After her rebirth
Chapter 28

Oliver was mid-sentence when Katniss slammed the phone down with a loud click, leaving him fuming.

He let out a sharp breath, his eyebrows knitting together, and started drumming his fingers on the table. "That brat Katniss hung up on me! Fine, no more allowance for her! Let her deal with the mess and come crawling back to apologize!" Nathan, staring at Oliver, backed him up with a serious tone, "Dad's right. Katniss needs to learn the rules; we can't let her get away with this."

Oliver shot a cold look at the equally angry Nathan, deciding to go all in, "Yep, not a single penny from now on! She needs to face the music; no more easy outs!"

The Manners family thought their decision would hit Katniss like a ton of bricks, forcing her to give in and apologize. Elodie was on board too; they needed to teach the stubborn Katniss a lesson. Elodie had been having a rough time lately. Simon ended up at the police station, and Clara, worried sick about him, cried every day. Elodie's anger boiled over, blaming it all on the ungrateful Katniss. She gritted her teeth, eyes flashing with anger, "Even if she begs on her knees, she can't come back! She got Simon into the police station; she has no limits!" The beef between Simon and Katniss wasn't new, but this time it had Elodie seeing red.

"Simon getting arrested is a nightmare! He's been spoiled his whole life; how can he handle this? It breaks my heart!" Elodie couldn't hold back her tears, crying. The old stuff at home wasn't worth much; they were willing to pay Katniss off, but she refused the money, insisting on sending Simon to the police station.

With Maximilian stepping in, the cops were sticking to the rules, throwing the whole family into chaos.

"What does Katniss even want? Does she want to come home or not?" Elodie said, super agitated.

Just then, Clara came over with a fruit platter, smiling, "Mom, Dad, have some fruit to calm down. Katniss might've acted on impulse. She's jealous, thinking you treat me too well. Once she cools off, it'll be fine." Oliver felt a warmth in his heart, looking at the thoughtful Clara, his resentment towards Katniss growing.

"If Katniss were half as sensible as you, I'd be so much more at ease." Oliver sighed.

After all, she was his own flesh and blood. Despite her current rebellious streak, Oliver still wished she could be as sensible as Clara.

Clara, feeling guilty, said, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Katniss wouldn't have moved out, and Simon wouldn't have been arrested. It's all on me."

Elodie patted Clara's shoulder, trying to comfort her, "Don't blame yourself. It's Katniss who's in the wrong. She's ungrateful, forgetting her place. It's maddening."

Nathan chimed in, "Yeah, Clara. It's not your fault; don't beat yourself up."

Dylan sipped his tea silently, his brows furrowing slightly, not saying a word.

The housekeeper Lily brought in the last dish, calling out, "Dinner's ready."

Everyone got up and headed to the dining table to dig in.

Elodie served Clara a bowl of soup, gently saying, "Clara, have some soup to warm you up."

Clara took a sip and frowned slightly, thinking it was nowhere near as good as Katniss's cooking and kinda hard to swallow.

Meanwhile, Lucas was in his room, rummaging for clothes, getting ready for an evening engagement.

He called out, "Lily, where's my blue shirt?"

Usually, Katniss handled his clothes, and he could always find what he needed with her help.

Now that Katniss was gone, housekeeper Lily was in charge of their daily needs. Lucas, busy with work, was rarely home. This time, he came back because of Simon's situation, feeling a void, like something was missing.

Lily wiped her wet hands on her apron and hurried over, asking, "Sir, which one are you looking for? Need my help?"

Lucas glanced at the greasy Lily and shook his head, replying, "Never mind, I'll find it myself."

When Katniss was around, she could always find the clothes he wanted. But now the wardrobe was a mess, and Lucas missed her.

He quickly threw on a shirt, about to leave when Elodie stopped him, saying, "Lucas, you need to have some fish soup before drinking!"

She brought a big bowl of fish soup, and Lucas took a couple of sips, almost gagging, thinking Katniss's cooking was way better than this.

"Mom, I don't have time. You enjoy the fish soup; I gotta go," Lucas said, hurrying out.

Katniss slept soundly that night. After breakfast the next morning, she rode Saskia's bike to school. Before leaving, Saskia even gave her some change to buy snacks.

Holding the still-warm money, Katniss felt a warmth in her heart. Wesley's family treated her so well.

Suddenly, Katniss got a call from an unknown number. On the other end was Maximilian's voice.