitatingly linked her arm with his.
Samuel's body stiffened, and he instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but Nora pulled him into the crowd.
Katniss frowned slightly and followed Benjamin out of the banquet hall, standing in the smoking area around the corner.
"Are you all set?" Benjamin glanced at the documents in her hand, which were completely out of place with her dress, making it look like she was there to deliver something last minute.
As someone in the know, he had a pretty good idea of what was inside.
"All set. Today, we'll first break Beau's psychological defense, and tomorrow this will be in the hands of the investigation bureau. At least five years, Beau is definitely going to prison. Consider it my engagement gift to you." Katniss smiled at him.
Benjamin couldn't help but smile, "Sending my dad to prison as an engagement gift, you really know how to give gifts."
"Actually, I don't think you needed to rush into this engagement." Katniss felt somewhat responsible for this.
Getting engaged before White Corporation's troubles would have been smoother.
But she created the trouble, so she had to take responsibility. Once White Corporation's accounts were investigated, many partners would also face scrutiny, leading to inevitable contract terminations.
At that time, White Corporation would face another challenge, but Katniss had many connections. Although it would be time-consuming and require her to lower herself to beg for cooperation, the chances of recovery were high.
In her view, Benjamin was using the engagement to solve all problems. With the Adams family's support, even if White Corporation had issues, it wouldn't look so bad.
"As far as Nora herself is concerned, she's not a good choice for a wife."
Although arranged marriages often lacked a foundation of love, many wealthy young ladies had good character.
She had investigated Nora, who changed boyfriends as frequently as changing clothes.
She was on par with Lila in the high society circles, but while Nora was just flirtatious, Lila would get involved with anyone, without even confirming the relationship.
"Since it's an arranged marriage anyway, there's no need to consider the person, just the family background."
Benjamin's reason was simple.
Hearing this, Katniss said no more and the two returned to the engagement hall.
Today, both Beau and Rowan were present, looking displeased. After all, if Benjamin really married Nora, they would lose their influence.
Failing to harm Katniss but injuring Tristan instead, Beau was now afraid that Tristan would target him after being discharged.
So Beau and Rowan had conspired at home and decided to attend Benjamin's engagement party, hoping to disrupt it!
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