The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

After hanging up the phone, Vivienne buckled her seat belt and turned to look at Percival with a serious expression. “Mr. Wolf, | want to get married!” “Alright, let’s go grab some... Eh? What did you say?” Percival thought Vivienne was saying she was hungry and didn’t quite catch her words at first. Suddenly, he felt something was off.

Had he just heard his little lady say she wanted to get married? Right? That's what she said, right? His ears couldn't be deceiving him, could they? Vivienne chuckled, leaning in close to his ear, and whispered, “I said | want to get married! Don’t you?” “Yes!” Percival replied, starting the car with determination, “Let's go get that license right now!” He had no idea why Vivienne would suddenly want to get married after a phone call, but he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

Right here, right now, he was going to make his little lady his wife! Vivienne, “There's no need to rush!” “Of course there is! It’s urgent!” Speeding up, he wished he could fly to the courthouse to get that piece of paper that was worth mere dollars but priceless in his heart.

Vivienne burst into laughter. “Why are you so eager?” Percival glanced at her while keeping the speed up, “Want to find out?” “Nope!” Seeing that Percival was already driving toward the Ellington Mansion, Vivienne pinched the bridge of her nose and placed her other hand over his, saying, “What | mean is, we need to pick up the pace. The cat-and-mouse ghas gone on long enough. Once we catch that poisonous rat, we’ll get married!” Percival replied, “It won't affect us getting the license.” Vivienne was speechless. She had shot herself in the foot by bringing up marriage out of the blue! Now, her Mr. Wolf wouldn’t rest until they had that marriage license in hand! Oh well! If they were going to get married, so be it! After all, she was bound to becMrs. Ellington sooner or later! Half an hour later, they arrived at the Ellington Mansion, and Percival dashed in to grab the necessary documents, then rushed back out.

Cecilia and Richard were left bewildered. Before they could ask any questions, Percival had vanished from their sight.

Richard looked at the empty doorway and asked Cecilia, “That was Percival just now, wasn’t it?” Cecilia glanced toward the door, uncertain. “I think so?” It must have been, right? Richard added, “Where's he off to in such a hurry? Looked like he was holding his ID?” Cecilia thought for a moment. “He left so quickly | didn’t see clearly, but it did look like an ID. Why would he need his ID all of a sudden?” Richard shook his head. “No idea.” Then, he went back to enjoying his coffee.

Meanwhile Percival had grabbed the necessary documents, and headed straight for the Perez household.

Striding into Vivienne’s room, he found her documents in no time.

As for why he knew exactly where to look - he had asked Vivienne more than once about where she kept her documents, determined that if she ever agreed to marry, he would be able to retrieve them quickly, leaving no chance for second thoughts.

He was grateful for his foresight! With the documents in hand, Percival left the Perez household just as briskly as he had entered.

The Perez family was equally dumbfounded.

Jasper was the first to speak up, “What on earth has gotten into that boy?” The others shook their heads. “No idea!” With the documents secured, Percival drove straight to the courthouse, only to find it closed - it was the weekend! Percival’s face turned dark with frustration. He had anticipated every possible obstacle except for the weekend! Vivienne, trying to hide her amusement, suggested, “Looks like today’s not meant to be. We'll do it when we cback from M State, okay?” “Even if it’s raining knives, I'm getting that license today.” With that, Percival pulled out his phone and, for the first tever in his life, used his privileges in the government.

Twenty minutes later, Percival and Vivienne stepped out of the courthouse, holding the marriage license in their hands.

The sunlight shone down, highlighting the marriage license.

He looked at the piece of paper in his hand and let out a sigh of relief.

Finally! His little lady was now his lawful wife! Vivienne, on the other hand, was in a daze. Had she really just married herself off? Was she now a married woman? Percival embraced Vivienne, his cool lips nearing her ear, his warm breath on her face as he whispered, “Vivienne, you're mine now!” Vivienne smiled back.

Impulsive as it was to get married on the spur of the moment, it felt... surprisingly blissful.

After a moment's embrace, Percival took Vivienne’s hand. “Let's go!” Vivienne paused, “Where to?” “M State!” Vivienne, “Wait, aren't we going to celebrate?” Such a momentous occasion as getting married surely warranted a toast, a celebration, didn’t it? “First, we take care of that poisonous rat, then we celebrate!” Percival said, leading Vivienne to the car and carefully buckling her in.

He spoke with a serious tone, “I'm going to throw a grand wedding, make you the happiest bride ever!” Vivienne’s lips curled into a slight smile. “Ronald has already booked the flight!” Percival hesitated for a moment. “Then we celebrate first!” Vivienne was at a loss for words.

Taking out his phone, Percival snapped a picture of the marriage license, then opened Facebook. Without any caption, just the photo of the license, he hit the post button.

Vivienne couldn’t help herself; with a mischievous grin, she also posted on Facebook.

Once the post was live, she turned to Percival and teased, “Now that the post’s gone viral, you're in for it!” “There's no trouble greater than not having you as my wife,” Percival retorted with a determined gaze.

To him, the only real problem was the prospect of life without Vivienne.

Everything else...

Well, those were insignificant in comparison Meanwhile, at the Perez Mansion, a roar shattered the silence of the suburban evening.

“Damn it! Percival, you sneaky bastard, you've gone and whisked away my precious niece!” Maddox's bellow reverberated through the family home, sending shock waves among the relatives.

Jasper, propped up by Zelda, emerged from the living room, asking in a panic, “What did you just say? Who whisked who away?” It sounded like Percival had whisked Vivienne away.

Zelda, equally alarmed, pressed, “I heard you say Percival whisked Vivienne away? What in heaven's nis going on?” Maddox was fuming, his face dark as thunder. “Check your phones! Look at Percival’s Facebook post. He's tricked Vivienne into getting a marriage license!” He was livid! Sure, he had often joked about setting Percival and Vivienne up, but the thought of his beloved niece actually being spirited away to tie the knot had him itching for retribution as if he wanted to flay Percival alive! At that moment, the elder Perez siblings emerged, each with a grimace upon hearing the news. They whipped out their smartphones and saw the Facebook posts that Percival and Vivienne had shared.

A chorus of curses followed as they joined Maddox in his rage, “That little punk, just you wait, I'm going to tear him limb from limb!”