The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Evening had settled when Eliza stepped into Wendy’s room.

“Mom, why are you still up at this hour?” Eliza perched herself beside Wendy, the picture of a dutiful daughter.

Wendy cherished Eliza deeply, having protected her like the apple of her eye since she was a child.

Now, in her current state, she trusted no one more than Eliza.

“Eliza, with me in this condition, I would not put it past my daughters-in-law to have all sorts of ideas. We can’t let them get the better of us, darling. Your brothers are no use either, only seeing dollar signs.”

Eliza nestled close to Wendy, chuckling softly. “Don’t worry, Mom. The Boyds won’t be played by my sisters-in-law. Our family’s assets won’t fall into the wrong hands, not on my watch.”

Wendy nodded in assurance. “I knew I could count on you to ease my worries. Eliza, I’ve taken note of your ambitions all those years and prepared for it. This visit from Percival, it’s so you can get acquainted with the Ellingtons, you understand?”

Relief washed over Eliza with those words.

As long as she could see Nathan Ellington again, she would do anything.

“Yeah, I know you’ve always got my back, Mom.” Eliza leaned on Wendy’s shoulder, briefly catching sight of her amputated hand and quickly averting her gaze with a hint of distaste.

Wendy’s hand was already skeletal, a ghastly sight, and with the stump so starkly exposed, it was downright macabre.

“Mom, what are your plans regarding the Specter Healer?” Eliza inquired.

Wendy scoffed. “He’s just after money, isn’t he? I have plenty, though it might be a bit tricky to come up with 800 billion dollars at once. But, opportunities are not nonexistent.”

Eliza looked at Wendy skeptically.

Plenty of money? What a joke.

As the CFO of Boyd Group, she was all too aware of how much the Boyd family had.

Not to mention 800 billion, even 800 million would require careful consideration.

Where was her mother getting this confidence from?

Noticing Eliza’s doubt, Wendy smiled. “Have you forgotten our ace in the hole?”

in the hole?”

grabbed the remote and switched on the news channel where Patrick’s arrest was being

were scarce, only mentioning Patrick’s apprehension. The screen also showed Gillian besieged by

on Eliza in an

the Ashford family’s fortune, turning their empire into her personal

800 billion was more than feasible with the Ashford

can you be so sure Patrick will

a hot potato right now. Who would dare get involved? And with Gillian’s reputation in ruins, who would want her? But, just one call from you, inviting her to turn to the Boyds, bringing all Ashford business under our roof,

exploiting

Gillian, as the sole Ashford heiress, would be desperate

no one was a fool. With the gravity of Patrick’s offenses

the only ones to extend help, Gillian would agree to any terms,

Ashford business and unveiling the Boyd family’s

call right

it would be about more

Boyds, or they would

with the

the Ellington family’s next

wait to be cast aside,”

…

Mansion was in chaos. Gillian had barely processed Patrick’s arrest when she was

its numerous projects, Patrick had inevitably borrowed

with his arrest, the banks were aggressively seeking

tossed her phone aside, clueless on how to

her had vanished into

rang. Surprisingly,

“What are

back, and I’ve watched you grow up. I could not just

Gillian had heard in a while, and tears sprung to her

forward

close to Mara and had grown up calling Eliza ‘auntie’

sit beside her. “Gillian, given the circumstances, there’s only one thing I can think of to help

to do. I’ll follow your lead,” Gillian said, entirely out of her depth with business affairs. Having someone willing to help was the

to the Ashford Group. After your father’s incident, you’ll take over as CEO. All you have to do is sign the Ashford Group’s over to the Boyd Group. That’ll help you tackle some of the debt with the banks. Once we stabilize the company, we can focus on getting

in the fog. “Auntie, I

Just sign here and leave the rest to me. The Ashford will still be the same, just under the umbrella of Boyd Group. We won’t let you down. This