The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

At the Perez Mansion.

Jasper, balancing a box of strawberry shortcake, made his way inside.

Natalia and Yasmine blinked their dewy eyes and scampered towards Jasper in unison.

Zelda was engrossed in a YouTube tutorial, trying to master the art of the perfect strawberry shortcake.

“Dad, didn’t you go play chess with Richard? What brings you back so soon?” Zelda asked, setting aside her lopsided whipped cream to greet him.

Jasper opened the shortcake box and divided it into two generous slices for the eagerly waiting Natalia and Yasmine.

He waved off her concern with a smile. “Richard got wind that Vivienne and her grandson leaped off a cliff. Rushed off to check on them.”

Zelda gasped, startled. She had been preoccupied with her cake-making venture all day and had not caught any news. “A cliff? What happened?”

“Nothing serious, just a rescue mission. Vivienne and Percival are quite the capable pair,” Jasper chuckled.

Jasper had known about Vivienne and Percival’s heroic act at the racetrack since the previous night and had already dispatched Yuri to gather details. Even the intel about the engineer had been discreetly passed on to Leopold by Yuri.

So, his worry had long since passed.

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. “You gave me quite the scare. I’ll have to remind Vivienne to steer clear of danger next time. How terrifying.”

Jasper glanced at the yard, where beaten eggs and cream were strewn about – even on Natalia and Yasmine. Sighing, he said, “Zelda, maybe you should steer clear of danger yourself.”

Zelda rubbed her nose with a grin. “No worries, I’m safe. The oven hasn’t exploded yet.”

Jasper did not protest further. His daughter-in-law was always chasing whims; last time, it was an obsession with braiding Natalia and Yasmine’s hair, which nearly ended with the girls being bald.

Now, it was strawberry shortcake, and who knew how long that phase would last?

a box of strawberry shortcake, and began to clean up the eggshells from the

matters to discuss with

shut off the oven Zelda had left on and asked, “What’s

back then. I’ve looked into the engineer you mentioned, but there’s not much to go on apart from his connection

chair. “Another thing – Percival and his right-hand man have been suspended, and Leopold’s been reassigned to

“Take care of it. We can’t let them get

leave, Jasper stopped him with his cane, pointing at the chaotic front

If she can separate eggs without making a mess, I’d

bowls of unsuccessfully separated eggs, already dreading the egg-heavy meals ahead. In the

…

family, Anna came home from school to find

was cold efficiency, but it got results –

back,” Anna said, ruffling Thaddeus’s hair and handing him

grabbed the PSP, and scampered to his room for some

I can’t reach headquarters, but Hotshot sent me a coded message telling me not to report

nodded. “Alright, I got

the captain’s people. Husky’s been sent to the outskirts, Captain Charlotte’s been suspended, Hotshot is on standby without details, and the third squad has been scattered. There aren’t many left under

Vivienne. “Is something going

sprawled lazily on

for Mark to pick him up before I leave

bodyguard for a few more days, and it’ll be over,” Vivienne said,

looked a bit embarrassed. “Ms. Vivienne, how

turned to face Anna, propping her head with one hand.

troubled. “It’s just… Kenneth. He’s a bit of

Oh?

perked up

eager look, Anna’s mouth twitched. “It’s nothing major, but Kenneth keeps hanging around Elite University,

leaving Vivienne all ears for the latest drama unfolding.Books Chapters Are Daily

throw pillow, and stared at

with a bouquet of roses every day.