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.

the DEA, Patrick had been secretly transferred here

his water cell, Patrick was a pitiful sight to

sat across from him, studying his pale and

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

act was a betrayal that

the sound of her approach, Patrick struggled weakly and managed to gasp, “Madam… I

narrowed as she

don’t know. I’ve never met him. We’ve only ever communicated

you

icy tone, Patrick shivered and stammered, “Initially, GTO approached me and offered me a lot. They said I could make a

Vivienne’s hand was already tightening around

in her grip as he

beg

neck right off. But as

breath. For a moment, he thought he

Madam, I’m telling the truth. I really haven’t seen F-Poison, but I did meet a girl from GTO. She’s the only one I’ve ever met.” Patrick hastily tried to prove

loyalty meant

ever ask

choked, avoiding her gaze, “Yes… he did. But the technology is still immature. It only functions for ten seconds in front of people before it collapses. It’s useless.

deepest connection was

all, the high-purity drugs they produced were extraordinarily

swift chop, Vivienne knocked Patrick out cold. His head sank into the water, bubbling

in her car, Vivienne could not shake the feeling that something was

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

was not a person at all—it was a biorobot created by Imogen

seconds was

on finding the bomb; no one had noticed

logical, but her expressions were stiff, lacking the fear of someone

had never expected a

also explained why the hair left at

a projector to cover up bionic technology—this F-Poison was

could outmaneuver the likes of Karen

away, her mind racing with the implications of her