The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

In the hospital, Carl was still in surgery, his condition more severe than Ashley’s, who was the first to

regain consciousness.

The entire Brooks family had rushed to the hospital, relieved to see Ashley’s eyes flutter open.

Melissa was beside herself with tears. “You scared the life out of me, Ashley! If something happened to

you, how on earth could I face your father?”

Ashley, still too weak to speak, glanced around the room, her eyes searching for Vivienne, who was not

there.

Darren seemed to grasp what she was looking for and leaned in to whisper, “Ashley, Vivienne’s still in

surgery with Carl. She’ll be here as soon as it’s over.”

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief. Her gaze then shifted back to her mother, her eyes brimming with

tears.

Kala chimed in, “Don’t cry now, Ashley. Vivienne said you’ve got a scrape on your face, and tears won’t

help it heal. You don’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours, so be good, won’t you?”

Ronald also tried to comfort Melissa, “Aunt, no need to cry. Didn’t Vivienne say that Ashley and Carl

are out of danger? They’ll be up and about in a few days. You crying like this will only have them

worrying about you when they wake up.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Melissa managed, dabbing at her eyes. She took her daughter’s hand. “If it

weren’t for Vivienne, you and Carl would’ve been goners. Charlotte told me how Vivienne and Percival

braved a cliff jump to save you two. Terrifying, I tell you.”

Ashley pressed her lips together, wanting to say something but feeling too drained. She soon drifted

back to sleep.

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When she woke again, most of the machines had been removed, but her legs were still numb, and she

was still in recovery. Vivienne had made sure she stayed put to avoid injuring herself further.

Carl, too, had been brought out of the operating room, awaiting consciousness. Ashley found her voice

again.

“Mom, where’s Vivienne?” She asked.

She remembered that just before she had passed out, it was Vivienne who had grasped her hand and

promised, “I’m here; you’re not going to die.”

Just then, Vivienne entered the room with her usual detached tone, as if speaking to a typical patient.

“Awake now? You’ll be bedridden for a month, and then it’s rehab for you. Your legs took a bad hit;

getting back on them will take some training.”

Ashley bit her lower lip, staring deeply at Vivienne, before finally mustering the strength to speak, “After

everything I’ve done to you, why did you still save me? Shouldn’t you be happy to laugh at me?”

Vivienne simply replied, “To laugh at you, you’d need to be alive.”

Ashley could not help but laugh and then quickly composed herself. “I was wrong before. I’m sorry. I

shouldn’t have doubted your intentions. You’ve never been cruel. Mom’s right; you’ve always had your

reasons.

I don’t expect forgiveness; I just want you to know I won’t blame you anymore. I was jealous because

the family treated you so well. Now I see you deserve it.”

Exhausted from her confession, Ashley took a deep breath, feeling a bit more at ease.

Vivienne nodded. “Okay, I got it.”

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Ashley was not a bad person, just prone to envy.

“Aunt Melissa, I have to go,” Vivienne told Melissa.

“Thank you, Vivienne, for all your help with Mr. Ellington,” Melissa replied.

“We’re family,” Vivienne stated simply, squeezing Melissa’s hand before leaving the room.

Percival was waiting outside, and they walked out of the hospital together, only to run into Fiona in her

wheelchair, accompanied by a new face.

“What a coincidence to see you here,” Fiona said with a faint smile, though her tone was indifferent.

Percival’s eyes were cold. “It’s no coincidence. This is my hospital.”

Fiona feigned realization, “Oh, right. How could I forget? The Ellington family is all yours now.”

Then, turning to the woman with her, “Sienna, this is the Percival I told you about. Make sure to greet

them properly when you see them.”

The woman, a bit shy, introduced herself to Percival and Vivienne, “I’m Sienna, Ms. Fiona’s personal

physician. Nice to meet you both.”

Then, she extended her hand toward Vivienne and Percival.

Out of courtesy, Percival shook her hand, and Vivienne did the same, albeit briefly.

However, Vivienne felt something odd about Sienna’s skin during their handshake.

Sienna quickly withdrew her hand, “I have to take Ms. Fiona for a check-up. Until next time.”

“Until next time,” Vivienne replied, her lips curving into a smile.

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Sienna pushed Fiona’s wheelchair into the elevator while Percival and Vivienne got into their car.

Vivienne looked at her fingertip, particularly at the print of her index finger. “Mr. Wolf, what do you think

will happen next?”

Percival’s lips curled slightly, “Just some clowns jumping around. They’re not worth our time.”

Vivienne grinned, “You’re right!”

In the elevator, Fiona massaged her temples, “Did you get it?”Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join

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“Got it.” Sienna peeled off a skin-like adhesive from her palm, revealing the clear print of Vivienne’s

index finger.

Fiona nodded, satisfied, “I thought seeing Percival might unsettle you, Calista.”

Sienna, or rather, the surgically transformed Calista, half-smiled, a look of hatred and jealousy in her

eyes, said, “I have no desire to marry Percival anymore.”

Fiona looked intrigued. “Oh? What do you want to do then?”

“I want to kill them!”

Calista’s grip on Fiona’s wheelchair was white-knuckled, her fingertips blanched from the force of her

hold. She bit down hard on her lip, the sharpness of her teeth almost breaking the skin.

Memories of her bones being shattered by ruthless punches cascaded through her mind, followed by

the agony of being pumped full of drugs to hasten her recovery.

All this pain, all this suffering, it was because of Vivienne and Percival!

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Without them, she would not be in this wretched state!

Fiona smirked in the shadows, turning Vivienne’s fingerprint over in her hands and examining it with

meticulous care.

“Oh, Vivienne, just you wait for your demise.”

Meanwhile, in the car, Vivienne received a text from Leopold.

[Vivienne, I’ve checked everyone close to Carl—no issues. But that engineer, you know, a few days

back, his wife’s aunt’s step-nephew’s god-sister, the one he’s been fooling around with, she got a hefty

sum dumped into her account. The source? CK!]

Vivienne’s brow furrowed. Why would CK want Carl dead?

They were worlds apart, not even remotely connected.

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