Chapter 250
Chapter 250
"Grandpa..."
Katniss's voice broke.
"I know you've been hurt."
Cody reached out and clumsily wiped her tears, his rough fingertips brushing her cheek. "That rascal Cedric must've said some terrible things. When he comes to visit, I'll give him hell for you. But Katniss—listen to me. You two have real feelings for each other. Don't say things you don't mean."
"You've weathered so many storms together just to get here. Don't let each other slip away again."
Katniss closed her eyes. She pressed her forehead against Cody's bony knee, her shoulders trembling.
She bit her lip, trying to swallow the broken sobs rising in her throat. But they escaped anyway, sharp and clear in the quiet garden.
Cody said nothing. He simply patted her back, over and over—gentle, slow, steady.
"Cedric learned to carry everything alone when he was just a boy."
Cody's voice shook slightly.
"He doesn't know how to show what he feels. He can't bring himself to be vulnerable, can't bring himself to say soft words."
"I can see he has you in his heart. He just doesn't know how to show you. So he does the only thing he knows—stubbornly keeping you close, holding on, never letting go."
"But his way of holding on is hurting me."
Katniss finally lifted her head, a bitter smile pulling at her lips.
"Grandpa, he investigated me. Suspected me. He even humiliated me in front of the entire company. He'd rather believe a listening device I didn't even know existed than take me at my word."
"I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do to make him trust me."
Cody looked at her, his clouded eyes full of ache. He opened his mouth, started to speak, then stopped.
He was quiet for a long time. Then, with effort, he raised his hand and stroked her hair.
"Katniss."
His voice was low. "Let me ask you one thing. And I need you to be honest with me."
Katniss nodded.
"Do you still have feelings for him?"
The question hit something tender in her chest.
She froze, mouth opening—then closing. She didn't know how to answer.
Did she still have feelings for him?
Those moments of life and death they'd shared. The endless nights she'd spent outside the ICU. His clumsy, awkward attempts at kindness. She remembered all of it.
But the suspicion, the cutting words—those were just as real.
Love and pain tangled together like knotted thread. She couldn't tell which strand was which anymore.
"I don't know."
Her voice was raw.
"Grandpa, I really don't know. I just feel tired. So tired."
Cody watched her in silence for a long time.
Then, slowly, he reached into the inner pocket of his hospital gown, fumbling for a moment before pulling something out.
A simple silver ring, old-fashioned in its design, set with a small pearl. Time had dimmed the pearl's luster, but it still glowed with a quiet warmth.
He placed it in Katniss's palm. The ring was warm from his body heat.
"This was Cedric's grandmother's. She left it to me."
Cody's voice was tinged with nostalgia.
"We spent a lifetime together. We fought plenty. But the day she passed, I held her hand and wished I'd been better to her."
"Katniss, I'm not giving you this to guilt you into staying. If you've truly made up your mind—if you want to leave—I won't blame you. You've done more than enough for the York family."
He pressed the ring firmly into her palm. "But promise me this—give each other one last chance."
"Not for anyone else. For yourself. So that when you look back years from now, you won't regret the choice you made today."
Katniss stared at the silver ring in her palm. The pearl caught the sunlight, glowing softly.
Her eyes stung. She couldn't form a complete sentence.
Cody patted her hand gently, said nothing more, and lifted his gaze to the distance—calm and far away.
---
Near the garden entrance, behind a tall sycamore tree.
Cedric watched the scene beneath the osmanthus tree from a distance.
He couldn't make out Katniss's expression, but he could see her shoulders trembling.
Something slammed hard against his chest. A dull, suffocating ache.
When the caretaker had called to say Katniss was at the center, he'd let himself hope—maybe she was just visiting Cody. Maybe she just needed some air.
But seeing her this vulnerable in front of Cody, he finally understood how deeply he'd wounded her.
Cedric slowly lowered his head and stared at his hands resting on his knees.
These hands had once held hers tightly. These same hands had gripped rehab equipment until they bled, pushing through the pain so he could stand again—so she wouldn't have to carry so much.
And now, these same hands had pushed her further and further away.
He closed his eyes. His throat worked once.
When he opened them, he didn't go to her. He simply turned the wheelchair around and followed the path back the way he'd come, retreating in silence.
He didn't let her know he'd been there.
---
Katniss stayed and played chess with Cody a while longer. It was nearly dusk when she finally left the center.
By the time she got home, the sky had darkened. She threaded the silver ring onto a delicate chain and hung it around her neck.
The ring rested against her chest, warmed by her own skin.
She didn't seek out Cedric. Cedric didn't come to her. An unspoken agreement settled between them—two people living under the same roof, orbiting each other in silence.
At dinner, they sat across from each other, eating quietly. The servant lingered nearby, barely breathing, setting dishes down more softly than usual.
After the meal, Cedric went to his study. Katniss returned to the bedroom.
A hallway and a single wall between them.
It might as well have been an ocean.
---
The next morning, Katniss went back to work.
She hadn't formally resigned, after all. There were still things to be done.
She dressed in a sharp, tailored suit, applied light makeup to conceal the shadows under her eyes and the weariness on her face, and walked into the office in her heels, every step measured and composed.
Watching her disappear inside, her subordinates exchanged glances behind her back.
She seemed fine.
She buried herself in work. When she finally surfaced, she realized she'd blown straight past lunch.
Her phone buzzed on the desk. She picked it up.
A message from Gideon.
[Katniss, can you take a call? There's something I'd like to explain.]
She stared at the message for a long time, her fingertip hovering over the screen, unable to commit.
Explain what?
His meeting with Alvin? Why he'd been at that place, at that time?
Katniss sighed softly. In the end, she typed back: [Can't talk right now. Whatever it is, just text me.]