The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Two days later.

Dorian’s company had finalized their new perfume line, and Vivienne found herself with some free time to visit the hospital.

Anna had already returned to school, but Natalia and Yasmine were still hospitalized, though they had been moved from intensive care to a regular VIP ward.

Jasper sat beside the crib with two plush toys in hand, smiling at the sight of his granddaughters’ joyful faces, an involuntary chuckle escaping his lips.

Vivienne knocked on the door. “Excuse me, sir.”

Jasper’s face lit up with excitement. “Ah, young lady, you’ve finally made it. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me.”

“How could I forget such a charming gentleman?” Vivienne teased.

It was the first time Jasper had been described as charming, and he basked in the novelty, “My, my, your words warm an old man’s heart.”

Vivienne smiled.

Just then, Yuri and Zelda came in, and Jasper immediately boasted. “Vivienne just called me charming. Take that, you bunch of brats who always call me stern. She doesn’t think so.”

He then turned to Vivienne. “I can call you Vivienne, right? It feels more personal.”

“Of course,” Vivienne replied with a laugh.

Yuri sighed, “Vivienne, my dad’s only ever this happy when he’s chatting with you. When he talks to me, he’s far from charming.”

“Cheeky boy, go fetch Vivienne’s gift, will you? That’s all you’re good for,” Jasper scolded, glaring at Yuri.

This boy was no good!

“Dad, I’ve brought everything. Don’t look at him. He’s useless,” Zelda said, also shooting Yuri a teasing glare.

feeling like the

retrieved a mahogany box from the cabinet, its craftsmanship clearly that of a master’s

much, but please accept this small token of

Hope Blue Diamond jewelry in gold, which had sold for 80 million dollars at an auction

Not much?

there was

declined. She had helped save Natalia and Yasmine as a byproduct of trying to rescue the captured babies; it was all in a day’s

box in Vivienne’s hands, saying, “You can’t

our girls would have gone through without you. Words can’t

will insist on personally delivering it to your house,” Yuri joked, holding his

hard. “Who said you could hold my granddaughters? Put

I hold my daughters? Dad, you’re being too harsh. Vivienne, you have to

finally accepted, then said to Yuri, “Mr. Perez, they say you owe a favor to the

felt a sense of peace settling in her heart. Unconsciously, she had come to think of this room as her sanctuary, where she

getting dark. Percival was waiting

Vivienne wrapped her coat tighter around herself, asking, “Why didn’t you wait in

Percival said, taking Vivienne’s hand and noticing the bag she

it and smiled. “It’s an

had secretly collected her DNA to conduct a paternity test back in Sea City but had not

was seen as an offense, hence the

she understood the Perez family’s desire to find

was not the Perez

was not

mother was adopted, she never spoke of her biological family.

the hospital, Jasper stared at the paternity test report, a

familiar, so much like his

showed no genetic link between them

How could this be?

from Jasper. “Dad, stop

out great hope for the test, feeling that Vivienne might