The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 269

Caksta watched Tristan’s expression with a slight frown on her face She had a rare softness in her

voice as she comforted him. “You shouldn’t linger on past events None of it was your fault It’s Arabella

who should be blamed for deceiving and using you, right?

“Besides, you’ve already paid the price for your poor judgement. It wasn’t your fault. Vivienne should

forgive you if she’s reasonable enough”

“Really?” Tristan gazed blankly at Calista, finding his heart fluttering no matter how he looked at her

“Absolutely Calista replied with a faint smile, her voice laced with charm. I believe Vivienne will forgive

you. After all, she is your savior’s daughter, and your savior was such a good person, wasn’t she?”

With that, she left Tristan’s hospital room with her iPad, leaving him alone to contemplate

Calista had seen Vivienne’s temper and knew she wouldn’t easily forgive Tristan. So, she planted a

seed in Tristan’s mind early on, aiming to create a larger nift between the two of them in the future

Although Tristan was now practically disabled, he still had some worth. If he treated Vivienne like he did

Arabella, allowing Vivienne to manipulate him, Calista wouldn’t be happy

After leaving Tristan’s room, Calista didn’t return to her office Instead, she went to Paula’s room.

Inside, Mila was peeling an apple while trying to reason with Paula. I think you should stop being

stubborn. Your husband, Mark Miller, has taken his illegitimate son, Aaron Miller back home How can

you still stay in the hospital?”

“That bastard! I can’t believe he actually did it Paula gritted her teeth in anger

Aaron was the child of Mark and his ex–fiancée, Jasmine, whose relationship Paula had forcibly ended

The story of Aaron’s birth was a bit complicated

After Jasmine left Mark in anger and moved abroad, she discovered she was pregnant. She couldn’t

bear to abort the child and gave birth to a daughter, Fleur Miller

But fate was never kind to her. When Fleur was seven years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia and

needed a bone marrow transplant Jasmine had no choice but to ask Mark for help.

Mark did more than just get tested himself. He also had Eddy and other members of the Miller family

tested, but none matched Fleur’s marrow type

Despite knowing her actions were unethical, Jasmine begged Mark to give her another child If the

child’s blood matched, she could save Fleur. Thus, Aaron was

born

Unfortunately, although Aaron’s blood matched Fleur’s, she passed away due to a severe rejection

reaction after the operation

In the following years, Jasmine developed severe depression due to the death of her daughter and

committed suicide when Aaron was ten years old.

Mark brought Aaron back from abroad. Due to Paula’s strong objections, he was raised outside the

family and was not recognized as a Miller

But this time, due to the embarrassment caused by Eddy’s live stream, Mark took the opportunity to

bring Aaron back to the Miller family and announce him as a potential successor

This infuriated Paula, and despite her dramatic reactions, she ended up faking illness and being

hospitalized

Three days into her hospital stay, only her son Eddy had visited her, Nobody else from the Miller family

came, reportedly because Mark ordered them not to Naturally, Mark himself didn’t visit

To add insult to injury, Mark let Aaron move into the Miller Mansion while she was away. He even

cleared out the best room for him.

Paula’s plan to fake an illness had backfired spectacularly But she couldn’t just stop halfway and slink

home.

“It’s all because of your newly recognized niece.” Mila sympathetically handed Paula the peeled apple

slices. If it weren’t for her insisting on Eddy fulfilling his bet Mark wouldn’t have had an excuse.

“It’s all that damned Vivienne’s fault” Paula seethed at the mention of this.

Eddy had always been mediocre. He was not favored by the Miller family elders or the company’s

board of directors. But because everyone thought Mark only had him as a son and he had the backing

of the Brooks family, they reluctantly supported him

This led to Eddy becoming arrogant, thinking he was some kind of prodigy. He always liked to compete

with others and dabbled in obscure interests, like gemstone gambling

If it weren’t for him winning 300 million for the family with his gemstone, he might not have gotten over

the live stream incident

However, his inappropriate behavior and the fact that his live stream video was secretly recorded and

circulated privately made it hard for people to accept him as the next head of the Miller family This gave

Mark the excuse to make Aaron, his illegitimate son, a candidate for succession

All of this was Vivienne’s fault!

Fortunately, Aaron was even less dedicated to his work than Eddy While Eddy may have earned the

Miller family 300 million casually through gemstone gambling, Aaron was completely devoted to E-

Sports He became a professional player at fifteen and didn’t even finish college

This was the only thing that comforted Paula

“Word around town is that the Brooks family is throwing a big party for their newly found daughter in a

couple of days Mila’s eyes twinkled as she turned to Paula “But I heard a rumor that when the invitation

was sent to the Miller family, it specifically said you weren’t invited What’s up with that?”

“I have no idea what the old man is thinking!” Paula’s face darkened noticeably I’ve been his daughter

for over forty years, and now he’s shutting me out of the family for some girl he’s just acknowledged I’m

not even allowed to attend this party? I mean, I’m Vivienne’s aunt for crying out loud!”

Tm guessing it wasn’t Baron’s idea, but probably Vivienne’s” Calista said while stepping into the

hospital room

“After all, she knows exactly how horrible she’s been to Eddy. I’m guessing she thinks you might cause

a scene at the party to get back at her

Calista chuckled lightly “She’s really underestimating you, Paula. You’re far too classy for such antics.

Pendleton.”

cred, but she stayed silent

At that moment, someone called out to Calista from the doorway of the hospital room. She turned to

see a young man with a bruised face