After her rebirth
Chapter 38

Upon hearing Maximilian's answer, Katniss blinked and shot up like a rocket. She dug through her bag and pulled out a bottle of medicine, her eyes flashing with urgency and concern. "Almost forgot, you're probably running low on this stuff. Here's the next batch," Katniss said, handing the bottle to Maximilian, her voice dripping with genuine care. "You gotta keep taking it for it to work." Katniss moved with a gentle touch, her eyes glowing warmly. Right then, she had one wish: for Maximilian to get better, step back into the sunlight, and start living his life again. After a moment, Katniss suddenly perked up, "Hey, I don't have classes tomorrow morning. I'll bring you some special porridge."

"Awesome!" Maximilian said, nodding and glancing over at Felix.

Felix was over the moon seeing Maximilian so cooperative.

He totally bought into what Katniss was saying; Maximilian had been looking better these past few days.

Suddenly, with Maximilian's eyes on him, Felix whipped out a black card, grinning, "Katniss, use this card for buying medicine and groceries from now on."

Katniss was floored.

Did she see that right? Felix just handed her a black card?

She'd seen a black card in Clara's hand once, given by Lucas, to use however she wanted.

But that was like six or seven years after the country's economy boomed, when the Manners family had already bounced back from the financial crisis and were rolling in dough. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Katniss was deeply touched.

Even her own parents and brothers had never been this generous. Maximilian was a gem!

Before, Katniss had treated Maximilian with a bit of a patient-care vibe, but now she looked at him with full-on admiration.

"Thanks, you're super generous," Katniss said, taking the card with a smile. "I'll keep a detailed list of the prices for the medicine and groceries."

With the black card, shopping would be a breeze. No more lugging around cash every day, which was both risky and a hassle.

Plus, who wouldn't want a black card?

That sleek, luxurious black was just gorgeous!

But aside from medicine and groceries, she wouldn't use this card for anything else!

"No need," Maximilian replied shortly.

Katniss didn't push it, just smiled at Maximilian. She'd never use the money on this card for her own stuff.

She carefully tucked the black card into her bag and then pulled out her prepared list, saying, "Felix, this is my class schedule. I can come for consultations whenever I'm free. The circled days are when I'll bring medicinal meals." Felix raised an eyebrow, asking, "Katniss, why are you juggling classes in two departments?"

Maximilian glanced over too.

Katniss felt a bit sheepish, explaining, "I was dumb before, signing up for the Literature Department to be with Desmond. Now I'm trying to switch to the Medical Department."

She couldn't believe she had been so stupid to like someone like Desmond.

Felix suddenly got it, saying, "Oh right, you were engaged to Desmond..."

Halfway through his sentence, he noticed Katniss's attitude towards Desmond had done a complete 180, almost like she was disgusted.

Maximilian stayed quiet.

Katniss shook her head, saying, "Felix, my engagement with Desmond is off. From now on, I have nothing to do with him."

Felix couldn't believe his ears, but seeing Katniss's serious face, he figured he might have misunderstood.

He couldn't wrap his head around it. Katniss used to be all about Desmond, following him everywhere. How could she just stop liking him out of the blue?

Even so, he knew Desmond didn't give a damn about Katniss and even disliked her.

A guy like Desmond didn't deserve a good girl like Katniss.

"It's good you called off the engagement. You'll find someone better," Felix tried to comfort her.

He knew Katniss had been head over heels for Desmond and couldn't just let go that easily, so he needed to comfort her well.

Katniss knew Felix didn't believe her, just like Desmond and the rest of the Manners family.

They all thought she was just throwing a fit because of unrequited love.

Katniss sneered inwardly, wishing she could erase Desmond from her life completely.

She smiled calmly. "A girl doesn't have to get married. Being single is pretty awesome too."

Suddenly, her phone rang, and Micah's impatient voice came through.

"Katniss, where are you? My mom bought you a cake, and I'm supposed to bring it to you."

Micah came to the school?

Katniss quickly said, "I'm still at a friend's place. I'll head back to school right away."

On the other end, Micah snorted. "I don't want to wait for you. Just come back and eat it yourself!"

The call ended.

Katniss looked a bit embarrassed as she glanced at Felix and Maximilian, saying, "I gotta go now. The yogurt's in the fridge; I'll grab it tomorrow."

Felix nodded, saying, "Alright, Katniss, you go ahead."

Maximilian silently watched Katniss leave in a hurry.

Felix watched her go, sighing, "Katniss has it rough, getting bullied by the Manners family and hurt by Desmond, yet she can still talk about not getting married." Maximilian gazed deeply out the window at the departing Katniss.

"Plant roses at the entrance," Maximilian's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Huh?" Felix was a bit confused, then smiled and said, "Sure, roses are beautiful. They bloom every month, and Katniss said they look nice too!" "Yeah," Maximilian said.