The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

“Oh,” Karen muttered under her breath, realization dawning on her. So this was the infamous Gillian.

The incredibly foolish idiot!

It wasn’t surprising she described her that way; in Karen's eyes, Gillian was just that.

Stupid, despicable, and needing a beating!

How had Vivienne not knocked her lights out?

Gillian, hands clutched around her neck, took several deep breaths, cursing under her breath at Thomas for

being such a brute with no chivalry.

After a moment, she finally turned her attention to Karen.

The legendary former captain of the Vanguard Agency, known as Lark.

And, as fate would have it, Vivienne’'s mother!

Gillian narrowed her eyes. “Who the hell are you? This is the secret Vanguard Agency prison! You think you can

just waltz in here as you please? Thomas, lettell you, you're in for a punishment! Don’t think just because

Vance toldto stay out of Vanguard Agency's business that | can’t deal with you!”

Before Gillian could finish, Karen lunged forward, gripping Gillian’s throat tightly.

She slammed her against the wall, feet dangling, struggling in vain.

Even Thomas, standing aside, was taken aback by how swiftly Karen had acted.

Gillian was gasping for air, on the verge of passing out.

“Dying is easy, and | could help you with that,” Karen's voice was as cold as the Arctic.

Gillian, twice throttled, was furious but no match for Karen. She wanted to fight back, but a twisted smile crossed

her face instead. “Go ahead, kill me! Let's see if you dare!”

Karen's lips curled into a smirk, her free hand tracing Gillian’s contorted face, her fingertip grazing the skin,

leaving a painful sting.

Karen's icy gaze met Gillian’s, whispering with a devilish tinge, “Don’t rush. What's so scary about death? The

real terror is wanting to die but being unable to. Your life is in my hands now. I'll decide when to send you to

hell.”

Thomas looked at the wicked smile on her face, a spitting image of Vivienne.

Like mother, like daughter - a frightening duo indeed!

Karen dropped Gillian to the floor with controlled force. The fall drew blood and broke a few ribs, but nothing

more serious.

Brushing off her hands, Karen spoke, “By the way, this is the Vanguard Agency's secret prison. If | decide to

enter, it opens its doors wide. Got that, Gillian?”

Thomas couldn't help but chuckle.

Did Gillian really think she stood taller than Karen?

Not even Webster would dare cross Karen!

Karen's refusal to return to the Vanguard Agency had been a choice of preference, not a necessity.

At the mere mention of her name, the Agency would've rolled out the red carpet.

Such was the prestige of this secret prison, and Karen could cand go as she pleased.

Even now, Karen's records were held in the highest confidentiality at headquarters, her medals enough to crush

anyone.

Today's visit through Thomas was merely an adherence to the agency’s protocol.

Karen waved to Thomas and then left the prison.

Flynn wasn’t as simple as he seemed, and she suspected there were questions left unasked.

After her departure, Thomas, not wanting to linger, left Gillian to her own devices.

It took Gillian a while to regain her composure, gasping for air before standing up.

Karen was even more terrifying than Vivienne. When would this mother-and-daughter pair finally be gone?

Rubbing her chest, Gillian stumbled into Flynn's cell.

Flynn yawned. “What, they've changed the help that brings meals?”

Gillian tossed in a pill. “Look closely. I'm Gillian!”

“Hmm? You've been beaten up? Tsk, poor thing,” Flynn said, catching the pill and swallowing it down.

No sooner had he ingested it than his brow furrowed tightly, and he collapsed in agony, drenched in sweat,

nearly unconscious.

Gillian watched, her brow knitting at the sight.

Truly horrifying.

She wondered what they were all playing at.

“Someone will transfer you tomorrow. Try to avoid Karen if you can,” Gillian said quickly, then hurried off, fearing

Flynn's madness might drag her down, too.

Unseen by anyone, the surveillance in the cell silently erased the footage of Gillian dispensing the pill.

Meanwhile, at the YQ Research Center, Vivienne had finally made a breakthrough in her experiments.

A satisfied smile played on her lips. “Success!”

Percival, always in the dark about Vivienne’s work, saw she was finished and ruffled her hair. “How's it going?

Hungry?”

Brody, from the side, muttered, “Didn’t she just wolf down a ton of sushi?”

Vivienne shook her head. “I'll eat later. | need to discuss something with my mom. When is she back?”

As if on cue, Karen pushed open the door. “I'm back now, and I've got something to discuss with you, too.”

The mother and daughter shared a knowing smile, and Percival tactfully exited.

In the lab, Vivienne showed her findings to Karen. “ST-1 can heal Calista’s failing organs; could it also revive your

memory?”

“That's what | wanted to talk about,” replied Karen, examining Vivienne’s work. “From what we've seen, it's

possible.”

The moment Vivienne saw Calista’s organs healed by ST-1, she thought of using it to treat Karen's amnesia.

Karen’s amnesia wasn't due to spsychosomatic trauma; it was the result of a nasty blow to the head,

perhaps compounded by ssort of drug cocktail administered by shady characters like F-Poison.

The knock on the noggin she suffered at Diana’s hands had done more than just ring her bell—it had caused

semi-permanent damage to her memory banks.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated for All

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Bit by bit, Karen had clawed back snippets of her past through sheer willpower and self-treatment, but the full

memories remained frustratingly out of reach.

If this miracle compound ST-1 could rejuvenate dying cells, maybe, just maybe, it could patch up the frayed

tapestry of Karen's memory as well.

“Mom, | want to give it a shot, but | can’t make any promises. The trials look promising, but there's no

guarantee, and we might be opening a whole can of worms,” Vivienne confessed, her voice betraying a rare note

of uncertainty.

Vivienne was usually the epitof confidence, a walking and talking medical encyclopedia who could pinpoint

an ailment with her hands tied behind her back. But this was uncharted territory, even for Karen.

This wasn’t just sroutine procedure; it was an all-or-nothing gamble, a high-stakes experiment with no room

for error.

And the patient was her mother. How could Vivienne not feel the weight of the world on her shoulders? One

wrong move, and she could lose her mom forever.

Karen clasped Vivienne’s hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“Scared, are you? Or are you more scared I'll cto my senses and slap ssense into you?” she teased, a

wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Really, Mom? Jokes at a tlike this?” Vivienne pleaded, guiding Karen to take a seat. “If | mess this up, you

might never find your way back to us.”