The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Indeed, no sooner had Percival finished speaking than he received a confidential message from the higher-ups.

He was ordered to return to Rivenwood immediately to take control of the situation at Rivenwood headquarters.

Stretching languidly, Vivienne remarked, “Looks like it’s tto wrap this up.” That evening, Mara sat anxiously in the living room of the Ashford Mansion.

“Gillian, I'm still worried. What did Percival mean? | didn’t say anything, and he said he'd bring what you want.

Tian” Gillian handed Mara a cup of steaming cola. “Oh, don’t fret, sweetheart. If your brother said so, we just wait. Dad mentioned that as long as the contract and the Boyd family siring are brought over, you can inherit the Boyd family. Trust me.” To Gillian, neither the contract nor the Boyd family siring mattered much; she could not understand why Patrick was so hung up on them.

Earlier tonight, she had merely phoned Patrick to inform him that Mara had brought the items without getting into details.

Before long, Percival arrived at the Ashford Mansion with Vivienne, knocking on the door.

Gillian quickly primped her hair and went to answer the door, brimming with excitement. To her absolute surprise, the door opened to a squad of armed individuals who stormed in and surrounded the Ashford Mansion.

Staring at Percival in disbelief, Gillian asked, “Mr. Ellington, what is this?” “Patrick is suspected of drug trafficking. We're here to search the premises.” Percival produced a search warrant, flicking it so that agents from Vanguard Agency began scouring the Ashford Mansion.

“You must be mistaken; my father has been framed...” Gillian stepped back, only to see someone retrieve a plaster doll from her room. a It was a gift from Patrick for her eighteenth birthday.

With a crack, the doll shattered, spilling its contents on the floor: a bag of Keco! Vivienne approached, opened the bag, and took a sniff. “This is the original Keco we've been searching for, identical to the batch seized at the docks.” As the sound of car doors closing cfrom outside, a scream followed.

“Captain Wolf, target identified as Patrick in person, suspect is secured, we can wrap this up!” As Patrick was led inside, his face contorted in horror at the sight of the plaster doll fragments on the floor.

“Miss, | swear, this isn’t my doing. | don’t know why this would be in my house, I...” “Mr. Ashford, or rather, should I call you Mr. Keco?” Vivienne dangled the bag of Keco, shaking it with a smirk.

“How did my mom ever overlook your talent? You even ventured into drug production.” Seeing Vivienne’s reaction, a flicker of guilt crossed Patrick's eyes.

Keco was Patrick's code nwithin the GTO organization.

Patrick had fallen to his knees, realizing his end had come.

“How... How did you find out?” Since Karen's death, Patrick had been operating under GTO for the past decade, essentially acting as their chief in Sea City.

Unlike Scott and Belle, who were relentlessly searching for Karen's legacy potion, Patrick was responsible for managing GTO’s assets.

He had been amassing wealth through drug production and trafficking, providing GTO with cutting-edge bionic technology.

Over the years, he had becbolder in his illicit wealth acquisition.

Vivienne chuckled. “What's done in the dark will cto light.” Initially, Vivienne had not focused on Patrick, but his ambition to absorb the Boyd family’s mysterious business network was too great to ignore.

The Boyd family’s contract was unknown to outsiders, yet Patrick schemed to overtake the Boyds and unearth that contract, arousing Vivienne'’s suspicion.

Following the dock incident, Percival and Vivienne continued their investigation. Tracing Keco led them to the factory where it was produced - Patrick’s bionic research facility.

Outwardly, he claimed to be advancing bionic tech, but in truth, it was a front for drug production, exploiting bionic channels for profit.

Anna and Leopold also arrived at this moment.

“Captain Wolf, we've secured the factory - found a five-ton stockpile. This guy’s bigger than sinternational kingpins,” Leopold slapped Patrick on the head, “Damn, thought I'd have a big bust, but the DEA got there first.” Vivienne glanced up, knowing from Leopold's words that the factory was just a drug production site, not GTO’s virus research base.

It was another dead end, though not unexpected.

Percival’s true purpose in Sea City was known to the local division, and GTO’s virus research base would not be easily uncovered.

“Take him away.” Percival gestured for the agents to escort Patrick out and seal off the Ashford Mansion.

Gillian and Mara watched the entire ordeal, too stunned to grasp what had just unfolded.

How could her father be involved in drug trafficking? Who were Percival and Vivienne, and how could they just abduct people? What on earth was happening? She did not understand how everything had changed overnight; all she knew was that she was done for.

After Percival had shut down the Ashford Mansion, he and Vivienne left without a second glance at the heiress of the household.

It did not matter to them, after all.

The Ashford Mansion fell back into silence, and Mara finally cto her senses, swallowing hard as she whispered, “Gillian, with all that’s going on in your family, I think | should leave.” She dared not stay any longer.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated for All Books Updates...

What if she got dragged into this mess? Gillian slowly turned her head to look at the evasive Mara and let out a mocking laugh. “Mara, are you here to revel in my misfortune?” Mara shook her head, “Of course not. It’s just getting late, and with the Ashford Mansion under lockdown, if you need somewhere to go, | can offer you...” Before Mara could finish her offer, Gillian picked up a shattered piece of a porcelain doll from the ground and slid it across Mara’s face.

Gillian watched as blood began to stream down Mara’s cheek and burst into deranged laughter.

She advanced on Mara, pinning her to the ground and choking her fiercely, “You wretch, it must have been you! You and your brother set us up. That's the only explanation for how they found us. You bitch, I'm going to kill you, kill you!” Mara felt that Gillian had lost her mind. She struggled desperately, no longer caring about the pain in her face, tearing and fighting back with all her might.

“You're insane. Let go of me! Let go!”