The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Astrid chuckled dryly.

Mature enough?

If leaked, the research material in the lab would send shock waves around the globe.

Yet, in Vivienne’s words, it was merely mature enough?

Astrid glanced at her and asked, “So, you agree to stay in the lab?”

Vivienne nodded. “Yeah.”

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Thanks, Vivienne. I really appreciate you agreeing to be part of this experiment. Our progress will surely skyrocket now.”

Vivienne did not respond. Instead, she turned her gaze to the car window, watching the streetlights fall, and a slow smile spread across her lips.

After dropping Vivienne off at home, Astrid did not go upstairs. Instead, she turned the car around and drove away.

In the back seat lay the experimental data Vivienne had revised that day.

…

Returning home, Dorian and Cordelia were already asleep, and even though the light was on in Thaddeus’ room, he was sound asleep, too.

Vivienne switched off Thaddeus’ light and entered her own room.

The moment she opened the door, her steps faltered, her eyes sharpening instantly.

A chill ran through her as she looked towards the window – a piece of paper was wedged in the crack.

This was the twenty-third floor; unless it was an inside job, this kind of infiltration was extraordinary!

She was sure that apart from Dorian’s family, no one else was here.

Obviously, she was dealing with a pro!

She walked over and pulled out the paper.

The message was a mishmash of newspaper cutouts, and crooked letters forming a single line.

[The TCL Lab.]

the paper

the person who sent this was not the

could it

Suddenly, she smirked.

world, that old coot was now seeking

Did he want to see if she had lost her

lips curled slightly as she pulled out her phone and opened

signing up for Twitter, but Matthew had insisted it was the rage and would not stop nagging until she gave

had not used it since signing up, just letting it sit

the Hawthorn family, she had gradually become a public figure, and

nine ‘brothers’ from the same master were the first

was only one person

bucks, unpaid for

faked his death, leaving

for payment, it was clear the old man was grandstanding

miss out on helping Vivienne collect her

echoing Vivienne’s message,

as well as those of the nine, were

her, only Leopold replied seriously, “The debtor

Finnian and tagged him in a

tweet sent their followers

What was going on?

Vivienne’s master dodging a

nowadays

Vivienne’s followers began to retweet and

the other

was the first to message the group, [Holy smokes! Leopold, you’ve got guts! Aren’t you afraid the master will come for

[Nice one, Leopold! I support

[I’ll mourn for

there to fear? A man’s

for nothing? It’s her hard-earned money the old man owes. Aren’t we supposed to help her get it back? If I were you, I’d be tweeting right now, hounding the old man to pay! Isn’t Vivienne’s happiness worth more than your little

Jerry: [Makes sense!]

spot-on this time. We

I’ve retweeted Leopold’s

disciples also tweeted, tagging him and demanding

the pop star Stephen joined in the retweeting frenzy, shooting Vivienne’s debt-collection