The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Quincy ducked, but with the wall at her back, there was nowhere left to hide. She had no choice but to succumb to F-Poison’s twisted sense of humor.

“Boss, just how many masks are you hiding behind that poker face of yours?”

As F-Poison leaned in close, the disguise became unmistakably clear.

The face F-Poison was wearing was that of Gillian.

F-Poison patted her own cheek. “Doesn’t matter, as long as it looks good.”

With that, F-Poison pulled a pill from her pocket and popped it into Quincy’s mouth. “Life-saving pill, half a mil a pop, you’re getting a sweet deal.”

The moment Quincy swallowed the pill, the oppressive weight she felt lifted. It was indeed the real Life-saving pill.

“Boss, my bad. I could not keep a lid on Patrick’s factory and let those Vanguard Agency rats find a foothold. And what I said was true: Percival really did get to Patrick’s factory by tailing Gillian. To be safe, Patrick always sent Gillian to fetch the samples. Poor girl was clueless and thought she was just helping Daddy with some paperwork, so we never got made.

When Percival showed up, he focused on Gillian, and that’s when the spot blew up. I wanted to swipe Keco’s formula, but that Thomas was crafty and had bombs rigged up in advance.”

F-Poison waved it off. “I know, it’s not on you. Rest up. We can’t lose our grip on Sea City. I’ll hit you up once you’re back in the game.”

Quincy nodded, watching F-Poison slip away.

Glancing back, F-Poison’s smile shone brighter. “Had you not fired, the bomb you were leaning on would have gone off by now. Congrats, you’ve lived another day.”

With that, F-Poison shut the door and left the safe house.

Cold sweat drenched Quincy. It was clear that F-Poison did not let any detail go unchecked, no matter how small.

And Quincy had not even realized the gun at her waist was rigged to a bomb!

She found the bomb; its countdown halted.

The trigger was the bomb’s remote!

Wiping her brow, Quincy reflected on her hesitation to shoot. With Vivienne’s sudden appearance and her clouded judgment, she could have been an easy mark.

Thankfully, she trusted Vivienne would not meddle.

For now, she had survived F-Poison’s test.

…

At Rivenwood.

at her place, Leopold drove Percival to the

in front of the grand estate, Leopold

at seven sharp tomorrow,” Percival said, tapping the seat before exiting

down the window, Leopold called out, “Hey, when’s Thomas getting back? I can’t

back casually. “Didn’t he say he’s

Percival slapped Leopold’s shoulder, saying, “Congrats,

could not even voice his

Since when did he

he ever

Never!

leaving Leopold alone in the car, yelling

“Thomas, this means war!”

the shower, Percival texted

with a photo of a note that read, [Beware of

away, Percival replied:

Didn’t message me this time, came straight

like

person is surprisingly very familiar with Vance.

ill will but remained elusive, never

Who could it be?

in her bed and replied: [Doubtful, but definitely linked to Vanguard

[Be careful.]

off her phone,

sneaking around; now, that mystery man? Perhaps it was time to beef up

to waltz into her backyard like it was nothing. Unsettling,

…

Somewhere in Rivenwood.

a cup of water for his guest. “Why the sudden

years of neglect. Just a whim,” the

the person sitting opposite, smirking. “After all this time, what’s a little

glanced

Knowing my apprentice… if she learns the truth, whether she

the cup, whose expression shifting ever so slightly before

“We’ll see,” Finnian added.

petty beyond belief. This bombshell? Forgiveness seemed a