After her rebirth
Chapter 65

The temperature on winter nights quietly dropped.

The cold wind slipped through the cracks in the stairwell, making Katniss shiver.

Katniss quickly ran up to the second floor. The lights were off. She fumbled for her keys in her pocket while exhaling a breath.

The voice-activated light on the stairs flicked on.

Katniss stopped in her tracks, her eyes locking onto Desmond, who was waiting at her door.

Katniss frowned, her face turning cold as she walked up.

"What are you doing here?" Katniss's face was fair and delicate like porcelain due to the cold weather, shedding the dullness and vulgarity she had at the Manners Villa. She was still young, her face tender, but you could imagine how stunning she'd be in a year when she fully matured.

Desmond held a cigarette between his fingers, the gray smoke rising and blurring his unreadable face.

"Katniss, stay away from my brother." Desmond took a deep drag of his cigarette, feeling a bit regretful about his earlier thoughts.

What was he even thinking?

Even if Katniss grew to be more beautiful than Clara, so what? A person's kind nature is far more important.

To him, Katniss was a gold-digger with a heart of ice, while Clara was a diamond in the rough, with genuine kindness.

Hearing Desmond's words, Katniss ignored him.

She opened the door with her key and was about to close it when Desmond forcefully blocked it with his hand and wedged half his body inside.

Desmond's eyes were sharp as he said coldly, "Katniss, did you hear what I said?"

Katniss was getting annoyed. Was Desmond out of his mind?

She had already stopped approaching him and Clara, but now Desmond came over late at night to warn her. He must be really bored.

"Desmond, if you're sick, go see a doctor. Who I'm with has nothing to do with you." Katniss stared at Desmond.

"Katniss, are you an idiot? That's my brother. Do you think it has nothing to do with me?" Desmond's expression was irritable as he kicked the door Katniss was holding. The force was so strong that the old door shook weakly.

From her past life to now, Katniss never quite understood the complex relationship between Maximilian and the Boleyn family.

In her previous life, after Maximilian died, the Boleyn family members were not sad at all, instead, they were visibly excited.

She felt that the entire Boleyn family had been anticipating Maximilian's death.

Once, at Maximilian's funeral, she overheard relatives from Desmond's mother's side saying that with Maximilian dead, and Desmond around, they would be rich.

At the time, she naively thought it was a struggle for inheritance, so it was normal for Desmond's relatives to dislike Maximilian.

In her previous life, her heart was full of Desmond, so she naturally sided with the one she loved.

But thinking back now, Maximilian was too outstanding. Even though his illness, Desmond could never match up to him.

Only with Maximilian's death could Desmond rise to power.

Thinking of this, Katniss felt a chill down her spine, and the cold wind blowing through the building felt even more piercing. "Don't you find your concern for him laughable?" she sneered.

"What do you mean?" Desmond asked.

Katniss let go of the door, giving up her resistance, and said calmly, "Maximilian is gravely ill. The ones who most wish for his death are the Boleyns."

The Boleyn family and the Hamilton family, though large, had only two legitimate heirs: Maximilian and Desmond, who was once an illegitimate child but later recognized.

Desmond grabbed her by the neck, gritting his teeth. "My brother's illness has been there since birth. If you don't know, don't talk shit."

Desmond's grip was strong, and Katniss's slender neck felt as fragile as a feather in his hand.

"His weakness is from birth, but what about his leg?" Katniss struggled to breathe, her face turning red.

Desmond's expression changed, and he let go.

Katniss clutched her neck, defensively stepping back a few steps, glaring at Desmond with a mocking look.

"In any case, stay away from my brother. If you think you can become my sister-in-law, you're dreaming." Desmond's tone was icy, "If I see you clinging to my brother again, you're going to pay for this."

Katniss's hands dropped, revealing the obvious marks on her neck. She leaned against the wall, trembling, and laughed bitterly, "Desmond, what gives you the right to control everything I do? It's like I'm constantly walking on eggshells around you. What have I done to deserve this?"

"You shouldn't covet things that don't belong to you!" Desmond replied.

Katniss's eyes were cold, "What do you mean by things don't belong to me? My biological parents, my four brothers, and you, my ex-fiancé? Was it my fault that I was switched at birth? Did I choose to leave my family for over a decade? Clara is enjoying what should be mine!"

Switched at birth, she grew up in the countryside. Because she was a girl, her family couldn't afford to send her to school. After elementary school, her foster parents wanted her to go work with fellow villagers.

She was a people-pleaser, a yes-man, with no knowledge or education. Was it her fault?

She had no choice!

Katniss's sudden outburst stunned Desmond, "But Clara is innocent too."

That was the difference, Katniss realized.

They only felt sorry for the pampered Clara, worrying about how she would cope with the hardships of the countryside.

But no one ever thought that she had grown up that way.

Katniss chuckled softly, rushed to the door, and pushed Desmond out forcefully, slamming the door shut with a bang, "Get out! Don't come here again!"

Desmond staggered but steadied himself, his eyes deep as he stared at the door.

Being scolded by Katniss left him feeling uneasy.

But the things Katniss said stirred a strange emotion within him.

Desmond quickly walked downstairs, got into the driver's seat, and lit another cigarette but didn't smoke it.

Actually, Katniss was the biological daughter of the Manners family. As long as Katniss didn't compete with Clara, she would have everything a Manners family daughter should have.

Thinking of this, a bizarre thought suddenly popped into Desmond's mind, Clara's things originally belonged to Katniss.

The cold wind blew in through the car window, making Desmond shiver, and the thought was quickly suppressed.

His face showed no hint of a smile as he drove away with a dark expression.

After hearing the car start, Katniss finally relaxed.

She walked to the bedroom window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and saw the car leaving.

She also saw her own tear-streaked, miserable reflection in the glass.