The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Lennox just could not stand it any longer. He snatched the broom from Percival’s grasp, and with a gentle tug, he swept the dust into the pan.

Crack! The broom head snapped off.

Percival furrowed his brow in annoyance. “That’s the sixth time that’s happened. Are your things always this flimsy?”

Lennox replied with a slight hesitation, “Is it possible you’re just too strong and snapped it yourself?”

“It’s this piece of junk that’s the problem,” Percival grumbled, casting a disdainful glance at the broom before turning to Quentin. “I had someone buy you a new racing car model and a desktop PC. They’ll be delivered soon.”

Quentin, for his part, was not too fussed. He looked around at the further disarray. “It’s a knock-off anyway. Got it for ten bucks. But… Percival, maybe you should just stop cleaning.”

Despite being older than Vivienne, Quentin and the others respected her technical expertise and would often follow Aaron’s lead in calling her by her nickname. And since Percival was Vivienne’s fiancé, they naturally called him by his first name.

Vivienne held back laughter, her delicate face turning a shade of red from the effort to conceal her laughter.

This must have been the first time Percival had been “rejected”!

Yet, he seemed filled with joy, and his mood visibly brightened.

Aaron’s expression darkened slightly, though he said nothing, silently unplugging the computer to prevent the imminent explosion.

As he began to repair the broom, he asked Mark coldly, “What brings you here?”

Mark finally said, “I’m here to take you home.”

“I’ll be heading back tomorrow; we’re celebrating here tonight. You go on ahead.”

Mark knew Aaron well enough to understand his temperament. Today, Aaron had announced his retirement, which meant he would return to the Miller family fold tomorrow.

He had come to see if there was anything he could do to help, feeling the weight of his many debts to his son.

Before he could say anything else, the door to the training room burst open.

here? Aren’t you worried Kenneth will give you an earful? Ah, there’s Vivienne! No wonder Hawk won today, with you coaching

her Coke. “Why do

and placing them on the table. He could not help but blurt out, “How

“This is after the cleaning. Can you believe

with his foot. “Enough

“Fine, fine, I’m the

Thomas, Leopold called him over to help with the

others, feeling a bit guilty, pitched in

the PC; he upgraded the entire setup—desk, chair, the works—leaving the room far

of the limited-edition racing models. “These… these

sake that you’re Vivienne’s players, I’ll throw in a few more. My place is

and dropped a bombshell that sent chills through the Hawk team,

we still need this space. We’ve got the new cleaning bots. They’re fully automated. No

silent, but Percival, sitting steadily, insisted, “No, I

I

slowly, “Those who don’t understand E-sports don’t belong in our training room. We don’t need your

choked on his

couldn’t be more naive.”

curved into a smirk as he approached the computer,

particularly with Percival challenging him in his own domain. “Let’s do this. Lose, and you

“I made a bet with Vivienne to clean your training room for a week

time, Bennett and the others

narrowed his eyes, “You’re

sat to the

not seen Percival play, but she knew

with interest, even getting Bennett and the crew to place

best character

an eye, Aaron’s screen went dark,

was stunned.

just score first

respawned, only to be killed again and again, eight times