After her rebirth

As soon as Desmond came downstairs, he was told that Ace had already left and that he should head to the Elise family on his own.

"Is he still mad?" Desmond asked.

"Not sure. He said he was going back to calm Brynn down for you," Emily replied.

Desmond nodded and slowly made his way outside.

The moment he stepped out, he saw Clara at the door. He quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there before he felt relieved.

"Clara, what are you doing here?"

Desmond lowered his voice and quickly walked over to Clara, opening the door.

As soon as Clara saw Desmond, she burst into tears and hugged him tightly. "Desmond, you finally came out."

Desmond didn't push Clara away. He gently comforted her for a moment before letting go.

Once he did, he noticed a large handprint on Clara's face, which was very noticeable. Seeing Desmond staring at the mark, Clara quickly raised her hand to cover it, looking frightened.

Desmond pulled her hand away and asked, "Clara, what happened?"

"It was... it was..." Clara bit her lip, looking like she wanted to speak but was too scared

to.

"Tell me, who dared to hit you? I'll make sure they pay," Desmond said, gently patting her back to encourage her.

Clara finally looked at Desmond and said timidly, "It was Brynn. She called me out, yelled at me, and then hit me."

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, leaning entirely on Desmond.

Hearing that Brynn had hit Clara, Desmond was furious. "I can't believe that woman dared to hit you. Clara, don't worry, I will..."noveldrama

Before he could finish, Ace suddenly interrupted him.

"What will you do, Desmond? I can't believe you promised me you wouldn't have anything to do with this woman, and now you're hugging her!"

Ace's voice was loud and angry, startling Gabriel and Emily inside the house, who quickly came out.

Seeing Desmond hugging Clara, they immediately understood the situation and pulled Desmond away.

Even though they separated them, Ace was still furious.

"You Boleyns will pay for this," he said angrily before storming off.

Clara was left in shock and was quickly escorted out by the Boleyn family members.

Desmond was angrily sent back to his room by Gabriel.

The Boleyn family was now uncertain about what to do, but they all knew the marriage alliance was off the table.

Clara returned to the Manners family, feeling a deep sense of foreboding.

The next morning, Katniss arrived at the meeting point outside the airport. Maximilian wanted to see her off, but she shyly refused.

After staying up late last night, she felt a tingle whenever she saw Maximilian.

"Katniss is here," Brent said, waiting by the car.

Katniss pulled her luggage over to Brent, who was standing next to a young man about her age. The young man was dressed very formally and looked quite serious.

Seeing Katniss with her suitcase, Brent introduced the young man beside him.

"This is Ethan Anderson. He also passed the first round of selection and will be attending the second round of training with you. You two are the only ones from our school."

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Katniss quickly greeted Ethan, "Nice to meet you, Ethan."

She had never heard of Ethan before, so she took a closer look at him.

Brent explained to Katniss, "Ethan usually spends his time in the lab. I had to persuade him to participate in the first round, and he passed."

Brent was clearly proud of Ethan and satisfied with his performance.

Ethan, who looked serious, added, "Professor Jenkins had good intentions. I know that staying in the lab all the time isn't as beneficial as seeing the world. Even if I don't make it to the second round, it's fine."

Brent patted Ethan on the shoulder and advised, "Take care of Katniss on this trip to Starhaven. She's very talented, just like you. You two can learn from each other." Ethan nodded in agreement.

Brent then turned to Katniss and said, "Katniss, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask Ethan. He's familiar with Starhaven."

Katniss smiled and agreed.

Seeing that both of them were obedient, Brent gave them a few more instructions before letting them leave together.

As they approached the airport terminal, Ethan handed Katniss her ticket. She realized she had forgotten to ask Brent for it and quickly thanked Ethan.

"Thanks, Ethan."

Ethan replied casually, "No problem."

They soon boarded the plane. Before boarding, Katniss sent a message to Maximilian.

As soon as she got off the plane, she received a call from Maximilian.

Knowing that Maximilian was worried about her, she followed Ethan while answering the call.

"Have you landed?" Maximilian asked.

Hearing Maximilian's voice made Katniss's ears feel warm. She nodded, then realized he couldn't see her and answered softly, "Yeah, we just landed. We're heading to the hotel now. Training starts tomorrow."

Ethan had already explained the itinerary on the plane, and Katniss realized he had everything well-organized, so she didn't need to worry.

After chatting with Maximilian for a bit, they started to drift apart. Katniss was about to hang up and catch up with Ethan when he suddenly stopped.

Katniss jogged over and was about to tell Maximilian she needed to hang up when Ethan said, "No rush, I need to reply to a message too."

"Who's with you?" Maximilian asked over the phone.

Katniss turned away and whispered, "He's a student of Brent's, my senior."

She hadn't met Ethan before and didn't know how to introduce him, so she used Brent's introduction.

"Okay, send me the hotel address when you get there. I'll finish up here in Luminous City and join you in a couple of days."

Katniss quickly agreed and reminded Maximilian not to rush.

"Maximilian, you don't need to hurry. I'll be busy with training, and I..."

She was worried that if Maximilian came, she wouldn't have much time to spend with him since she was there for training and would be busy during the day.

Maximilian reassured her, "It's fine. There's a branch office in Starhaven. If you're too busy, I'll just treat it as a business trip."

After that, Maximilian reminded her to send the hotel address.

Katniss felt relieved after hearing that. She promised Maximilian and then hung up.

After hanging up, she noticed Ethan playing a simple game on his phone.

She suddenly realized that Ethan had stopped to give her time to finish her call.