The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

William pondered for a moment before speaking up, “It was about two weeks before the boss took her own life. She sent it to me over the local network; it was a burn-after-reading kind of deal, leaving only this file with instructions to keep it safe, saying it would come in handy later. Then she just vanished without a trace.”

“It was the same for me. The boss made me promise not to let these secrets out,” Zachary also chimed in.

Vivienne’s brow furrowed with concern. It would come in handy later?

How so?

Her mother was dead. What good could it possibly do now?

“Master, could this be… bionic technology?” William ventured to ask.

Vivienne nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m entrusting to you. I’ve consolidated all the Ashford and Boyd family resources, and the labs are all set up, but I don’t have the time to manage them. I’m hoping you can handle it. Will that work for you?”

“Of course, it’s perfect,” William replied, his voice tinged with excitement. “Master, aside from my work in holistic medicine, I’ve been relying on this document from the boss to research bionics. I always felt something was missing, but now that you’ve brought this to us, it’s all starting to make sense.”

Zachary nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ve always wondered what the boss meant by it might come in handy. Turns out she was waiting for you to come to us, Madam.”

Vivienne’s lips curved into a slight smile.

Waiting for her to come to them? Did her mother have the same capabilities as her mentor, to know the future?

How could her mother be so sure that she would come?

A myriad of questions flickered through Vivienne’s mind, slowly shaping into a theory.

“You guys can handle the Havenwood and Rivenwood affairs. Patrick has been making progress with the bionics project over the years, but he never quite cracked it. Keep pushing in that direction, and you’re bound to see results soon.”

After giving her instructions, Vivienne stood up. “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

With those final words, she left without looking back.

Vivienne felt confident entrusting the bionic technology to the combined expertise of the Pendleton and Churchill families.

With that matter settled, Vivienne made her way to the underground prison where Patrick was being held.

a stint with the DEA, Patrick

his water cell, Patrick

him, studying his pale and swollen face without a shred of

trafficking drugs, stealing her mother’s research for profit, colluding

and every act was a betrayal that struck

managed to gasp,

she asked coldly,

swallowed hard, the chains binding him clanking. “I don’t know. I’ve

F-Poison, yet you chose to betray

me a lot. They said I could make a fortune

could finish, Vivienne’s hand

could feel the fury in her grip as he struggled for his life,

Madam… I was wrong. Please, I beg you, let me

her grip, her anger making her want to twist his neck right off. But as she saw

gasped for breath. For a moment, he

Madam, I’m telling the truth. I really haven’t seen F-Poison, but I did meet a girl

loyalty meant

F-Poison ever ask you for the bionics

he did. But the technology is still immature. It only functions for ten seconds in front of people before it collapses. It’s useless. Madam, that doesn’t change anything,

deepest connection

high-purity drugs they produced were extraordinarily lucrative and had sustained GTO’s

Patrick out cold. His head sank into the water, bubbling as

the water cell and sitting in her car, Vivienne could not shake

the help of a projector, but no matter what, she could

not a person

seconds was all she

everyone’s focus had been on finding the bomb; no one

her movements had been logical, but her expressions were stiff, lacking the fear of someone facing

Vivienne had never expected a biorobot to be so

also explained why the hair left at the scene was

to cover up bionic technology—this

of Karen and Percival for

as she drove away, her