Chapter 53 You Have Nothing to Apologize to Me For
Sophia needed cash for her treatment, and if Katniss remained stoical, she could gain more money, effectively giving Sophia a few more days of sustenance.
Matilda hugged her and started bawling, "Katniss, I'm sorry, I just made things worse for you."
"Don't sweat it; you have nothing to apologize to me for," Katniss said, pulling Matilda's hand down and handing her a tissue.
Matilda covered her eyes with the tissue, which got soaked real quick.
She hated herself for not being able to help Katniss, and Katniss, feeling the warmth from Sophia and Matilda, hated herself for not being able to save Sophia.
Matilda grabbed another tissue to dry her tears and said, all bummed out, "Katniss, I might have to finish my three-month internship before I can quit. Michael wants me to be his personal secretary, and I can't just bail."
Personal secretary? Like Bella, fetching coffee and delivering papers all day? Seemed easy enough.
But Michael had other plans!
"What's the penalty for breaking your contract, ten times your salary?" Katniss asked.
Matilda replied, "Based on my internship salary of six grand, ten times would be sixty grand."
Katniss went upstairs, grabbed a card from the cabinet, and handed it to Matilda.
"There's a hundred grand on this card, it's my salary. Use it to quit your job. After the seven-day resignation period, don't go back to the Astor Corporation, no matter what."
Given Michael's intention to make things tough, he probably wouldn't approve Matilda's resignation.
As long as Matilda toughed it out for seven days, even if Michael didn't approve her resignation letter and the company sued her, she could settle the labor contract issue with The Astor Corporation by paying just $60,000.
Matilda hesitated and pushed the card back. "Katniss, just transfer me sixty grand, I don't need the rest."
"Alright." Katniss knew Matilda was stubborn and immediately made the transfer on her phone.
Three days had passed, and Tristan hadn't shown up at the office. Katniss hadn't seen him or heard from him.
But she knew Tristan was at the hospital.
Even though she knew Bella wouldn't want to see her, she still had to go.
Because a lot of work couldn't wait any longer and needed Tristan's attention.
She organized the urgent stuff, took it to her car, and headed straight to the hospital.
Out of courtesy, she stopped halfway to grab a fruit basket.
The Astor family couple wasn't there, only Tristan was at the hospital. Through the window on the door, she saw Tristan's tall figure.
He had a layer of stubble on his chin and was still wearing the shirt he had on when he left her place.
He must have been taking care of Bella non-stop, not even having time to go home and change.
She didn't plan to go in, worried she might upset Bella and stir up more drama.
After watching the figure she missed from outside the door for a bit, she headed to the end of the hallway and called Tristan.
In the quiet hallway, the sound of a phone ringing got closer. She turned around and saw Tristan stepping out with his phone.
She hung up, took a deep breath, and walked over, nodding slightly as she spoke, "Mr. Forbes, sorry for disturbing you. There's a lot of work piling up. Do you want to head back to the office, or should I bring the work up here?"
As she spoke, Tristan walked towards her, and her heart was pounding. By the time she finished, he had already walked past her.
He stood by the window and lit a cigarette, the warm smoke rings drifting from his lips.
But his words were cold. "Disturb?"
It sounded like a question, or maybe he was just confused.
Katniss turned to look at him, bit her lip, and said, "There's a video conference at eight. I brought you a change of clothes. If you change now, you'll make it in time."
Tristan's gaze fell on her. Her shirt was tucked into her pants, and her waist seemed slimmer.
The little bit of flesh on her chin was gone, making it sharp, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
He stayed silent, and Katniss slightly raised her eyelids, suddenly meeting his deep, unreadable eyes.
Those eyes held a complexity she couldn't grasp.
"Tristan."
Katniss turned around and saw Bella standing at the door in ill-fitting hospital clothes, her face pale.
She looked at Tristan with a pitiful expression and said, "Didn't you say you'd stay with me? I woke up and didn't see you, I thought you left."
She walked over and tightly hugged Tristan's waist, standing very close to Katniss.
Katniss's eyelashes trembled, and she lowered her head without speaking.
Tristan's voice was soft as he said, "It's cold here, go back to the room."
"Okay." Bella tightly held his arm, leaning against him as they walked back to the room. When they passed by Katniss, she paused.
"Tristan, do you have work to do? Can you handle it here?"
Tristan glanced at Katniss and said, "Bring all the documents to the room and get ready for the meeting."
"Okay." Katniss quickly went downstairs, grabbed everything from the car, and returned to Bella's room.
From the bathroom on the left came the sound of running water; Tristan was taking a shower.
In the room, only Bella was sitting on the hospital bed. When she saw Katniss carrying a bunch of documents and holding a fruit basket, she said, "I have imported fruits that Tristan bought for me. I don't care for what you brought."
