The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Robbie Wright remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Even if Arthur Linklater and Sasha Perez do get married, I'll find you a suitable match, Alyssa. You're my one and only sister. And, hey, try to make amends with Grandpa, will you? You know how upset he was last time. It's important to keep the peace." Alyssa Wright lowered her head, murmuring softly, "Got it, brother." But how could any matchpare to Arthur? The next day.

Vivienne Hawthorn and Percival Ellington were at a hospital, where the body from the previous night had just been brought in for examination.

Percival had planned to review the findings first before sharing them with Vivienne, but since she was free, she decided to join him. Vivienne approached the body and pulled back the white sheet covering the deceased's face. With gloves on, she pressed on the corpse's skin, noting its pallor and rigidity, indicating death had occurred between one to two days ago.

It seemed the victim had not been dead long before her heart was removed.

Inspecting the chest cavity, she noticed the skin was intact, save for a small incision. Whoever had removed the heart had done so with precision, leaving minimal external damage.

After a thorough examination, Vivienne found no other injuries, suggesting the body hadn't been tampered with further.

Despite the tranquility of the victim's expression, the scene was grim.

Leaving the hospital, Percival wrapped his arm around Vivienne, guiding her outside.

"Find anything?" he asked gently.

Vivienne shook her head, "Nothing conclusive. This is just the first body we'vee across. We'll need more cases to form a pattern." She mentioned that neither Draven nor the Frostfire Intelligence Agency had provided any leads, suggesting this case might be tough to crack.

Vivienne raised an eyebrow, a hint of intrigue in her voice, "Dracon Linklater has been acting up lately. Maybe it's twe dig into that." Percival smiled, a light flicker of interest in his eyes, "I'm curious about the Grimshaw family's heirloom too." After their investigation, Percival suggested, "I'll take you back to the Linklaters. Mom and dad are about to get hitched, and they could use your help. Once there's more on the heart removal case, I'll let you know." Vivienne nodded, then added, "Guess I'll be witnessing their lovefest. Next tyou pickup, how about makingsstrawberry cheesecakes?" Percival's smile widened, affectionate, "It's been a while, hasn't it? Consider it done, my little glutton." Upon arriving at the Linklater residence, Vivienne stepped out of the car, bidding Percival a tender goodbye before entering the grand hall.

She barely set foot inside when Arthur's voice thundered, "What the hell is this nonsense? Who's spreading these rumors?!" Sasha seemed unfazed by the online chatter, focusing instead on calming Arthur, who was visibly incensed, even confiscating his phone to prevent further agitation.

Vivienne frowned, sensing trouble, "What's going on, mom?" Sasha paused, then shifted the topic, "How did it go with the body you and Percival were looking at?" Vivienne shook her head, "No leads yet. We'll have to wait for the perpetrator to strike again." Arthur, still fuming, approached Vivienne, "Sidiot online is saying we're getting married-which is fine-but they're also dragging your mom through the mud, claiming she had an affair with Scott Brooks and that he's been raising another man's child!" Vivienne's expression cooled as she opened her laptop to check the trending topics. The first was about Arthur and Sasha's wedding, followed by a scandal involving Sasha, Arthur, and Scott.

Thements ranged from supportive to outright malicious, with many attacking Sasha's character and sympathizing with Scott as the victim.

Vivienne browsed through the vitriol, her face a mask of calm but her eyes hard with resolve. It was clear they were facing not just a mystery regarding the heart removal but also a battle against public opinion.

"How dare she think she's good enough for War God? He can't possibly marry her!" Vivienne's face turned icy cold, as if enveloped in a frosty shroud, her brows furrowed tightly together, radiating a dangerous aura.

She logged onto her Twitter and sent out cease and desist letters to those particularly vile inte trolls who had been spewing venom online.

"Publicly insulting my mother, maliciously slandering her, all posts on Twitter that harm my mother will be met with a cease and desist letter. We will not retract and will pursue legal actions!" Once Vivienne tweeted this, it caused a stironline, and her tweet was personally retweeted by Percival, who added a topment, "Any discovery of behavior Belf damaging the reputation of my mother and wife from the Ellington family will face direct legat prosecution!" Stephen Harris quickly retweeted Vivienne's post, adding, "Social media is not a place for distorting truth and spreading lies!" Most shocking of all, Kala Brooks from the Brooks family even liked the tweet. Though she didn't post anything herself, her stance was clear! Many followed Kala's Twitter, bombarding her with irrationalments. Before the trolls could get too far, Kala'sment section was disabled, driving people to Stephen's post to mention Kala, questioning her motives. "I swear Kala's not truly one of the Brooks. They've wasted their care on her!" "People like her, who mingle in the world of fame, have lost their conscience!" "Maybe Kala's like is a cryptic rebuttal, standing up for Scott!" "Kala's like is loaded with hidden meanings!"