Amused by Vivian’s silliness, Finnick burst out in laughter.
It was only then that Vivian came to her senses and immediately buttoned up her lips, ready to get up.
However, the moment she got to her feet, Finnick grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace.
Vivian slumped onto his lap, and before she could exclaim aloud, Finnick gripped her chin and pressed his lips against hers, muffling her gasps.
In contrast to their previous soft kiss, this was an imperious and possessive one.
He quickly parted her lips, raiding and marking his territory while his grip tightened as if he was binding her to him.
It seemed as though time had stopped. When he reluctantly let go of Vivian and looked at the woman who was flushing like a red apple in his arms, his heart melted. He whispered in her ear, “Vivian, thank you for believing in me.”
And thank you for appearing in my bleak and despairing life.
…
Vivian took half a month’s leave to recuperate at home, and eventually, even she felt guilty herself and pestered to return to work in Glamour Magazine.
After all, she had taken too much leave, so she was afraid of being laid off.
With Vivian returning to the magazine company after such a long while, everyone at work was very concerned about her health. Apparently, most of them had realized the past rumors about her were mainly misunderstandings. Therefore, they became excessively ardent toward her.
But of course, there was one exception—Shannon.
As soon as Shannon saw Vivian, she started with a twinge of jealousy, “Oh dear, Vivian the princess has come back to work? I thought your backer is so powerful that you could just make money lying in bed all day.”
There was only resentment in Shannon’s eyes when she looked at Vivian.
When she met Ashley at the mall the other day, she thought she could sabotage Vivian with help from Ashley. But it was unknown to her why Ashley left in a hurry after she tattled about Vivian and took no action afterward.
These princesses are truly hopeless.
Nevertheless, she had no means to deal with Vivian herself, so she was only all bark and no bite.
On the other hand, Vivian could not care less about Shannon, and neither did others.
Sarah took Vivian by her arm and told her excitedly, “Vivian, you know what? Legal action has been taken against the sweatshop we exposed earlier, and the workers have all gotten their wages back.”
“Really?” Vivian was delighted upon hearing the news.
These days, the workers had become disadvantaged, and it happened very rarely that wages could be redeemed unless the issue boiled over.
“Yes! In addition to that, everyone is complimenting us, saying that we should take the credit for revealing the sweatshop, and so we got awarded!” Sarah was getting thrilled and took out her phone to show Vivian her search results. “Something like a social contribution award. Even though it’s not something grand, it’s increasing the popularity of Glamour Magazine! Even the netizens on Twitter are saying that we’re the most conscientious media platform.”
Vivian was astounded.
Indeed, the magazine company had very little to do with the workers getting their wages back. Despite that, increasing popularity would contribute to advertisement sponsorships as well as the sales of their magazine.
“That’s really good,” replied Vivian with a smile.
“Right? Our Chief Editor said he’d foot the bill for a drink tonight! You must come this time. We won’t take no for an answer.” Sarah was grinning from ear to ear.
Surprised, Vivian asked, “He’s back to work?”
“Oh yes, it so happened that the Chief Editor also took leave the same time you did.” Sarah seemed to have thought of something and continued, “But he came back to work a week earlier than you.”
A perplexed look crept on Vivian’s face.
Fabian was more severely injured than me. How come he’s come back to work so soon?
Before she could ponder on it, Sarah tugged at her arm and said, “Vivian, you must come tonight.”
Vivian knew very well that she seemed rather like a sore thumb in the company for always skipping their group activities. Since it would be attended by a large group of people, there was nothing to worry about, so she agreed to go.
