Hunter finally called and informed Vivian that he found hard evidence on the issue with Mark.
“Really?” Vivian shouted excitedly. There is finally some evidence to punish this scumbag!
“Yes,” replied Hunter. And the evidence is more than sufficient. Enough to put him away for a few years, if you so wish.” He was pleased with the effect his news had on Vivian and felt infected by her joy.
“Thank you, Hunter,” Vivian said gratefully. “Where are you now? I’ll drive to you.”
“Let me come to you instead,” Hunter replied. “I don’t feel good about you driving alone. Let’s meet at Hatchen’s Tea House next to your magazine company. I’ll give you a call when I arrive.”
“Alright, see you in a bit,” Vivian said and hung up. She rushed over to Hatchen’s.
When Hunter arrived, Vivian was already seated and awaited him.
He couldn’t help but notice how warm and lovely a sight it was from the way the steam from her piping hot tea framed her face. He felt serene and at peace while he stared at her, who ironically wore a panicked expression.
The tiredness from the exertion he had displaced in this endeavor instantly vanished at the sight of Vivian. My news would calm her and make her smile. With that thought in mind, Hunter had a difficult time hiding his own elation.
Hunter strode towards Vivian with broad steps and sat down across from her. As he handed her a thick folder, he said, “It’s all in here. Take a look.”
She accepted it with gratitude in her eyes and hastily extracted the documents within.
The longer she examined them, the more worked up she became. With these, Mark would be at her mercy.
“Hunter, I can’t thank you enough,” Vivian said as she stuffed them back into the folder. “Tell me, how can I repay you for this?” She looked up to him joyously.
“Anything I want?” Hunter joked, unaware that he had alerted the alarm bells in Vivian’s head from the way he responded.
“Anything within reason, I will try to get it done for you.”
Hunter had a lump in his throat at that. ”Reason”, “try”. She seemed to have a lot of restrictions toward what she was willing to do for him.
However, he recollected Vivian’s attitude to him in the past and couldn’t help feeling hopeful. This is much better, isn’t it? You can’t rush into this. One step at a time.
“Why are you so serious? I was joking.” Hunter laughed. “We are friends, and we should help each other. There’s no need for such formality as repaying me.”
Vivian’s suspicion relaxed. “All the same, I want you to know that I am very thankful to you. If you ever need anything in the future, do not hesitate to ask me for help.”
“Will do. I won’t hold back when the time comes,” Hunter said with a smile. “Oh, by the way, why are you gathering evidence against Mark?”
He gathered from these past few days that Mark was Finnick’s older brother. But he did not hear of any conflict between Mark and Vivian. Unless she was sabotaging Finnick through his brother?
This was not her style, from what he knew of her. He was unable to draw any reasonable conclusion from inferring himself, so he decided to just ask her.
It was no small favor that Hunter did Vivian. She felt like he at least deserved the truth.
“He had intentions to harm Larry before,” Vivian said with distaste. “Not to mention he helped Evelyn kidnap me. This is a slight that cannot go unpunished.” She clenched her fist as she spoke.
“You’ve never asked me whose child Larry was,” Vivian said after a thought. “Aren’t you curious?”
She had not forgotten about the time on the cruise ship when she asked for Hunter’s help to lie to Finnick about Larry. He didn’t seem very interested back then and did not ask too many questions. Perhaps he had already guessed?
