The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Harrison's eyes flashed with an icy chill, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

After a brief silence, the brooding look on his face faded, and he turned towards Vivienne and Percival with a gaze that was subtly warm, though its sincerity was questionable. "Ms. Hawthorn, let's not stir the pot here. Let's focus on the matter at hand, the Littleton family's lawsuit. I understand the lawyer handling it is a colleague of yours, Ms. Hawthorn. I hope you could persuade him to drop the defense." Finally, they were getting to the heart of the matter.

Vivienne lifted her gaze, signaling for him to continue.

Harrison raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of determination. “You've judgedbased solely on Kaitlyn's words, Ms. Hawthorn, which seems rather unfair." "I admit, my initial intentions with the Littleton family were not pure, but before I could act, tragedy struck. I even went back to the Littleton's lab to check the medicines myself. The formula had issues long before I arrived, which had nothing to do with me." Leopold scoffed, "A culprit never admits they're the culprit. Mr. Schram, are you so sure because you have evidence?" Thomas's eyes flickered, suddenly understanding the purpose of their meeting. "If Mr. Schram truly believes he's innocent, why does he keep bothering our lady and Percival?" "It's because Harrison doesn't want to clash with Mr. Ellington," Sophie chimed in, unable to resist joining the conversation. She stomped her foot, tilting her chin up in a playful yet adorable gesture, "The Ellington family, being the most prestigious in Rivenwood, and also my sister's maternal grandparents, obviously Harrison doesn't want to make enemies. Yet, speople, misguided by gossip, think they're on the side of justice. Mr. Ellington, she's just trying to ruin the relationship between the Ellington and Abernathy families!” As Sophie's words settled, the atmosphere, which had momentarily softened, tensed up again. The spacious dining room fell silent, the breathing of the few present audible in the quiet.

A shadow flickered across Harrison's face.

Cursing Sophie internally for her knack for making matters worse, he wondered why she would mention the relationship between the Ellington and Abernathy families in front of Percival. Was she trying to stir up trouble? "I was unaware of any relationship between the Ellington and Abernathy families," ca chilling voice, even making those close feel a shiver down their spine.

Victoria instinctively stepped back.

Everyone, through their expressions and gestures, seemed to distance themselves from Sophie.

Harrison remained silent, coldly watching as the scene unfolded, waiting to step over Sophie's "corpse" for his gain.

But the eye of the storm, Sophie, was blissfully unaware.

Without thinking, she blurted out, "Percival, have you forgotten? The Ellington and Abernathy families are related by marriage. Your aunt is my father's wife... uh..." Realizing too late what she had said, her voice trailed off into an awkward silence, her words dissolving into nothingness.

But to Vivienne, none of that mattered anymore.

Feeling the mounting anger beside her, Vivienne gently patted Percival's back, her gaze towards Sophie filled with unmistakable scorn, "So, you admit you're the illegitimate daughter?" "I thought from the way you spoke earlier, you considered yourself the legitimate heiress of the Abernathy family." Vivienne's words were delivered with a smile, but to everyone but Percival, they felt an overwhelming pressure, a suffocating weight that made it hard to breathe.

"You..." Sophie started, indignant yet unable to form a rebuttal, especially in the face of Percival's wrathful demeanor, which seemed to emerge straight from the depths of hell.

Her plea for help turned to Leopold, who conveniently shifted his gaze away a second too soon.

He wasn't about to step into this mess for Sophie.

Seeing her play the victim card fail, Sophie clenched her teeth in rustration, looking hopefully at Victoria, "Sister, you... you're just joing to stand there and let them ully me?" ¡wVictoria raised an eyebrow, expertly ignoring her, "Didn't you have something you wanted to say to them? Hurry up, don't waste my time." "Sister!" "Ms. Hawthorn, to be frank, I've been holding onto evidence of the Littleton family's crimes.” Knowing Victoria shared his disdain for Vivienne, Harrison pressed his lips together, swallowing his frustration before continuing, "And this lawsuit, we surely won't lose." Harrison adjusted his suit, his expression unusually warm, "You're Victoria's brother and sister-in-law.↓ don't want to see our family torne apart over someone like Kaitlyn, nor do I want to see Leopold's reputation ruined because of a woman who can't seem to tell the truth." Seeing him with that 'I'm just trying to help' look on his face, Vivienne couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, is that so? Well then, here's to Mr. Schram's success." If she had known it was going to be this kind of baseless accusation, she wouldn't have bothered coming to this gathering. What a waste of time! A look of boredom flashed through Vivienne's eyes as she yawned.

This time, without any hesitation, she linked arms with Percival and made their way out of the hotel restaurant. "Mr. Wolf, let's just go hand take a nap. Seeing them has completely putoff my food." Percival had no objections. As they left, his icy gaze swept over the group behind them.

His gaze finally settled on Victoria, who was caught off guard and looked momentarily stunned.

She then quickly reverted back to her usual demeanor, pretending she hadn't seen Percival's look at all. "Percival, don't go!" Just as the elevator doors were closing, Sophie finally reacted.

Her delicate voice called out to Percival, her long legs moving quickly as she rushed toward the elevator. Unfortunately, she was a step too late.

Moving too quickly to stop, she slammed into the fully closed elevator doors with a loud bang.

That sound alone made Victoria wince, but then she couldn't help but take malicious pleasure in Sophie's misfortune, "Serves her right!" Her muttered curse was caught by Harrison, who looked at her and then at Sophie, who was on the verge of tears, "Did you do that on purpose?" Victoria's heart skipped a beat, and she blinked innocently, "Do what on purpose?" "You knew Sophie liked Percival, and you brought her here anyway. You just wanted to embarrass her, didn't you, Victoria? Can't you stop being so childish?" "Oh, so this was all your plan?!" Hearing the commotion, Sophie, holding her now misshapen nose, charged over, raising her hand as if to strike.