The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Kaitlyn stared in bewilderment at the ancient-looking sheet of paper in Vivienne's hands.

It was filled with neatly penned recipes for potions, sfamiliar and sutterly foreign to her. The ink script was delicate and refined as if it could only have been penned by a character straight out of a period . The paper itself looked like something from a bygone era, rough around the edges as if it was crafted with antiquated methods.

Blinking back her confusion, her mind whirred back to life. Suddenly, it clicked. "You mean to say we swap this fake recipe for my parents' ashes?" Vivienne nodded while Anna flipped through the recipes, puzzled. "But will this really work, Ms. Vivienne? What's this recipe even for?" "It's something I got from Brody. It's not highly toxic; at worst, it'll give someone the runs if they take it over a long period." Vivienne guided Kaitlyn back to the living room, massaging her temples that throbbed with the day's tension. "Gavin might not even know what the real recipe is. Oliver Grimshaw would never cto collect it himself. This decoy is the perfect bait." She paused, a sly glimmer in her eye. "Besides, we don't have to rely solely on this 'recipe.' I've got a backup plan." "A backup plan?" Percival settled beside her. He caught the cunning in Vivienne's gaze and knew instantly what she was planning. "Are you sure she's trustworthy?” He had not a shred of fondness for anyone from the Abernathy family, even if the person in question was his aunt's daughter! Vivienne patted his hand soothingly. "There's only one way to find out, right?" She pulled out her phone, quickly found Victoria's number, and without hesitation, sent a text that read: [Your mother's with me. Meet at Aurora Mountain Villa in one hour.] "That's that. Now, we wait." Closing her phone with a snap, Vivienne stood up, linking arms with Percival. "Let's catch sZ's for an hour. Anna, give us a shout when Victoria shows." Anna nodded. "Will do." "I need to crash, too. What a night!" Leopold yawned contagiously, his fatigue spreading to Matthew. As his physical exhaustion took hold, all he could think about was how uncomfortable he felt. "Draven, you're in charge of our guests in the car." "Vivienne's medicated them. If they give you any trouble, just knock them around a bit," Matthew said with a stretch, heading off to bed.

The door closed behind him with a thud.

Anna looked around at the others, clueless. "They're not actually going to mine coal, are they?" "Mining coal would be a picnic compared to what they're up to," Jerry said, watching the others disappear behind a door. He shook his head, deciding not to burden Percival with the details just yet.

Leading the way out, he ignored Anna's probing stare that screamed, 'You definitely know something.' "Let Vivienne fill you in later. For now, let's offload the cargo." Kaitlyn sat in the living room, restless. She glanced around, her anxiety subsiding only when Vivienne returned.

Despite remaining worried, Kaitlyn found herself instinctively trusting in Vivienne's confident and serene gaze. Her tense muscles relaxed at the thought. She didn't know why Vivienne would trust Victoria, but if Vivienne believed in her, there must be a reason... Kaitlyn twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands, lost in thought.

As tticked away, the doorbell of Aurora Mountain Villa rang insistently.

Anna had just taken a bite of her sandwich. Her eyes sparkled as she heard the commotion, quickly standing up with one hand on the weapon concealed at her back, inching toward the door.

Outside, an impatient voice shouted, "Vivienne! Cout here! What the hell does your text mean, Vivienne?" The frenzied voice was coupled with a rapid thud on the door. Amid it, Thomas's voice tried to soothe, but Anna and the others in the living room froze.

Kaitlyn was the first to snap to action. "It's Victoria. I'll go wake Vivienne." Victoria? Despite the banging, Anna didn't let her guard down. Peering through the digital peephole, she confirmed it was only Victoria and Thomas before opening the door, "What took you so long, Thomas?" "Vivienne! Get out here! I want to know what the hell your cryptic message means!" Victoria's slender figure barged in, her gaze darting around the room.

Thomas followed, gently closing the door. "Got held up with Richard. The old man wantedto tell Percival to chfor a visit. Once we got chatting, tjust got away from us." "What's all this?" He gestured toward the commotion in the living room.

Anna's eyelid twitched. "Ms. Vivienne said she needed her help. Beyond that, I'm clueless." Victoria, blocked by Draven and Jerry, spun around the room like a headless chicken. “Why are you stopping me? Vivienne calledhere. Where is she now?" "Quiet!" Jerry was about to reveal that Vivienne was still asleep when her voice, heavy with slumber, suddenly filled the room.

Jerry and Draven exchanged a look and stepped aside to let Vivienne through.

Vivienne shuffled downstairs, still in her slippers, yawning away the last of her drowsiness.

Victoria charged toward her, oblivious to tripping over something soft on the ground. Without looking, she marched straight up to Vivienne. "What's the meaning of your text?" Vivienne looked down, a smirk playing on her lips as she glanced at Emrys lying on the floor. His fivefingers stillbore the imprint of Victoria's shoe, and his eyes, large as lima beans, were bulging out as he howled in pain, though every sound was muffled back into his mouth by the duct tape. Pitiful, huh? Shaking her head, Vivienne gestured to Draven. "Ctake a look, and you'll understand." "If I'm not mistaken, your mother is the Ellington family's young miss, Mr. Wolf's aunt, Richard's biological daughter, Holly, right?" Victoria nodded, her gaze following Draven's movements. The white curtain hung slowly as the man's fingers worked on the computer.

The white screen soon displayed the projections of surveillance footage.

Vivienne motioned for Victoria to keep up. "We took a trip to Emerald City yesterday, aiming to capture the so-called victim of an old Littleton family miscarriage of justice. Instead, we stumbled upon her in snameless little village." "A village?" Victoria gasped in disbelief. "How is that possible? She's in a vegetative state; how could she survive in a tiny village without advanced medical equipment?" Vivienne's eyes were frosty. "For that, you'd have to ask Gavin." Pointing a finger, she prodded Victoria's cheek and turned her head. "Gavin never intended to take proper care of your mom. For years, she clung to life by a thread, sustained only by poison and a fierce will to live. Her condition was dire; had we not found her she probably wouldn't have lasted much longer in that little village."