The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 351

Jeffrey’s eyes bulged in disbelief, and for a long moment, he struggled to process what he had just heard.

After a brief pause, he snapped back to reality and roared at Fiona Ellington, “Are you out of your mind? Ten billion dollars to them? Do we look like we’re running a charity here?”

With ten billion dollars, you could open a string of world–class art galleries! He thought.

Fiona must have lost her marbles by giving out such an astronomical number.

Fiona shot him an icy glance before turning to Vivienne and Percival, “Give me an account number. I’ll transfer the funds to you!”

She wasn’t offering this fortune for Jeffrey’s sake, but to keep Percival and Vivienne from dismantling the other art galleries.

Some of the galleries Jeffrey had established were a front for under–the–table dealings, which were secrets that outsiders must never uncover. It was a network she had painstakingly built, hidden from her entire family.

Even Jeffrey, the supposed head, was clueless about it.

If these secrets were ever exposed, she’d stand to lose up to thirty billion dollars.

When weighed against ten billion, it was a no–brainer. She had to protect those assets.

And Fiona didn’t buy for a second that Percival could go after her family without a reason.

Mr. Percy’s stature alone had put him at the zenith of power; he wouldn’t bat an eyelid at a few art galleries, let alone a few hundred billion

Yet, he was insistent on tearing down the galleries. She suspected he knew something.

It seemed Percival had to go. His very existence was the most significant threat to her.

With Percival around, the inheritance wouldn’t fall into her hands even if the old man died. Not to mention that Richard Ellington was still alive

If Percival were out of the picture, the other Ellington nonentities wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

Vivienne raised an eyebrow and her gaze harbored meaning. “Alright!”

She promptly provided her account details.

confidently. It seemed that she was not

Vivienne nodded, “Agreed”

Gallery’s secretary, and soon after, the team that had come

promised to hand over ten billion dollars. He stormed off, neglecting the gallery’s guests. He had to get back and

leave after she

they’d left, Percival and Vivienne made to leave too. But they

that painting from you?”

man leaning on a cane; his hair was almost entirely white with just a few strands of

exuding a palpable authority. His aged, cloudy eyes seemed sharp

responding. “This painting is a copy”

replied, “but you wouldn’t sell the

smiled and nodded, “Exactly!”

to me I’d like to buy it to help find her,” the old man

to me

“You recognize the

a figure from the back, and only someone

hint of melancholy “My lost daughter has a mole in the same place Even though it might not be her, I want to

the painting tightened.

I’ve been searching for her for thirty years without a trace. I heard the might have come

was taken

It was a

couldn’t recall meeting anyone named Sasha, yet the name

Chapter.

sell, I won’t insist. But I heard you say the person in the portrait was your mother, who has

old man could

old man apologized, “I’m

replied softly, her thoughts

so bold, the mole behind your mother’s ear is in the exact spot as my daughter’s. May I ask if you know

turned cold,

mother had caused their incarceration

the past that her mother took her to visit her family in

first encounter with her maternal relatives, and it revealed a harsh truth: some parents truly can be indifferent to their own