Her voice was low, probably afraid Tristan would hear, but her expression was totally different from when she was outside the room.
Katniss placed the fruit basket on the bedside table and dumped all the documents on the coffee table opposite the bed.
Katniss said, "Whether you care or not is your business. I bought it out of courtesy."
Bella lifted the thin blanket and got out of bed, walking over to Katniss, her voice still very low as she said, "Still can't figure out your place?"
Katniss connected her laptop to the power supply, getting ready for the meeting. "I've always known my place. What you're doing isn't to make me see my place but to prove yours."
She raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Now you should know her place in Mr. Forbes's heart, so there's no need to keep making things difficult for me."
After all, Tristan's choice was already pretty clear.
Bella's expression stiffened, a hint of something unnatural flashing in her eyes. She turned and sat back on the bed. "If you're afraid of me making things difficult for you, then behave yourself and don't let me catch you trying to seduce Tristan again."
The sound of running water stopped, and Tristan's voice came through the door. "Katniss, the clothes."
Katniss picked up the prepared clothes from the sofa, but Bella intercepted her after just two steps and snatched them away.
"I'm coming." Bella turned and walked to the bathroom, pushing the door open but meeting resistance, only opening it a crack.
Tristan's well-defined hand reached out, accurately grabbing the clothes from Bella's hand.
Then he closed the door.
Bella turned back. Katniss already sat by the coffee table, seemingly unconcerned about not delivering the clothes to Tristan herself.
Katniss wasn't unconcerned; she found it laughable. What could have possibly happen between her and Tristan if she had delivered clothes in front of Bella?
Since she arrived at the hospital, he barely glanced at her, and his expression was icy. It was clear that Tristan harbored extreme disgust towards her.
The bathroom door opened, and Katniss instinctively looked up. Tristan had regained his former vigor.
He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them up as he walked over, his tall figure settling on the sofa.
Less than three feet away from her, his fresh, pleasant scent filled her nose.
It triggered some memories, and her gaze swept down from his damp hair.
His face was tense, his prominent Adam's apple very sexy, and without a tie, he exuded a casual laziness.
"Let's start." His indifferent voice brought Katniss back to reality. She placed the connected laptop in front of Tristan.
The room was filled with Tristan's voice, sunlight streaming through the window, illuminating both Katniss and him.
One was focused on the computer, the other taking notes, and with every glance from Tristan, Katniss immediately got his meaning, working together like a well-oiled machine. The scene was super smooth.
Even though it was all business, it made Bella feel really uncomfortable.
The morning flew by, filled with documents and files.
Near noon, Michael showed up, bringing Bella's favorite lunch.
"Tristan, you've been working hard, taking care of Bella and handling all this work." Michael placed the lunch boxes on the coffee table. "Let's eat first. We can get back to work after."
Katniss looked at Tristan. He finished signing off on a document and placed it in front of her. "Put it away."
She quickly stood up, organized the documents on the table, and grabbed her bag from the sofa. "Mr. Forbes, Mr. Astor, Miss Astor, you all eat first. I'll come back in the afternoon."
"I'm not eating," Michael cut in, "I won't intrude on their time together. Let's leave together."
Katniss paused, slightly pursing her lips as she looked at Michael.
"You don't need to come back this afternoon," Tristan pointed to the processed documents. "Take these back and handle what needs to be done. I'll notify you when the remaining files are ready for pickup."
Katniss had no choice but to return and take the processed documents. "Yes, Mr. Forbes."
She carried the documents and walked ahead, Michael with his hands in his pockets following behind, leaving the room.
"Matilda submitted her resignation. Did you tell her to do that?"
While waiting for the elevator, Michael started the conversation.
Katniss nodded slightly. "Matilda's abilities are limited. She can't handle the secretary work at the Astor Corporation. I was worried she'd cause trouble for you."
"How could she cause trouble?" Michael seemed to believe her, saying seriously, "It's hard to find someone with such high qualifications to serve tea and do secretarial work. I can't bear to let her resign."
Katniss understood that he didn't intend to let Matilda leave the Astor Corporation but didn't argue. If necessary, they could go through legal procedures.
Back in her car, Katniss rested her hands on the steering wheel, trying to calm down, but her emotions were all over the place.
In half a day, he had spoken to her less than ten times.
And every word was work-related, without even a glance in her direction.
His attitude was so cold it was suffocating, yet his image lingered in her mind.
She ran her hands through her hair and sighed deeply in the quiet car, suddenly hearing someone knock on the window.
Looking up, her tear-filled eyes met a pair of deep, penetrating eyes outside the window.
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