The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne's mind raced to one nthe moment the trouble started.

Abigail.

It seemed they couldn't hide their true colors any longer.

Percival seemed to have reached the sconclusion. Stepping forward, he took Vivienne's hand, "They've tipped their hand too early. Just a nudge from us and they'll reveal themselvespletely." Vivienne's eyes narrowed.

She wasn't sure of many things.

But one thing she was certain of was that those bold enough to cross her were in for a rough ride.

Draven arrived with his team to report to Vivienne, "Boss, we lost their trail midway through the south side of town, but we managed to intercept sof their cargo, now stored in..." "How many are injured?" Draven paused, then lowered his gaze, "Nothing serious, just minor injuries." Vivienne stepped forward, grabbed Draven's wrist to check for himself, and frowned, "Injured near the heart and you call this minor?" After her inspection, she pulled out a half-bottle of the Life-saving Elixir from her pocket, "Distribute this, and don't say I don't take care of my team." Draven stood frozen, holding the half-bottle of Life-saving Elixir.

As Vivienne and Percival walked further in, Leopold cover and patted Draven on the shoulder, "Man, you should count your blessings. Do you have any idea how precious Vivienne's Life-saving Elixir is? She gave you half a bottle. Even my mentors haven't received such generosity.

"Leopold, are youing or not?" Vivienne's voice echoed from ahead, and Leopold instantly switched gears, "Ah, yeah,ing,ing... Wait up, Vivienne..." In the room, a hole revealed a hidden painting, beneath which was a secret lab.

What it was used for, only a personal inspection would reveal.

Draven handed Vivienne a gas mask, his face no longer pale, "Boss, we're not sure if these documents were left as a decoy. It might be risky, better wear this." Vivienne took it and put it on.

Abigail had managed to stay under the radar for so long, her planning was undoubtedly meticulous.

These items might not hold significant value.

But for Vivienne, it could be a crucial clue to unraveling Abigail's secrets.

Percival, understanding Vivienne's intent, also took a gas mask, "Bring two more, I'm going down with Vivienne to check." Upon hearing 'two more,' Leopold's heart sank, "You don't mean one of those is for me, do you?" Percival gave him a look, "Are youing or not?" Leopold wanted to cry: With everyone going down, why dragalong? While they talked, Vivienne had already jumped down.

Above was a nondescript house, but below lay a substantial laboratory. All equipment that couldn't be moved in twas destroyed, leaving only scattered documents.

Vivienne picked up the documents, recognizing their content at a glance.

"The Elixir of Immortality." Percival spoke up, "It's definitely her." Leopold, climbing up from the floor, paused, "You gotta be kidding me. After all this, that witch is still on about finding the elixir of immortality? From heart-stealing to experiments, what's wrong with her mind?" "Thinks she's the next Queen Elizabeth, clinging to this world?" Having seen Samantha's true face, Leopold could only picture Abigail as a monstrous entity, neither male nor female.

Such a person didn't deserve humanity.

Calling her a witch was apliment.

Then, Leopold paused, sensing something off, "Vivienne, why would someone researching immortality need living human hearts? How do those connect?" Percival's eyes narrowed, "The heart might not be for the immortality research, but it's definitely related to Abigail." Vivienne thought the same.

The essence of ST-1 was to alter human gics, making human trials somewhat futile.

Especially using a heart removed from the body.

But from the scenes they'd encountered, Abigail seemed desperate for such items.

And specifically, the fresh hearts of young women.

It resembled a ritual offering more than anything.

But the true reason behind it might not be far from Vivienne's grasp now.

Looking at the intercepted cargo of ST-1 prototypes, Vivienne found them useless to her cause.

Percival helped Vivienne up.

Leaving Leopold below, dumbfounded, "Vivienne, what about all this stuff?" With everyone gone, he couldn't possibly move all that on his own.

All that gear looked dead heavy.

Vivienne, removing her mask above, tucked her hair behind her ear and instructed Draven, "It's of no use, burn it all." Leopold, startled, "Huh?" Draven approached the hole, looking down at Leopold standing stupidly below, and said without a change in expression, "If you don'te up now, there really will be toxic gas down there." At the Wright family estate.

Brianna, returning home, had just parked her car in the garage when she spotted a shadow darting nearby, its presence eerie.

She screamed in fright.

Hearing her, the shadow halted its sneaky advance, turning towards her with a menacing air.

Brianna turned pale, too terrified even to look as she stumbled to the ground trembling, "Don't kill me, please, I beg you. I'm the Wright family's daughter; I'll give you whatever you want..." "Useless thing!" Brianna shook harder, as if facing a bigger scare, and looked up to find only a half-mask before quickly bowing her head again, respectfully greeting, "Grandfather!" "I... I didn't know it was you..." Hunter glanced at her coldly, his voice dripping with disdain, "Thought you'd be more useful than Alyssa, but you're even more worthless, a total disgrace." Brianna couldn't muster a word in her defense, merely lowering her head pleading, "Grandfather, I realize my fault. It won't happen again..." "Let today's incident go unspoken." As a breeze passed, Hunter had vanished when Brianna looked up again, leaving her alone in the vast garage, kneeling in an even more eerie silence.

But deep down, Brianna knew the encounter with Hunter wasn't just happenstance.

The drop of blood on the ground was the evidence.

It was exactly where Hunter's right hand had hung moments before.

With that thought, Brianna steadied herself, brushed the dirt off her jeans, and hurried towards the Victorian-style house.

Shepletely disregarded Hunter's earlier caution.

"Bro, you won't believe who I just saw!" Brianna burst through the door only to find the person inside half-dressed, about to slip into a dark shirt.

What struck her as odd wasn't the her et าอยู่ frail frof the body, but the myriad of scars crisscrossing the back - old wounds that seemed to tell tales of numerous battles, creating a shocking sight at first glance. Brianna was momentarily stunned.

She had never known her brother to bear so many scars.

But then, her brother had never left the confines of the Wright family estate, had he? Feeling her gaze, Colin's eyes flashed sharply, "Get out!" Brianna snapped out of her daze, her expression tightening as she quickly stepped back, whispering apologetically, "Sorry, bro, I didn't realize you were changing." After a few minutes, when Brianna thought she'd be left waiting forever, Colin suddenly opened the door, his expression as calm as ever, e in." Following him inside, Brianna couldn't help but eye Colin's figure uneasily, "Bro, you..." "Don't ask questions you shouldn't," Colin's tone was light, yet carried a clear warning.