The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

The group followed Flynn into the house, where he was immediately taken aback at the sight of his

niece, Fiona, in a wheelchair.

“Fiona, what happened to you?” Flynn asked, his voice laced with concern.

Richard had been vague when he called Flynn back home, mentioning only that a lot of things had

gone south and they needed his help sorting things out. But seeing Fiona like this was a shock to the

system.

Flynn had always had a soft spot for his nephews, but Fiona, his only niece, was like a precious gem to

him—someone to be protected at all costs.

Fiona gave a weak smile and shook her head. “Uncle Flynn, it’s nothing serious. It’s just a bit of a heart

condition. I can’t be on my feet too much.”

“How on earth did you end up with a heart problem? What did the doctors say?” Flynn asked urgently.

Heloise let out a disdainful snort. “Why don’t you ask the great Master Vivienne about that? She knows

exactly what’s going on. Don’t you, Vivienne?”

Vivienne lifted her gaze coolly, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. “Fiona knows better than I do, doesn’t

she?”

Fiona pursed her lips, holding Heloise back. “Mom, not everything is Vivienne’s fault. Uncle Flynn just

got back, and Aunt Imogen is here too. Please, let’s not do this now.”

Flynn glanced at Vivienne with a hint of reproach but said nothing more.

Imogen, standing close to Flynn, also kept quiet.

Heloise, however, was not so easily silenced. “If I can’t even talk about what she did…”

Cecilia, fuming, looked ready to lash out. “You…”

“Enough, Aunt! How has my sister-in-law Vivienne wronged you? Do you really want me to tell Dad

everything your family has done and see who ends up embarrassed?”

The sharp rebuke stunned everyone—not least because it came from Kenneth, the youngest after

Isolde.

Vivienne was taken aback, too. Kenneth was standing up for her?

Kenneth’s face turned red at the sudden attention. Ever since he found out Vivienne was Aaron’s

coach, he did not know how to face her and had come to believe she was worthy of his brother

Percival.

Caught up in the moment and fed up with Heloise’s relentless attacks on Vivienne, he had blurted out

his defense.

Finally, Flynn broke the awkward silence, ruffling Kenneth’s hair with a laugh. “Look how much you’ve

grown, Kenneth! When I left, you were only this tall. Now look at you, a star in the E-sports scene!”

Kenneth was a child Flynn had found and wanted to reunite with his biological parents. After a fruitless

search, Flynn had intended for one of his brothers to adopt Kenneth, but none were willing except his

third brother. However, he was too occupied back then and never followed through on the matter. He

had thought about sending Kenneth to an orphanage, but with his pleading eyes, the boy had won

Flynn over, and he ended up adopting him.

Flynn had no experience with children, so he relied heavily on his third brother’s family. Over time,

Kenneth had become more their child than his.

“I learned from the best,” Kenneth mumbled, still embarrassed.

“You followed your brother around as a kid, and you still do,” Flynn teased, earning a few chuckles and

easing the tension brought on by Heloise.

Aurelia called everyone to dinner, and Richard, supported by Vivienne and Imogen, made his way to

the table. Flynn and Percival trailed behind.

“You’ve got good taste, kid. Vivienne is impressive,” Flynn said, nodding towards Percival.

Percival replied indifferently, “How would you know Vivienne is impressive?”

Flynn glanced back and explained, “Your mom told me. When Imogen found out who Vivienne was,

she went nuts wanting her autograph.”

At the dinner table, everyone doted on Imogen, with Isolde cheekily asking, “Auntie Imogen, how did

Uncle catch your eye when he’s so much older?”

Flynn nearly choked on his food. “Hey, little miss. You were just gushing over how good-looking I am

compared to your brother. Standing next to you, anyone would look old!”

“That’s because I didn’t see Auntie Imogen yet. She’s so young and pretty, like Vivienne. So, compared

to her, you look much older.”

Isolde’s comment drew laughter, and Flynn could not argue—Imogen really was much younger than

him.

“It’s true. Imogen is only twenty-five, fifteen years younger than me,” Flynn said, looking at Imogen

adoringly. “She’s still in grad school. We met at Magnolia University.”

“So, it was love at first sight for Uncle Flynn?” Isolde looked excited.

Imogen giggled shyly. “Not exactly. When your uncle gave a lecture at our school, lots of girls were

smitten. But I was the one who fell for him first.”

Flynn took Imogen’s hand, his voice tender. “Out of all those girls, you were the one I saw. So yes, you

could say it was love at first sight.”

As sweet sentiments floated between them, Richard smiled approvingly. Isolde giggled behind her

hand. “So sweet, even sweeter than my brother and Vivienne!”Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join

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Percival, who was nonchalantly feeding Vivienne, looked at his sister and stated, “Vivienne and I aren’t

like that.”

Vivienne nodded in agreement after swallowing the piece of meat Percival had offered.

Percival wiped a smudge of grease from Vivienne’s lips.

“Right, right,” Flynn teased, “you two are just the picture of subtlety.”

“Of course,” Percival said, offering another piece of meat to Vivienne.

Dinner was quite the scene, watching two lovey-dovey couples making everyone else look bad!

After the meal, the whole family caught up on old times. Fiona was not feeling well, so she and Heloise

decided to head home early.

Isolde was fighting to keep her eyes open, and Cecilia ushered her upstairs to bed.

Kenneth felt it was time to make his exit, too, and scurried back to his room without much fuss.

Richard took Flynn and Percival to the study for a more serious chat.

Downstairs, Vivienne and Imogen were deep in conversation about perfumes and fashion design.

Imogen was studying to be a fashion designer and had heaps of questions for Vivienne, who was a

well of knowledge on the subject.

The atmosphere in the study was not as lively as the rest of the house had been.

“So, Flynn,” Richard began, “Your older brothers have let me down, and I’ve had to show them the door

at the company. Percival has filled you in on the details, hasn’t he?”

Flynn nodded. “He did, but I want to know what’s going on with Fiona?”

Percival raised his eyes, his voice calm and measured, “She broke the law.”

His words were succinct, and that was all Flynn needed to know.

Percival had his affairs to manage, and Flynn had known this for a long time. He never pried into the

family business to avoid complicating his nephew’s life unnecessarily.

Richard continued, “Flynn, Percival has his hands full with the company, and it’s tough going it alone.

Your second brother left quite a mess. How about you step in and take over?”

Flynn pursed his lips, mulling it over. “Dad, I’ll join the company, but once Percival has fully taken over,

I’d still like to pursue my own endeavors.”