Chapter 99 I Can Handle It
The voice had this soft, pleading vibe that made his whole body tense up.
Tristan popped open the car door, hopped out, and then turned to help her down. Katniss shut the car door behind them.
They moved like a well-oiled machine, heading straight into the house. He set her down on the entryway cabinet, so they were eye-level, and then pinned her against it for a steamy kiss.
He trailed kisses from the corner of her eye, down her nose, and all the way to her collarbone.
He knew her body too well; every little move he made had her shivering like crazy.
In the heat of the moment, her mind went blank, and she barely caught him whispering in her ear, "Katniss, I missed you."
But she couldn't respond, all her focus was on what he was doing.
They had got back to Oakwood Hills at six, and by nine, he finally let her go, still not satisfied.
After a shower, he threw on some pants he had left there, let her chill on the sofa, and headed to the kitchen to cook.
But when he opened the fridge, it was totally empty.
Katniss suddenly remembered something, got up, and jogged over, seeing him staring at the empty fridge. She awkwardly explained, "I've been swamped with work lately, so I've been eating out. Haven't cooked in a while."
"Is it tough?" Tristan shut the fridge and turned to look at her.
The kitchen lights were off, making the room dim. The light from the living room reflected in his eyes, making his features look even sharper.
She smiled and said, "It's a bit rough, but I can handle it."
He looked down and didn't push the topic. "What do you wanna eat? I'll go grab it."
"If you don't mind, I've got some instant noodles here." It was late, and going out to buy food would take forever.
Katniss went into the kitchen, opened a cabinet, and pulled out a few cups of instant noodles and two sausages.
He stared at the instant noodles in her hand for a long time before saying, "Alright," and then started boiling water for the noodles.
To her surprise, he didn't leave after eating but crashed there for the night.
Then she realized that stopping at nine was just to recharge for another round of passion through the night!
Before she went to sleep, she saw him put his phone on silent and tell Cedric he wouldn't be tutoring tomorrow.
But they still didn't sleep well, getting woken up by a knock on the door around ten in the morning.
Katniss got up and peeked out the window to see Matilda and George.
She then remembered that she usually went to see Sophia with Matilda every weekend, and she already had about ten missed calls on her phone.
As she was mulling things over, she saw Matilda punch in the password and stroll into the house.
She heard the door creak open and Matilda's frantic voice calling her name from downstairs.
"Katniss!" The voice was all panicked and worried, like she thought something bad had happened.
Katniss quickly threw on her nightgown. Tristan, looking beat, sat on the bed shirtless, with just a thin blanket covering him from the waist down.
He propped himself up on his arms, his hair a mess, looking seriously annoyed.
"Katniss... ah!" Matilda came upstairs, saw Tristan sprawled on the bed, and let out a scream before bolting back downstairs.
George, who was waiting downstairs, rushed up to her. "What's wrong?"
Matilda pointed upstairs, too shocked to speak.
Katniss rubbed her temples, looking helplessly at Tristan. "Why don't you catch some more sleep?"
Tristan reached for a cigarette from the bedside table, bent one leg, and rested his wrist on it. The swirling smoke couldn't hide the intensity in his eyes, and he just grunted in response.
She hurried downstairs, feeling a bit awkward facing the two in the living room. "I forgot to tell you, I have to tutor a middle school student on weekends now. I'll go see Mom in the evening."
"Both Saturday and Sunday? Don't you usually work overtime on Saturdays?"
Matilda clearly remembered that Katniss usually had to work overtime on Saturdays, and having a day off was a rare treat.
Katniss hadn't found the right moment to tell Matilda and the others that she was no longer Tristan's assistant.
Now didn't seem like the right time either. She forced a smile and said, "No more overtime, but today was an exception. Wait for me a bit, and I'll go to the hospital with you."
She turned around, only to see Tristan fully dressed, standing at the top of the stairs.
His deep gaze casually met George's, who, at some point, looked like an angry wolf cub, glaring at him.
"It's already so late. Why don't we eat before going to the hospital?" George suddenly suggested.
Before Katniss could react, George asked, "Is there any food at home?"
"No," Katniss shook her head. Before she could finish refusing, George said, "Then Mr. Forbes and I will go buy some groceries. We'll have lunch together. You don't mind, do you?"
Footsteps approached, and Tristan stopped behind Katniss. "I don't mind."
After Tristan finished freshening up, George took charge of going to buy groceries, leaving Katniss and Matilda at home.
After freshening up and changing clothes, Katniss couldn't help but worry about George and Tristan going to buy groceries together. She sat on the sofa, frowning.
