Fabian was slightly bewildered when he saw her. “Vivian, didn’t you receive the email with the notice saying that the meeting will be delayed for half an hour?”
Damn it! Vivian cursed internally; she forgot to check her emails as Finnick’s appearance yesterday threw her plans into disarray.
“I totally forgot.” She excused herself, “Sorry, I’ll take my leave now.”
“Wait!” Fabian halted her.
Frowning slightly, she asked, “Mr. Norton, is there anything else?”
“There’s something I want to ask you.” Fabian rose to his feet, asking softly, “Do you love Finnick?” Unlike his usual spitefulness, at that moment, he sounded gentler like how he used to in his youth.
Vivian’s brows knotted as his direct question caught her by surprise. “I’m sorry, Mr. Norton. This has nothing to do with work, so I refuse to answer.” With that, she turned to leave.
However, Fabian grabbed hold of her wrist and gabbled, “I’m not asking in the capacity of the Chief Editor but as your ex-boyfriend. Or maybe… I’m asking out of concern as your friend.”
He didn’t go home the other night as he couldn’t stop thinking about Vivian’s marriage with Finnick. Before this, he thought that she married Finnick for his money; but now, it seemed like that was not the case.
If she wasn’t going after Finnick’s wealth, there were only two possible reasons for her to marry him, which were either out of love or pressure.
To Fabian, it seemed impossible that Vivian would fall in love with another man. He was not over her yet even though two years had passed since their breakup, and he believed she felt the same as him. As such, he would rather believe that she was forced to marry Finnick.
When he asked his subordinates to look into their marriage, he found out that Vivian had gone on numerous blind dates just a month before marrying Finnick.
Those men were all ineligible, but they had one thing in common — all of them resided in Sunshine City. As he recalled about her mother, who was seriously ill, he seemed to have understood the true reason behind her marriage.
Even so, he felt that he needed an answer from Vivian herself to account for the sudden end of their relationship two years ago.
Vivian’s face turned pale when he tried to probe into her marriage, but she gripped her composure and retorted, “Fabian, did you forget that Finnick is your uncle? Don’t you think it’s inappropriate to pry into your elder’s private affairs?”
Fabian never thought Vivian would use her identity as his elder to shut him up. He uttered through gritted teeth, “Vivian William, aren’t you saying that just so you could avoid my question? Is it because you don’t love Finnick at all? You married him to get the status of permanent resident so that you could stay in Sunshine City, am I right?”
A smidge of worry appeared on her face as she never thought Fabian could delve that deep into her marriage.
My guess is right! Fabian’s spirit lifted upon capturing the nuances of her expression. He gripped her shoulder and continued to grill her, “Vivian William, is it true about what I said just now? You don’t love Finnick at all, do you? Well, it makes sense… It’s impossible that someone would like a cold-hearted cripple!”
He didn’t know why he cared so much about Vivian and Fabian’s relationship, but jealousy was eating him up at the thought of Vivian sleeping by Finnick’s bedside every night. It drove him crazy to think that the two might already have had intimacy with each other.
He could only seek relief from the pain of envy by humiliating Finnick about his disability and cold personality, which seemed to be the only chinks on his armor.
Initially, Vivian decided to laugh him off, but her fury sprang to life upon hearing him insulting Finnick. “Fabian Norton, are you done?” With all her might, she shook his hand off and came back at him coldly, “Who do you think you are to pour scorn at Finnick? Unlike you, he is always trustful of me! You are incomparable to him! No matter why I marry him, I never regretted my decision!”
