Chapter 375 It Could Be a Lifelong Regret
Early Saturday morning, Katniss went to the educational institution and waited there until after ten o'clock before seeing the tardy Matilda.
Matilda had heavy, dark circles under her eyes and looked listless as she forced herself to the educational institution.
Among the parents and students coming and going for tutoring, she looked particularly haggard.
"Katniss, why are you here?" Matilda tightened her grip on her bag.
"You should know why I'm here to see you." Katniss smiled and nodded at the passing tutoring teachers, then said, "It's not convenient to talk here, let's go to the café on the street."
The café wasn't far, and the two walked there.
On the way, Katniss noticed that Matilda was preoccupied and hesitant to speak.
At the café, they ordered two cups of coffee. As soon as the waiter left, Matilda sighed and said dejectedly, "Katniss, just ask whatever you want to ask."
"It's not about what I want to ask, but about what you're hiding. Just tell me everything. Some things you can't solve alone, you need to speak up so we can figure it out together."
Katniss could tell right away that she was hiding something.
"George has gone missing." Matilda lowered her head, and tears fell immediately. "That day, he was supposed to meet his childhood betrothed. I went with him, and then we were going to confront his mother. He asked me to wait in the next room, but then he left with his childhood betrothed without saying a word to me. I only found out from the waiter."
George's phone had been off the entire time.
He had never contacted her, as if he had vanished from the world.
"And after that? He never contacted you even once?" Katniss couldn't imagine how Matilda had managed to get through these days alone.
Matilda was about to shake her head, but then remembered something, "He didn't come, but his childhood betrothed did. She brought a divorce agreement for me to sign. I didn't sign it. I need to see him and hear it from him before I can sign."
"Do you think he's the kind of person who would do something and not take responsibility for it?" Katniss frowned and asked, "He didn't contact you, and you never thought about reaching out to him? Have you been to his game room? I assume you know where he lives, right?"
Katniss felt something was off; there must be something going on with George.
Matilda bit her lip and finally said, "I don't know how to find him or what to say to him."
If George handed her a divorce agreement, would she sign it?
If she did, how would she explain it to Sophia? Sophia had always been against her being with George.
"The more you drag this out with George, the more worried Mom will be, and the more she'll think George is unreliable. You're an adult now; you need to take responsibility for your actions. If you can't even handle your affairs, won't Mom be even more worried?"
Seeing through Matilda's thoughts, Katniss felt both heartache and helplessness.
She was disappointed.
Matilda's maturity was limited to her dedication at work because she didn't want to let Katniss down.
But in matters of the heart, she was not mature at all.
"Have you ever thought that maybe something happened to George?" Katniss expanded on the worst possibilities. "Your current avoidance might lead to a lifetime of regret."
Instantly, Matilda looked up nervously, "What... could have happened to him? Katniss, don't scare me."
Katniss explained, "A perfectly healthy person suddenly goes missing? No matter what the outcome is, you need to find out."
"I'm going to call him right now. If I can't reach him, I'll call his mother!" Matilda hurriedly went outside the café to make the call, clutching her phone.
Katniss watched her through the window, seeing her dial the number over and over again.
Suddenly, a familiar figure caught her eye.
That figure immediately drew Katniss's attention, and she followed the limping person into the café.
The front desk clerk quickly walked over and said, "You're late. What happened to your leg?"
"It's nothing, just a little scrape. Don't worry, it won't affect my work." Aaron, afraid of losing his job, stomped his foot to show the clerk.
"As long as it's nothing serious, get to work." The clerk went back to the cash register.
Aaron limped towards the employee changing room.
He kept his head down and didn't see Matilda making a call outside or the only customer in the café... Katniss.
Five minutes later, Aaron came out in his uniform and immediately saw Katniss standing outside the changing room, arms crossed.
"Katniss?" Aaron's face lit up with joy. "What are you doing here?"
"It's not surprising that I'm here. What's surprising is why you're here?" Katniss looked him up and down. His black pants were wrinkled, clearly worn for a long time.
The café uniform made him look even thinner than before.
"Is the pressure from school too much? If so, why are you working here? Why not rest at home on the weekends?"
Aaron's throat tightened, and after a while, he said nonchalantly, "I just want to gain some work experience so it'll be easier to find a job after graduation."
Katniss didn't believe him at all. "With your grades, people will be lining up to hire you after graduation. What work experience do you need?"
Finally, she looked down at his foot. His left foot was always slightly off the ground, causing his body to tilt.
"What happened to your foot?"
She observed so carefully that she noticed it right away.
Yet his older sister Eudora, who lived with him every day, never asked about the bloodstains on the floor.
Aaron considered himself a strong man, but at this moment, he almost cried from her concern.
"I got a little hurt, but it's no big deal."
Katniss pursed her lips and frowned at him for a long time before saying, "How much allowance does Eudora give you each month? You live so far from school; do you stay on campus, or does she drive you back and forth every day?"
Aaron remained silent.
"I have money." Katniss took out a card from her bag and handed it to Aaron. "Use mine. Pay me back when you graduate and start making money."
The card with numbers came into view, and Aaron's eyes reddened, but he still pushed the card back.
"Although it's tough, I can manage. I don't want to trouble you. The principal talked to me yesterday, and several professors are personally mentoring me. I can graduate by next year at the latest. It's just half a year. I can do it..."
His voice grew smaller, and before he could finish, he suddenly fell backward.
Katniss was startled and instinctively tried to catch him, but she couldn't hold on and fell to the ground with him.
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