Never Late, Never Away (Vivian and Finnick)
Chapter 8

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There, on his ring finger, was a simple and plain ring.

It was the one that she had bought yesterday.

Utterly stunned by the revelation, she temporarily forgot to sit down at the table. In the end, Finnick raised his head to glance at her.

"What's wrong?" His eyes moved to glance at her empty finger before his brow rose up in question. "Where's your ring?"

Embarrassment coursed through Vivian.

She had felt like the rings that she had bought were not worthy of his status. Hence, she had not worn her own. What I had not expected was for him to replace the ring and actually put it on!

Left with no other choice, Vivian fished her ring out from her bag and slipped it onto her finger. She murmured lowly, "Sorry, I picked this design at random."

Finnick's lips curled upward. "It's fine. It looks very nice."

Not sure what to say to that, the woman soon sat down and focused on eating her breakfast.

After they were done, Finnick set his newspaper aside and stated, "I'll take you to work."

"There's no need for that," Vivian answered swiftly. "I can hail a taxi or take the subway."

Heck no! If anyone at the magazine company recognizes you, the women are going to tear me to pieces!

"There aren't any subway stations near here and you won't be able to catch a taxi either." His brows furrowed slightly.

It was true. On her way here yesterday, Vivian had noticed that this was a neighborhood for the filthy rich. All the residents here had their own cars. Naturally, there would not be any taxis or subway stations around.

She checked the time only to see that it was getting a bit late. Resigned, she uttered, "Then I'll have to trouble you. Could you drop me off at a subway station on the way to your company?"

He leveled her with a blank gaze for several long moments, causing her to panic internally. At long last, he gave her a nod.

By the time they exited the villa, a black Bentley was already waiting for them.

A young man was standing beside the car. He introduced himself as Noah Lotte, Finnick's personal assistant.

Noah opened the car door but made no move to help Finnick. Just as Vivian was wondering how he would get in, a ramp descended from the vehicle. Soon, his wheelchair rolled up smoothly.

She entered the car, whereupon she discovered that the interior had been modified as well. There was a specific area for Finnick's wheelchair.

Sitting down on a seat, the car soon started up and they were off to the nearest subway station.

The car rolled to a stop before the subway station. Through the windows, Finnick took in the crowded place with a small frown. "It's rather inconvenient for you to go to work like this. If you don't want me to take you to work, I can get you a car."

Astonished at his words, she instantly refused, "There's really no need for that."

Of course, she knew that buying a car was nothing to him. However, she still did not feel comfortable spending his money.

Her immediate rejection of his offer had Finnick's eyes darkening as he rumbled, "I'm not always at the villa. How will you get to work then?"

That was something that she had been pondering, ever since she had gotten into the car. She took out her phone and waved it at him, replying, "It's really easy and convenient to hail a taxi now. I'll have to wake up a little earlier to book one. Erm... I'm going to be late soon, so I have to go. Bye."

She did not wait for his response as she practically fled from the car.

From his position inside the vehicle, Finnick stared at the rapidly retreating back, with an indecipherable look in his eyes.

Noah had noticed where his boss's attention was placed and he could not help but comment, "Mr. Norton, is it just me, or is Mrs. Norton rather different from what our investigation has suggested?" Finnick's tone was thoughtful as he murmured, "She really is quite different."

He had honestly never expected that she would so swiftly and thoroughly reject his offer of buying her a car.

Based on what Noah had managed to replace out of her past, she was a shallow woman, who would do anything just for a bit of money.

That was the exact reason why he had chosen her.

A woman who could be satisfied with a small amount of money was infinitely safer and easier to control, as compared to the young daughters from influential families. After all, they only ever had one thing in mind- obtaining all of his fortunes.

There was another reason for his choice. He could admit that she did not irk him as much as the other women.

Nonetheless, she was acting on the contrary, to his expectations. It was almost as if she had not cared for his wealth at all.

Or maybe she was a lot smarter than he had thought and was merely playing hard to get? Perhaps she had some other long-term plan?

Eyes darkening, he finally turned his gaze away from the direction that she had left.

"Drive."

At the financial district of Sunshine City, on the top floor of Finnor Group.

Finnick was sitting at his desk, his fingers darting across his keyboard. In response to his actions, the images and data on his screen changed. Ring, ring.

Suddenly, his phone rang and he reached out to answer it.

Noah's voice came through the other end of the line, "Mr. Norton, Mr. Lawson is here."

"Let him in."

A few seconds later, his office door swung open and a man in a flamboyant, pink dress shirt flounced inside.

"Finnick, why are you still working?" The other man cried out in an exaggerated manner, "You've finally married someone! Even if you refuse to have a wedding ceremony, the least you could do is go on a honeymoon or something!"

Finnick's eyes never left his screen as he retorted shortly, "I've got no time for that."

The other man sat down in front of his desk, not at all angry at Finnick's cold attitude. His eyes crinkled in a smile as he chortled, "Your poor wife! How could she have married such a boring man, like yourself?" At long last, Finnick lifted his head to pin the other man down with a blank stare. "Stiles, just what are you trying to imply?"

"I'm just feeling kind of bored. I want to meet your wife." The grin stretching Stiles' lips widened.

"Forget it," Finnick did not even hesitate in refusing. "You know why I've married her."

"Yes, I do." Stiles pouted before the amusement left him and he continued seriously, "Whatever the case, you have a family now. It's about time that you let go of what had happened in the past." His last sentence had Finnick's fingers tensing imperceptibly.

He was silent for a while before he uttered, "There's no such thing as letting go when it comes to this. Dead people don't come back to life."

Stiles' mouth opened and he seemed like he had wanted to say something. However, the words got stuck in his throat, as they refused to leave his mouth. In the end, he swallowed them back down. After a few seconds, he queried, "What about the little girl from all those years ago? Have you found anything yet?"