The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Everyone was slack-jawed with amazement.

Just a kiss?

Was it really necessary to chase after Leopold for 15 years just because of a peck on the lips?

This woman was really something!

“Explain, my foot! My BFF told me a kiss is as good as hitting the hay, and you even held me close,

swearing you’d marry me when we grew up! Are you even a man? Can’t remember your promises?”

Griffin fumed, her anger mounting by the second.

That was her first kiss.

And she had held onto it for 23 years, waiting for Leopold to step up and take responsibility.

But this guy!

He was flat-out denying it!

Leopold was hopping mad, “Which of your BFFs said that? Bring her here. I’ll give her a piece of my

mind! Responsible for a kiss? If that’s the case, considering the number of women I’ve kissed, should I

marry them all?”

“Ptooey! Have I lost my mind? Why did I say ‘the number of women I’ve kissed’? I’ve only ever kissed

Griffin!” He thought.

And it was that very kiss that had sparked a decade and a half of pursuit, leaving him so terrified that

he dared not even think of romance.

“You dared to kiss someone else?” Griffin’s face turned a shade of jealous green.

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Leopold opened his mouth to explain, but Griffin turned her back, clinging to Vivienne’s legs and

wailing, “Vivienne, look at this scoundrel! Not only does he refuse to take responsibility for me, but he’s

also messing around with other women. My life is so miserable, truly unbearable.”

Vivienne rubbed her temples as Griffin’s ranting gave her a headache.

She grabbed Leopold, swiftly healed his previously dislocated arm amid his cries of surprise, and then

shoved him toward Griffin.

“Go and get hitched!” Vivienne said dismissively, her eyes rolling with contempt.

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Leopold looked pitiful, on the verge of tears. “Vivienne, it really isn’t how she’s making it out to be.”

“Oh?” Vivienne’s gaze sharpened, “So you think you don’t have to take responsibility after kissing

someone?”

She had never been in a relationship either.

Only Percival had ever kissed her.

So, in her dictionary, a kiss meant responsibility.

And if they slept together, the responsibility would be even greater!

Griffin nodded vigorously. “Exactly, you’ve got to take responsibility after a kiss.”

“Vivienne is so reasonable! A real problem solver!” She thanked Vivienne in her mind.

Leopold was at a loss for words.

“I’m so wronged! If only I had known it would come to this, I would have never kissed her!” He thought.

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However, he seemed to forget that he was only ten at the time, and Griffin was a cute seven-year-old,

like a porcelain doll, and he just could not resist kissing her.

After the kiss, he had earnestly promised, “Don’t worry, I’ll marry you when we grow up!”

Leopold turned to seek support from Percival, but then he remembered that this whole situation was

Percival’s doing. Thus, there was no way he would speak up for him.

He sighed. “Vivienne, can we handle this by ourselves? Marriage isn’t child’s play; it’s supposed to last

a lifetime. We can’t just rush into it because of something that happened when we were kids, can we?”

After speaking, Leopold turned to Griffin. “Shall we step outside to talk? I promise I won’t run away this

time.”

Griffin pondered for a moment, then agreed, “Fine!”

She did not want her future marriage to Leopold to be plagued with hostility. If they could have a decent

conversation, that would be best!

Seeing that Griffin had no objections, neither did Vivienne. She said, “Sort it out yourselves!”

With that, her gaze darkened as she turned to Leopold. “Don’t make me settle this.”

A chill ran down Leopold’s spine at her icy tone. He nodded meekly. “Understood, Vivienne. I’ll handle

it.”

Then, he hurriedly whisked Griffin away.

Vivienne watched them leave, then settled back in her chair. “Let’s continue with our meal.”

“Sure.”

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The atmosphere in the room was still recovering from Griffin’s outburst, eerily quiet.

Vivienne’s eyes fell on Percival, her eyebrows lifting. “Mr. Wolf, that was quite the surprise you

arranged for Leopold.”

Percival’s lips curled slightly. “Breaking ties with me is not that easy.”

Vivienne did not know what to say.

Suddenly, she felt a twinge of sympathy for Leopold!

Ten minutes later, Leopold returned to the dining area alone.

Vivienne glanced up, noting that Griffin had already left.

The fact that Griffin left so peacefully was a surprise.

Vivienne raised an eyebrow. “All sorted?”

Leopold chuckled awkwardly. “I just told that crazy… I told Griffin that my father has to agree to it first,

and he definitely won’t.”

“Why wouldn’t he agree?” Vivienne was genuinely curious.

In the ten minutes Leopold had been gone, she had learned about Griffin’s family background from

Percival and the Brooks siblings.

Griffin was the darling daughter of the Martinez family of Rivenwood.

Unlike the Four Prominent Families of Rivenwood, such as the Ellington and Sterling families, the

Martinez family did not participate in Rivenwood’s pecking order. Yet, their influence was vast.

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The Martinez family belonged to an ancient warrior lineage.

Many families had withdrawn from society centuries ago, with solid foundations and wide-reaching

power. Each of these families had their own secrets passed down from ancient times. They practiced

fighting arts, but their techniques were unlike ordinary fighting arts, with very high lethality.

However, little was known about the ancient warrior lineages because their members rarely ventured

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out and had never clashed with Rivenwood’s prominent families. So, most people only knew superficial

details about them.

The Martinez family was the only member of the ancient warrior lineage to re-emerge after seclusion.

It was an enigma in Rivenwood, a town where lineage and prestige were as good as currency. They

marched to the beat of their own drum, and as a result, they were somewhat ostracized by the other

illustrious families that made up the town’s elite.

Rumor had it that the Martinez’s were government operatives, working on assignments so secretive

that whispers of their activities were met with nothing more than a knowing shrug. What exactly they

did was anyone’s guess, but it was clear they were involved in matters best kept out of the public eye.

Griffin Martinez, in particular, was a name that resonated a bit more loudly in the local circles. She was

a tech mogul, a veritable titan who had carved a niche for herself in the realm of cutting-edge warfare

technology. Her repertoire ranged from state-of-the-art combat drones to advanced weaponry.

The nation gobbled up every piece of her research with an insatiable appetite. To put it simply, Griffin

was a force to be reckoned with.

Leopold let out a heavy sigh. “The Martinez family hails from an ancient warrior lineage,” He explained.

“You’ve spent years at the Emerald Monastery, Vivienne, so you might not be aware, but there’s a

deep-rooted aversion to warrior lineages among Rivenwood’s affluent families.”

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Although Vivienne had her own ventures and achievements, she admittedly knew little about the

ancient warriors or the intricate dynamics of Rivenwood’s high society.Books Chapters Are Daily

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Leopold’s words piqued her interest.

“How so?” She asked.

“I’m not entirely sure of the details,” Leopold admitted. “My father mentioned it once. It’s something

about a family that accidentally crossed the ancient warriors and ended up being wiped out. Not just

killed, but erased. Over twenty people vanished without a trace. Everyone suspects it was the work of a

warrior lineage, but there’s no proof.”

In this day and age, outright murder was a faux pas that could tarnish even the most powerful of

families. However, for those from the ancient warrior lineage, it seemed they could eliminate someone

with such finesse that no evidence would ever surface.

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