The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne had no patience for Finnian’s games. She’d scoured his mansion, inside and out, finding nothing more than a bunch of unused robots, a dog, and two cats – but no trace of what she was really after.

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath, feeling like a fool for being played yet again.

Finnian, leaning against the wall with a smug look, said, “Sweetheart, you’re gonna have to clean up this mess you’ve made. Look at this chaos!”

“Why don’t you let Fido do it?” Vivienne snorted, snatching the apple Finnian was about to bite into right out of his hand as she stormed out.

Once she was gone, Finnian checked his surroundings for any “threats” before pulling out his phone to text Vesper, [Where are you?]

[I’m at Willa’s.] Vesper replied, pocketing the phone. In the span of moments, he had changed into a woman.

The mirror reflected a cascade of soft locks over her shoulders, the sharp lines of her face now softened.

She had not undergone any dramatic disguise, just manipulated her facial bones slightly, which was painful enough for her not to change back to this real face frequently.

But for this meeting, a male guise would not do.

She brushed her hair and changed into comfortable jeans and a tee, then knocked on the neighboring door.

Puzzled, Willa opened the door to find a stunning woman smiling back at her. “You are?”

“Willa, it’s been ages,” the woman said with a smile.

Willa peered into the woman’s eyes, sensing an answer she dared not voice. She stepped back, overwhelmed.

her nose. “Don’t recognize me, huh? I

instantly welled up in Willa’s

rushing into the

signature move – whenever Willa made a mistake as a child, Sasha would “punish” her like that before taking the blame in front

Call me Karen now,” Karen said soothingly, comforting

Willa still remembered her. Otherwise, she

Maddox. He would never have believed the stoic Willa capable

her side until Willa’s crying subsided,

own name sound unfamiliar to you? Where have you been all these years, and why haven’t you come back to the

on Karen’s hand tightened as if afraid that letting go would cause her to

“I’ve seen Dad already,” she said with a smile. “Yuri, his wife, Natalia

that meeting them was not the same as revealing her

you’re not telling them the truth? Does it

neither confirmed nor denied. “My memory isn’t fully back. That’s why ‘Sasha’ feels distant. I know I’m Sasha, but why I was kidnapped and ended up as another family’s daughter remains a blank. I

narrowed. “Are you saying you

“I remember bits – like ruining Grandpa’s garden or chopping up Mom’s lipstick for ‘experiments’ – but many details escape me. I’m slowly recovering. It’s just

it had gone undetected for years until she secretly matched her DNA with Yuri’s during Vivienne’s paternity test. That was when she discovered she was Sasha and began to recall fragments of her life

through hypnosis. No wonder she felt detached from her life before age ten – it was like hearing

stretched long, and recovery was complicated. Too rapid a confrontation with the hypnosis could cause irreversible brain damage.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay