The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

On the other side of town, Vivienne sat contentedly in the car, having just polished off a luscious strawberry cheesecake that Percival had brought her.

With a full belly, she finally remembered the matter at hand.

“So, you mentioned you had a crucial video conference tonight. What's got you swinging by all of a sudden?” Vivienne leaned in, eyeing Percival curiously.

Percival, driving with his usual cool demeanor, cleared his throat. “That conference is nothing compared to you.” “I never told you where | was heading today,” Vivienne said with a teasing smile, though Percival felt a chill run down his spine at her grin.

Exhaling softly, Percival eased the car to a stop in front of a bustling steakhouse, turned to Vivienne, and said, “I got a call from Kenneth about you being at Elite University, so | thought I'd check on you.” Vivienne rubbed her temples, somewhat exasperated. “Aaron’s just a kid. Why are you always so concerned with him?” Percival parked the car and looked at her, “I simply can’t stand any man coveting you, even if that man is just a boy.” Vivienne gazed at Percival. She had always heard that a man in jealousy was at his most handsome, but she had not expected it to be this striking! Could it be that because the man was Percival, he appeared so irresistibly dashing? He was so handsome, and she loved it! Percival playfully tapped Vivienne’s nose. “Let's go have your favorite beef stew.” Vivienne wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a firm kiss on his lips before cheerily hopping out of the car. x] The kiss left Percival breathless, wishing for another.

Vivienne thought to herself, “Opportunities like this don’t coften!” As they sat down to the bubbling hot pot, Vivienne devoured the meal with gusto.

“Mr. Wolf, Ill be heading to Mara’s place tomorrow to treat her injury. Wait for my signal,” she said, gobbling down a piece of tripe.

Percival, ever so composed, wiped a bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth and said, “Understood.” Vivienne's lips curled into a sly smile; she was eager to see what was really going on.

The next morning, Vivienne knocked on Mara’s apartment door, only to be greeted by Aaron.

“What are you doing here?” She frowned in surprise.

Aaron grinned. “Vivienne, I'm here to fix the computer for our senior.” From inside, Mara called out, “Vivienne? Cin. I'm just in the shower.” Vivienne’s brows rose inquisitively. A shower this early? Aaron's face turned scarlet. “Vivienne, it’s not what you think, really!” Mara emerged, wrapped in a towel. If not for the scar on her face, she looked utterly radiant.

“Vivienne, we spilled ssoy milk during breakfast, so | went to rinse off. Please don’t misunderstand,” Mara explained with a smile.

Vivienne brushed past Aaron and made her way straight to Mara. “Did you touch your scar while showering?” Mara chuckled inwardly, feeling validated in her suspicion that there was something between Vivienne and Aaron, and Vivienne was just playing hard to get.

She winked at Aaron and then turned to Vivienne, “No, I've been careful, just like you said.” “Good. Shall we start here or in the bedroom?” Vivienne asked, her voice cold.

Aaron felt the drop in temperature and grew uneasy. Every tVivienne was upset in his presence, he felt helpless.

“Let’s go to the bedroom. Aaron, wait here for me. Thanks for your help,” Mara said sweetly, adjusting her towel before giving Aaron a reassuring smile.

Aaron nodded awkwardly, avoiding Vivienne’s penetrating gaze.

Hearing Mara address Aaron so familiarly sent a wave of frost through Vivienne’s veins.

She grabbed her medical kit and headed to Mara’s bedroom.

Aaron, desperate to explain, was stopped by Mara, “I'm about to change in the bedroom. Where do you think you're going?” Aaron’s ears turned red. “I... | was just...” Mara laughed softly. “I'll go first.” In the bedroom, Mara changed and sat on the bed. “Vivienne, are you upset?” Vivienne glanced at her, then looked away. “Why would | be upset?” “I thought you and Aaron were close. | didn’t want to upset you.” Vivienne lifted her gaze, a faint smile playing on her lips. Mara was quite the little minx, huh? She thought Mara was simply naive, but she had underestimated her.

Applying silicone to Mara’s face, Vivienne asked, “Did you drink a pot of green tea before your shower?” Mara blinked in confusion.

Vivienne inserted a microchip into Mara’s scar. “Trying to light up the whole forest with your green glow, are we?” “What are you talking about? What forest?” Mara was lost.

As Vivienne inserted needles into Mara’s scar, Mara screamed in pain. “What are you doing? It hurts!” Vivienne packed her things. “Beauty comes at a cost.” Mara writhed in agony, feeling as if her face was being forcibly molded back together, a tormenting blend of pain and itchiness as if countless ants crawled over her skin.

“What have you done to my face? | agreed to let you experiment, but you can’t take my life!” Vivienne sat back, waiting for Mara’s reaction, and casually played a gof Tetris on her phone while sending a message to Percival.

[Ready for the test.] Percival replied promptly: [Okay.] About an hour had passed, and Vivienne had just stacked her Tetris blocks to the top for the tenth time.

As a few I-shaped pieces fell into place, the screen cleared of blocks.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated for All Books Updates...

The pain on Mara’s face finally began to subside.

She had been in so much agony that sweat matted her hair, and her voice was hoarse with screams.

“Is it over?” Mara asked, voice quivering.

Glancing at the new high score on her screen, Vivienne could not help but smile with satisfaction before she stood up to examine Mara’s wound.

Good, it was healing—three millimeters already closed.

Truth be told, Vivienne could have restored Mara’s face to its original state in under two minutes, a trivial task for her.

But she was not about to let Mara off that easily, not when there were experiments to be conducted on her.

Vivienne’s phone pinged with a message from Percival.

[Chip is responsive.] She was pleased.

Excellent.

This meant their research was on the right track.

The reason she had agreed to treat Mara’s wound was to use her as a test subject to experiment with that chip.

Her mother had already analyzed the chip they had removed from Barnaby, and although she had not cracked the mystery of how it controlled the onset of death, everything else was figured out.