"Katniss, I thought you and Tristan were done. Hasn't he been hanging with Bella every day lately?" Matilda asked, all curious. "Why hasn't he filed for divorce yet?"
The media had been all over Tristan and Bella's scandal, so it wasn't a shock that Matilda thought that way.
Katniss gave a quick rundown of what went down at Adelaide's birthday party. "So, Adelaide is totally against him being with Bella, which means he can't get a divorce right now."
"Does he even know you're his wife?" Matilda was baffled. "Otherwise, why would he still come to you? Doesn't he have a thing for Bella?"
With the midday sun streaming into the house, Katniss sat on the sofa, her long hair down, eyes fluttering slightly, unable to say the words stuck in her throat.
She couldn't just tell Matilda that she was basically Tristan's go-to for his needs because he didn't want to touch Bella before marriage.
Realizing she might've overstepped, Matilda quickly switched gears. "Didn't the Astor family give you a hard time? How did they still let you be Tristan's assistant?"
"Actually, I'm not at Synergy Global Corporation headquarters anymore." Seeing no point in hiding it, Katniss said straight up, "I'm working as a sales associate in the custom dress department on the eighth floor of Grand Era Mall."
Matilda shot up, looking at Katniss in shock.
From being the president's assistant to working as a sales associate on the front lines, what a huge gap!
Without thinking, she blurted out, "Then why are you still around him? You were a top assistant; quitting and finding another job would pay better than being a sales associate."
What she really felt bad about wasn't the low pay but the huge drop in status.
Being a sales associate is one of the toughest gigs, always smiling and catering to wealthy customers. Katniss, with her education and skills, was way overqualified for it!
"With the Astor family around, no one would hire me." Katniss spoke the truth, "The sales associate job is tough, but the commission is high. I'm confident my salary won't be much lower than before."
She wasn't just talking big. After years with Tristan, she had seen all kinds of people, especially the rich ones.
She was good at adjusting her behavior based on who she was dealing with.
Despite her words, Matilda still felt bad for her.
But she didn't say more as George and Tristan came back, lugging a big bag of groceries and heading straight to the kitchen.
For some reason, the two of them started prepping lunch in silence, not letting Katniss and Matilda help.
Nearly an hour later, a feast was ready.
Katniss sat next to Tristan, her eyes flicking between him and George across the table.
"Katniss, try this. I made it," George said, pointing to a dish in front of her.
She took a bite and smiled, "It's delicious."
As soon as she finished speaking, George pointed to another dish. "That one was made by Mr. Forbes. Try it too."
She glanced at Tristan, who was leaning back in his chair, looking all tense, and then turned her head to look at her.
She looked away and took a bite, honestly saying, "It's also delicious."
"Which one is better?" George immediately asked, "You have to pick the better one."
"George," Matilda whispered, "What are you doing?"
"I want to crush him, so he won't show off in front of Katniss!" George's voice was low, but they were sitting close enough that both Tristan and Katniss could hear it. Tristan raised an eyebrow nonchalantly, and Katniss pinched her brow.
'What's there to compare?' Katniss really couldn't understand George's thoughts.
"Aren't you putting Katniss in a tough spot?" Matilda tugged at George's sleeve, whispering to persuade him.
George's body stiffened. His gaze fell on Tristan across the table, who sat there calmly, a lazy smirk on his lips, clearly not taking the bait.
"What are you so smug about?" George slammed the table and stood up. "I've disliked you for a long time. So what if you're rich? A true gentleman wouldn't keep a mistress! I despise you!"
The affair was brought to light, which made Katniss feel a bit embarrassed. If she weren't Tristan's wife, she would have felt very awkward.
Beside her, Tristan turned his head to look at her and softly asked, "Each gets what we want need. What's gentlemanly or not about it?"
He hoped that she only wanted him. Unfortunately, she only wanted money.
"I..." George patted his forehead, realizing he had forgotten that Katniss had submitted for Sophia's medical expenses. Wasn't he also scolding Katniss by saying that?
Katniss broke the tense atmosphere at the table, saying, "Let's eat. The food will get cold, and we need to go to the hospital afterward."
Hearing this, Matilda quickly pulled George to sit down, shaking her head at him.
George finally realized that he couldn't win against Tristan. As he ate, he took out his phone and posted on Facebook.
He sent a message to North because he knew North was Tristan's friend, someone on the same level. He was convinced that North remained oblivious to Tristan's conduct.
George: [Hey idol, you know Tristan, right? He's a bad guy. He's actually keeping his subordinate as a mistress!]
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