The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Wendy was the first to pick up her milkshake and take a gulp, setting off a reluctant chain reaction among the others. They had no choice but to follow suit and sip away.

It was not until the last drops of the milkshake were consumed that Vivienne stood up, flicking her wrist in dismissal, “That’ll do for today. Get some rest, folks. See you all tomorrow.”

With that, Vivienne and Percival left the Boyd residence and returned to the house Maddox had prepared for them to catch some sleep.

No sooner had they left than Wendy, forgetting her cane, bolted to the bathroom and began to hurl.

The other Boyds followed suit, much to the dismay of the household staff, who pinched their noses in disgust.

It was revolting.

To have so many people retching at once was unheard of, and Yannick even spewed on Wendy’s beloved woolen rug.

Already, the house was tainted with the smell of barbeque and smoke, and now this collective upheaval of recently chewed food added insult to injury.

The odor was insufferable.

The Boyds spent a grueling half-hour vomiting before they finally collapsed back onto the couches, utterly spent.

The once prized woolen rug had been relegated to the trash, a sight that made Wendy’s heart ache.

Theodore, drained and pale, leaned on his wife’s shoulder, still dry-heaving.

Teresa, repulsed, shoved him away. “Get off me. You stink of decay. It’s disgusting.”

Theodore weakly slapped Teresa, not because he could not bear to hurt his wife, but sheer exhaustion. “You wench, you think you smell any better?”

“You dare hit me? Believe it or not, I’ll divorce you for this!” Teresa howled, her voice nearly giving out from the strain.

Dehydrated and powerless, no one had the energy to argue further.

propped up on the couch, accepted a glass of water from a servant and said

son who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “Mom, if you hadn’t

so many glances, but you

think I wanted to eat that

others were

looked at her mother. “What do you

added, “It wasn’t just you. I didn’t want to eat either, but my hand acted on its own, reaching

a sob. “Dad, could it be

Teresa confessed, “It was indeed like being possessed. I moved when Vivienne moved and ate uncontrollably even though I

Hayden, frightened. “Don’t

who Vivienne is,”

and Percival’s arrival in Sea City, Wendy had thoroughly investigated Vivienne—or so she thought. What she found

convent in Havenwood before going to Rivenwood. Maybe she picked up some

a country girl. She must have bewitched

from the recent nausea. “Some backwater girl isn’t going to best us, especially not

something, it couldn’t be that powerful.

We can’t let her be with Percival, or who knows how much he will suffer.”

Boyds agreed with Mara’s

to Sea City—to marry him to Gillian Ashford and cement an alliance between the Boyd and Ashford

back at their villa, Vivienne and Percival were

“What

making them do as they wish. I simply enhanced it a bit,

with pride. “Look at you,

way into the villa, where the servants had everything prepared for

If anything is missing, just press the button by the bed, and we’ll be at your service. We won’t disturb you any further—have a

as she scurried off, as

Percival exchanged a

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