In the main atrium of the cruise ship, a tall figure stood facing the pirate.
When she recognized who he was, Vivian felt a sudden surge of emotion rise up in her throat.
It was Finnick! It truly was him.
Finnick stood proud and tall, looking utterly fearless. Scowling, he demanded, “Was this entire circus just for me? Why?”
The pirate hadn’t bothered to hide his face. He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, except for the gun that he wielded in his hand.
When the pirate heard Finnick’s question, he erupted angrily, yelling, “Why? That’s a good question! Don’t ask me; ask yourself that! Don’t you know what you did five years ago?”
Five years ago?
Vivian stood stock still.
Wasn’t I still with Finnick five years ago?
“Five years ago?” Finnick sounded as clueless as Vivian was. He muttered to himself, saying, “But I don’t even know who you are! How can I possibly remember what I did to offend you five years ago?”
“You may not know who I am, but I know exactly who you are!” The pirate’s impassioned voice rang out in the stillness. “I’m looking for you, Finnick, president of the Finnor Group! What did you promise us, stockholders, back then? You said that we had to trust you and that you wouldn’t let our hard-earned money go to waste! Why don’t you ask your conscience what you did?”
“Finnor Group revealed trade secrets, causing its stocks to plummet. I lost my principal entirely! My wife took our child and left, leaving me to wander alone all these years. I’ve been living a desolate life! All this happened because of you, b*stard! But look at you. You’re still living a carefree life without consequence. You don’t even deserve to live! Hell was created for people like you!”
So this was all because of the fund!
Immediately after the speech ended, Vivian heard shrieks coming from the passengers. Amid the tumult rose the sound of the pirate’s sinister laugh, as well as Finnick’s grunts of pain.
Fearing for his safety, Vivian was prepared to stand up and creep closer to get a better view of the atrium. Hunter, however, held her back.
“What are you doing? Even if you don’t care about your own safety, think of Little Pumpkin! We should leave now and get the police. We can’t get caught up in all this!” he said with a hiss.
Hunter was clutching Vivian’s arm, evidently perturbed. Every minute they lingered was another minute spent in danger. He had no plans to die a hero for now, at least.
Besides, Hunter was primarily concerned for Vivian and Larry’s safety. He didn’t much care whether the other passengers lived or died. He was even less prepared to sacrifice his own life for any of theirs.
“This is important!” Larry said crossly as he glowered at Hunter. He turned to Vivian with tears in his eyes. “Mommy, can we go in and save Daddy?”
It was the sight of Larry’s vulnerability that finally convinced Vivian that they had to leave. No matter what, she couldn’t place Larry in harm’s way. It was just too bad for Finnick. He was no longer a part of her life, after all.
Vivian hardened her heart and was ready to leave with Larry and Hunter. However, the next sentence turned her blood to ice.
“Weren’t you the one that was responsible for exposing Finnor Group’s client data back then?”
Vivian was utterly taken aback. When that scandal broke out, Vivian had just been rescued from Evelyn’s kidnapping plot. Vivian recalled that she had been recuperating in the hospital.
At that time, Finnick had been occupied with this business. He hadn’t even been able to spare enough time to visit Vivian in the hospital. How could Finnick possibly have been able to expose their clients’ data then?
Vivian slowed down as she pondered this, only to hear the pirate continue shouting, “Wasn’t it utter nonsense when you announced to everyone that you had been hacked? I did my own investigation and found out that you did it all for your wife!”
