Sarah turned red in the face. “Was I being too loud?” she whispered to Vivian.
“You’re not, don’t worry,” Vivian said with a light laugh. “I’m fine, everyone. Thanks for coming all the way here to visit me.”
“We’re really sorry for badmouthing you, Vivian,” a colleague who spread rumors about her cheating on Finnick said sheepishly. “Please forgive us. We were misinformed.”
“Yeah, Vivian, please forgive us! We used to have our misgivings about Mr. Norton, but now that it’s revealed that he wasn’t crippled to begin with, those rumors won’t last! We’re all really happy for you!” Sarah said.
Vivian stared at Sarah in confusion. “Hm? How did you know about that?”
“Wait… haven’t you heard? Everyone’s going crazy on Twitter!” Sarah said, whipping out her phone to show her the trending hashtags of the day.
Vivian took Sarah’s phone and scrolled through the posts, only to be shocked by the sheer number of comments on Finnick’s non-existent disability.
Vivian tapped on a random hashtag to take a look, and she was met with millions of love confessions from Finnick’s fans.
One comment read: Oh my god! He’s not handicapped? He’s perfect!
Another read: I feel so sorry for Mrs. Norton… can I marry him in my next life?
The reply to that comment was: Don’t be sad! Let’s pretend that we’re Mrs. Norton tonight!
There were also several comments from men that pleaded with Finnick to stop stealing the ladies’ hearts.
A smile spread across Vivian’s face as she scrolled through the comments. The rumors might have been baseless, but they have hurt her deeply nonetheless.
Now that the truth had been unveiled, she felt as though a weight had been lifted off her chest.
“Oh, isn’t Mr. Norton having a press conference this morning? The livestream should be starting soon,” someone blurted.
Vivian glanced at the time and noticed that there was only half an hour left to the press conference. “Yeah, it should be starting in about half an hour’s time.”
“We’ll watch it with you!” Sarah said before picking up the remote on the bedside table and switching on the TV. “Hey! Look! It’s starting!”
“Is he your husband or something?” someone scoffed, making everyone burst into laughter.
“I’m not as lucky as Vivian, you see! Can’t you let me indulge myself for a while?” Sarah protested.
Vivian shook her head with a smile, and the laughter soon died down as Finnick walked onstage.
Finnick, clad in a grey suit, stood up straight in front of the cameras, sending surprised gasps bouncing through the crowd. Vivian’s colleagues stared at him with wide eyes.
“He’s so handsome! You’re so lucky, Vivian!” Sarah exclaimed, winking at Vivian.
“Yeah! Why don’t you tell us about how cool he is?”
Vivian’s face turned red as her colleagues teased her playfully. That was the first time she saw him standing in public, and she was struck by how tall and lean his body looked.
Finnick was led to his seat by his bodyguard, and he picked up the microphone placed in front of him on the table.
“Greetings, everyone. The purpose of this press conference is to explain some things regarding myself and my wife, so as to dispel the rumors that have been circulating around recently,” he began. “Firstly, I’m sure everyone’s very curious about my background, which I did not intend to hide from the public eye in the first place. I chose not to disclose it because I did not want to attract unnecessary attention to my family, and most importantly, I did not want my intentions to be misunderstood. As for the truth, I am actually the second son of the Norton family.”
