Every word that Vivian said tugged at Finnick’s heartstrings.
He was completely touched, and he held on to Vivian’s hands tightly.
For so many years, no one had really believed him, not even his grandfather.
Even though he generally didn’t care about how others viewed him, Vivian’s opinion mattered a lot to him.
He would be deeply hurt if she too believed he had abandoned his then-girlfriend.
But to his relief, she put her trust in him completely.
Looking into Vivian’s sparkling eyes, Finnick felt a sense of warmth in his heart. At the same time, a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, “But Vivian, sometimes even I don’t believe myself.”
“What do you mean?” she asked in surprise.
“When this case was being investigated ten years ago, I underwent hypnosis and psychological evaluation to prove that what I said was true. The experts concluded that I wasn’t lying, but one of the psychologists mentioned that the trauma I experienced could have affected my memory. He said that my brain might have created a false memory because subconsciously, I did not dare to face the mistakes I made. Because of that, I somehow forgot how I cut the rope around my hands and abandoned Evelyn,” he explained.
“How is that possible?” she asked.
Finnick has always been a confident and self-assured person. How could his brain possibly play tricks on him?
Finnick smiled bitterly and touched Vivian’s cheek, he then said, “I didn’t think it was possible either, but I was rather scared back then, to be honest. I was a lot younger then, after all.”
Vivian was thunderstruck by his remarks.
That’s right. We’re talking about an incident that happened ten years ago, Finnick was just a child then. Such a terrifying incident would definitely have traumatized him.
But after a split second, she held onto Finnick’s hands and said in an affirming tone, “No, even if it were ten years ago, I know you wouldn’t do such a thing.”
Hearing how determined she sounded, Finnick looked at her and smiled.
“Vivian, you can be so silly sometimes.” He reached out to stroke her face and said affectionately, “You shouldn’t trust others so easily, or you might be deceived.”
“Even if that’s true, I know you wouldn’t lie to me,” she responded. Right after she finished her sentence, she looked into his eyes and added, “Right?”
The corners of his lips curved upwards as he bent forward to kiss her forehead.
He then moved his lips downwards along her nose and finally gave her a soft, feather-like kiss on her lips.
“I would never lie to you, Vivian. But promise me you will always protect yourself first,” he whispered.
Dazed by Finnick’s kiss, Vivian suddenly raised her head and asked, “Protect myself?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Finnick’s expression turned somber. “Do you know how scared I was when I heard about the fire a few days ago?”
Vivian froze for a second.
She had known him for quite a while now, but this was the first time she heard him say that he was scared.
Was he scared because he was worried about me?
Finnick gazed at her and continued, “Fire has taken the life of the woman I loved once. I do not wish for the same thing to happen a second time.”
She looked at him in astonishment and disbelief.
The woman he loves?
Second time?
What is he trying to say?
Finnick’s words were pretty straightforward, but Vivian felt that they sounded too good to be true. She didn’t dare to ponder over it, let alone question him any further.
All she did was stare blankly at Finnick with her mouth wide open like a goldfish that was out of water.
