After her rebirth

Micah had a thing for Anouk, but she was already dating his second brother, Dylan. Katniss was responsible for this, as she had helped set them up. Instead of kicking her out, Micah just gave her the cold shoulder. That was pretty chill of him. 'I gotta figure something out,' Katniss thought to herself, dead set on stealing Anouk back from Dylan before they tied the knot.

Seeing Katniss all quiet, Saskia thought Micah's words had bummed her out. She quickly tried to cheer her up, "Katniss, don't be sad. Micah's just in a funk. He'd totally love for you to move in, right, Micah?" Saskia whispered, "Micah's in a bad mood 'cause his crush has a boyfriend."

Saskia didn't know the whole story, but Katniss was in the loop.

The table was loaded with all her favorite dishes. Katniss felt touched; even after three years, Wesley still remembered what she liked.

Anna frowned and scolded Wesley, giving him a hard time for making too much food. She didn't get why these young folks were so wasteful.

Wesley nodded like crazy, explaining, "Mom, I made extra 'cause Katniss is here, and it's not easy for Saskia and Micah to come back. It won't go to waste."

Even with his explanation, Anna still looked ticked off. All that yummy food, how much did it cost?

One more person meant more expenses, and Katniss was gonna be here for a while. She had to chip in for the living costs; she couldn't just freeload. Daphne handed Katniss a bowl of chicken soup, saying with concern, "Careful, it's hot. You're so skinny; you need to drink more chicken soup."

Katniss took a sip and praised, "This chicken soup is bomb."

Micah, munching on his food, heard Katniss's compliment and sneered, which ticked off Daphne.

"Don't be so snarky," Daphne glared at Micah, scolding him.

Micah shot back coldly, "She does need to eat better, seriously. Her brain's not getting enough."

After saying that, a flash of pain crossed Micah's eyes, like it hit a sore spot.

The Wesley family stared at Micah in shock, his harsh words leaving them stunned.

Katniss's face turned red, and she mustered the courage to look at Micah.

"Micah, I messed up. I'll fix things," Katniss admitted honestly.

Micah sneered, "No need."

He'd been independent and tough since he was a kid, not needing much interference. Even Daphne, who looked around with a pained heart, couldn't sway him.

"Micah, Katniss is still young. If she made a mistake, teach her properly. Don't say such hurtful things," Daphne tried to calm Micah down.

Micah's mouth twitched, ignoring Daphne's words, and said, "I'm full. I'm going to work."

Daphne sighed, turning to comfort Katniss, "Don't be mad. I'll make him apologize when he gets back." Katniss forced a smile, feeling Daphne's bias towards her, but she didn't dare to make Micah apologize. "Daphne, Micah's right. I was wrong and made a lot of mistakes," Katniss apologized, feeling guilty. Daphne looked at her with affection, adding more food to her plate and suggesting, "Eat more."

After the meal, Katniss and Saskia got ready to wash the dishes, but Daphne suddenly said, "You two don't need to wash the dishes. I'll do it. You go watch TV." Katniss looked at Daphne, saying, "You shouldn't tire yourself out. We'll wash them."

Daphne smiled, patting their shoulders, "It's okay. Let me do it. You two go rest."

Just as they walked to the living room, Katniss's phone rang.

Seeing the caller ID, it was her so-called father calling.

She knew this call wouldn't bring good news because in the Manners family, good news was never meant for her.

She answered the call, and Oliver's roar came through.

"Katniss, you're too presumptuous. Changing majors is a big deal. Why didn't you discuss it with us? Do you even consider me your father?" Katniss raised an eyebrow and hung up the phone directly.

No matter how she explained, they would never believe her. She didn't want to waste any more time dealing with people who didn't care.

After hanging up, she saw Wesley looking at her worriedly from the doorway, asking, "Was that your dad?"

Katniss nodded, and Wesley frowned, asking with concern, "Does he usually talk to you like that?"

Even though he knew about Katniss's situation in her family, it still made Wesley uneasy hearing Oliver insult Katniss like that.

He took out some cash, handing it to Katniss and saying, "Buy yourself something nice to eat. You're too thin."

Katniss looked at the money and couldn't help but speak her mind, "Uncle Wesley, is this your secret stash?"