The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 26

At Tranquil Estates.

When Vivienne got back, Dorian and Cordelia were just stepping through the door. Vivienne gave a shout, then asked, “Mr. Hawthorn, how’s the enrollment coming along?”

Earlier that day, Dorian and Cordelia had taken Thaddeus to sign up at the Imperial Blossom Nursery.

Dorian nodded in response. “It’s going well. Thaddeus really likes the school.” There was a hint of tiredness on his face as he sank onto the couch, looking worn out.

Vivienne sat down next to him, gave him a once–over, then asked, “What’s up?”

“Ah!” Dorian sighed, “It’s nothing, I’m used to it.”

Seeing his reluctance to spill the beans, Vivienne turned to Cordelia. “What’s going on?”

She wasn’t one to stick her nose into other people’s business, but she was quite comfortable with Dorian and his family. If she could help, she would naturally offer a hand.

But Dorian seemed to always shy away from troubling her, keeping things to himself.

“Forget him.” Cordelia rolled her eyes at Dorian, then gave him a pat. “It’s no big deal. Even if you can’t find work, I’ve got some savings. You can look for work in other cities. Beatrice might have her claws in Havenwood, but can she reach everywhere else?”

Cordelia added, “Besides, Thaddeus‘ tuition has been completely waived. What are you worried about? Don’t bring your work troubles home and ruin Vivienne’s mood.”

They had just found out that day, when they went to sign up, that Imperial Blossom Nursery had waived Thaddeus‘ tuition. To them, this was like manna

from heaven.

to send Thaddeus to a regular kindergarten. They went

home about how he wouldn’t be able to

work because of Beatrice’s meddling. She gave a small smile, she didn’t care if Dorian had a job or not, she was fully capable of supporting

forties and was looking quite down in the dumps

on Facebook. She was stunned, then remembered her post asking for job leads,

work? How about joining our company? You can be the

Alliance Enterprises. I’ll give you the chairman position, cause I want to travel the world.”

I’ll send

rubbed her temples, looking helplessly at the comments, finally resting her eyes on the last one. The principal from

was where Arabella went to school. Having read the comments, she left the app and opened a chat with a user named ‘Dawson‘ whose profile picture was

you don’t

didn’t feel like chatting, so she sent Dorian’s resume over. “Find a spot for

don’t worry. I’ll make sure your dad is well taken

came

off her phone.

sure what the person on the other end was saying, but

invited us to his wife’s birthday party tonight, and he made a point to say Vivienne should come

want Vivienne there? They don’t

small smile, “Let’s go! Let’s see what they’re up to.”

Mansion wouldn’t invite them for no reason. Perfect! She was curious to see what they were

Elsewhere.

accepted the invitation.

In the car.

world outside the car. His face was stone–cold