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.

of water from

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

many glances, but you

you really think I wanted

others were taken

looked at her mother.

you. I didn’t want to eat either, but my hand acted on its own, reaching for food

“Dad, could it be we’ve been

felt similarly manipulated. Teresa confessed, “It was indeed like being possessed. I moved

to Hayden, frightened. “Don’t scare me,

Vivienne is,”

Wendy had thoroughly investigated Vivienne—or so she thought. What she found was likely only what Vivienne wanted to

convent in Havenwood before going

Percival, of all people, would fall for a country girl. She must

recent nausea. “Some backwater girl

if she learned something, it couldn’t be that powerful. The

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

other Boyds agreed with

an alliance between the Boyd and Ashford families. No matter how far Vivienne and Percival had gone, Gillian was destined to wed

Vivienne and Percival were

Vivienne’s earlier antics. “What did you do to make Wendy so

half an hour, making them do as they wish. I simply enhanced it a bit, extending the effect

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

making their way into the villa, where the servants had everything prepared for a

It’s equipped with everything you might need. 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 good rest,” the

look, her smile broadening as she scurried off, as if she could not bear to delay whatever

and Percival exchanged a puzzled

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