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.

glass of

until now, finally spoke up. “Mom, if you hadn’t eaten so much, we wouldn’t have followed suit. Why did you

“I gave you so many glances, but you just kept

you really think I wanted to eat

others were taken

looked at her mother. “What do

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

choked back a sob. “Dad, could it be we’ve been

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

“Don’t

forget who Vivienne is,” Wendy reminded

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

Havenwood before going to Rivenwood. Maybe she picked up some

“That explains why Percival, of all people, would fall for a country girl. She must have bewitched him. What do we

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

it couldn’t be that powerful. The real masters are all over fifty. There must be another

Vivienne is trouble. We can’t let her be with Percival, or who knows how much he will suffer.” Mara pressed, her lips thin. “Plus, Gillian is a far

other Boyds agreed with

to Gillian Ashford and cement an alliance between the Boyd

and Percival were

“What did you do to make Wendy so

supposed to control people for half an hour, making them do as they wish. I

Vivienne’s hair with pride. “Look at you,

where the servants had everything prepared for a restful

by the bed, and we’ll be at your service. We won’t disturb you any further—have a good rest,” the

as she scurried off, as if she could not bear to delay whatever awaited

and Percival exchanged a puzzled

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