After her rebirth
Chapter 19

This ain't just a house; it was a scrapbook of her and Aurora's memories. Every brick and tile here screamed Aurora's life and hard work. She wouldn't let it go without a fight; no way she's backing down!

Katniss was fuming. These things were like gold to her, but to the Manners family? Just some junk.

Seeing Katniss's eyes all red, Lucas was a bit thrown off, then his look got serious, asking, "But you want Simon to have a criminal record over a dead person?"

Katniss scoffed, "People gotta own up to what they do."

Just like her, her dumb mistakes in her past life cost her everything.

Simon should pay up too.

With that, Katniss, not wanting to waste more breath, turned and walked off.

She still had classes and a part-time gig. Too much to do to waste time arguing with them.

On the quiet street, a car pulled up, and the door swung open. Lucas grabbed Katniss's arm, yanking her into the car.

"Let go of me! Are you nuts?" Katniss yelled, struggling like mad, sinking into despair.

Lucas's eyes were ice-cold. He shoved Katniss into the car, ignoring her kicks and screams.

"Cut it out! Shut up!" Lucas growled, rough as ever.

Katniss got banged up in the struggle, pain shooting through her body.

"What the hell are you doing! Let go of me!" Katniss screamed, desperate.

Lucas looked at the barely conscious Katniss, slammed the car door shut. The car started, vanishing into the night.

With bruises all over and her clothes a mess, Katniss looked wrecked.

But Lucas didn't care, radiating authority. He glared at Katniss, starting his threats without a second thought.

"Katniss, you've been stirring up trouble for days. Time to cut it out. Look at yourself; you totally deserve this!" Lucas's voice was icy. "If you wanna get back with the Manners family, you better do what I say." The scenery zipped by outside the car window. Katniss bit her lip, hesitated, then sneakily pulled out her phone and sent a message.

Sitting in the car, Katniss looked stone-cold, saying nothing, her eyes icy.

The car stopped at the police station. Lucas got out, dragging Katniss, who was too numb to feel the pain, into the interrogation room. Inside, two cops were grilling Simon. Seeing Katniss brought in, Simon almost lunged at her, eyes blazing, but the cops held him back. "You troublemaker, calling the cops on me! Get outta my way; I need to teach her a lesson!" Simon yelled, losing it.

Katniss clutched the cop's sleeve, saying, "He's gonna hit me, what do I do?" her voice shaking.

"Calm down!" Officer Nolan barked at Simon, then softened his tone, speaking gently to Katniss, "Don't worry, we got you."

Katniss nodded, looking scared, hiding her scheming thoughts.

Lucas wanted her to bail Simon out, but no way!

In front of the cops, she didn't think they'd dare touch her. Now was the perfect time to mess with them.

"This is a misunderstanding. Simon likes to mess around with Katniss at home. Lately, Katniss has been acting out. They're siblings; it's normal to fight." Lucas explained, glaring at Katniss, then looking at Colin, saying seriously, "Officer Colin, can we talk?" Colin nodded, telling his guys to keep an eye on things.