The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne slid the bamboo slats back into the manila envelope and pulled out the documents within.

"Kaitlyn," she began, her voice suddenly slicing through the silence, "you mentioned before that it was Harrison who brought ruin

upon your family, was it because he tampered with your family's product?"

Kaitlyn blinked, a shadow of pain darkening her gaze as she recalled the past. "That's correct. The Littletons, though rooted in an

ancient line of warriors, were always more inclined towards herbal remedies. After the establishment of New Veridia, we branched

into modern medicine as well. Our pharmaceuticals were once the toast of the market, all originating from the Littleton labs."

Back in the day, referring to the Littleton enterprise as a state-owned giant wouldn't have been an overstatement.

As the sole heir to the Littleton legacy, Kaitlyn may not have had a knack for medicine, but she excelled in business management.

Upon reaching adulthood, her father entrusted her with a portion of the Littleton empire.

And she did not disappoint. During that period, the Littleton nwas synonymous with success in the domestic business circles.

But there was one thing that gnawed at Kaitlyn - her lack of medical talent. She had overheard her parents lamenting the potential

end of their family's medical legacy, and the guilt weighed heavily on her. She was determined to right this perceived wrong.

Hence, she scoured the world for a medical prodigy until she crossed paths with Harrison.

"l was out closing deals when | saw Harrison, surrounded by a bunch of thugs accusing him of stealing their thunder in front of a

mentor, claiming someone from the sticks had no business in the medical field."

The memory brought a sarcastic smile to her lips. "Back then, | was young and couldn't stand to see someone bullied, so | stepped

in to help Harrison. Little did | know, it was all a trap set by him and his cronies from those ancient warrior lineages!"

At first, Kaitlyn didn't take Harrison, a seemingly insignificant figure, seriously.

Yet, as tpassed, Harrison's shadow began to loom over every aspect of her life. He seduced her with his apparent medical

genius and made her fall in love with him.

Eventually, he wormed his way into the Littletons' top-secret pharmaceutical research team.

Everything seemed to be going well at first. The drugs Harrison developed received positive clinical feedback.

But when they were on the cusp of marriage, everything changed!

"My parents never trusted Harrison." Kaitlyn's voice broke as she covered her face with her hands, weeping, "It was my

stubbornness. | was so blinded by love that | believed Harrison was my soulmate. That's why | placed him in such a critical position,

and that's why everything fell apart. It's all my fault!"

The image of her parents’ suicide still haunted her nightmares. Consumed by guilt and regret, she spent countless sleepless nights.

It wasn't until she met Tyler that the fog of despondency began to lift.

Vivienne looked at her with a sigh. Why was it that she kept encountering women blinded by love? Mr. Wolf's aunt had been the

same, and Kaitlyn had been no different.

She patted Kaitlyn's shoulder. "You shouldn't blyourself. Even without Harrison, those greedy ancient warrior lineages would've

found another way to crush your family."

The Sheldon family had suffered the sfate.

So too had the Littletons, torn apart by the insatiable greed and reckless actions of the ancient warrior lineages that had caused

tragedies like Kaitlyn's.

Countless families had vanished, condemned by baseless accusations because they refused to bow to such tyranny.

The more Vivienne thought about it, the more she felt her next move was justified. "Leopold, send a message to Jerry. We need him

to draft two lawsuits for us to file with the courts."

"Right away, Vivienne," Leopold said as he reached for his phone. It wasn't until he dialed the number that he paused to ask, "Who

are we suing exactly?"

"Harrison, and a certain school board," she replied.

"What?" Leopold blurted out, his disbelief evident. Had he misheard? Was she really going after the school board?

Thomas, equally perplexed, chimed in, "Madam, who did you say we're suing?"

Kaitlyn, who had been on the verge of tears, suddenly found her sorrow stifled by Vivienne's audacious declaration. She hesitated,

wanting to check Vivienne's temperature but not daring to. "Vivienne, going after Harrison | get, but the school board... isn't that a

bit much? My in-laws..."

Though the negligence originated from lower levels, the root of the problem was the Abernathy family's machinations. What good

would suing the school board do?

Percival remained silent, the most composed person in the room aside from Kaitlyn's unconscious parents. He listened with a faint,

indulgent smile, as if Vivienne had merely commented on the weather rather than dropping a bombshell.

"Vivienne, you want to make a spectacle of this?"

She gave him a look that said ‘Mr. Wolf gets it' and replied, "If the ancient warrior lineages don’t want to be dragged into the

modern world, then perhaps it's tfor the Abernathys to step into the limelight.

Consider it a heads up about that the Grimshaw family's lapdogs have got their claws into skey players in Rivenwood. Over

the years, these ancient warrior lineage have been creeping into the local power structure. Take a wild guess how many there are

now?"

"But... but..." Leopold stuttered, fidgeting with his napkin.

"Vivienne," he managed to say, "even so, can't we just file a report with the higher-ups? Isn't this a bit too—ya know—extreme?"

Thomas twirled his finger beside his temple, a light bulb moment washing over him, then slapped Leopold on the back of his head.

"Who said anything about really suing the board, you goof? Remember the folks who handled the Littleton in-laws’ mess? After all

these years, they're probably the bigwigs now. We pick one of them out. Sure, we can't snitch on the board, but as citizens, we can

still accuse them of taking kickbacks."

"Smart." Vivienne's eyes sparkled with approval.

She gave Leopold another look, one that said 'why can't you be more like us?’ Both she and Percival prided themselves on their

wits, yet Leopold, despite all the the'd spent with them, hadn't seemed to absorb a thing.

He could feel Vivienne's gaze scolding him.

Leopold sheepishly touched his nose. "You could've said something sooner. You hadscared for a second there. And, Vivienne,

you even freaked out Mrs. Littleton."

He thought, where on earth could you actually sue the government?

Government-owned companies, sure.

Kaitlyn's cheeks flushed a quick shade of pink, embarrassed by his comment. "I might not know much about the guy who dealt

with my father-in-law's case back in the day, but | do know one of them is now a bureau chief. You've met him, Vivienne, he was

the man with Zinnia last night at the get-together, Kipling."

"Then let's target him," Vivienne declared.

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