The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

The “Destruction Plan” was the ill-fated op that Karen led with the Vanguard Agency’s elite squad, ending in a devastating failure.

After the mission’s collapse, Lark went AWOL, Micah vanished into obscurity, and Vance Edwards went deep undercover while the rest of the special squad was nearly wiped out.

Years later, Lark’s deputy team leader, Daphne, met a mysterious end.

Lark herself ended it all with a supposed suicide.

Due to the tragic consequences of the mission, the “Destruction Plan” was classified as top secret by the headquarters, never to be spoken of again.

For years, Percival had been itching to unravel the whole story, but his clearance level was far from sufficient.

Now, however, no longer being a part of the Vanguard Agency, he found himself with more freedom to act.

Vance rubbed his temples, his voice grave. “You should know that even with my clearance, I can’t access those files.”

“You just need to give me the “Destruction Plan” code. I know you remember it better than anyone.”

The past haunted every surviving member, and Vance had once climbed to the rank of second-in-command at the Sea City Vanguard Agency HQ.

He definitely had access to the detailed case files and that unforgettable sequence of numbers.

Vance hesitated. “You’re asking me to make a mistake.”

“You’ve done it before, Vance. It’s important to me.”

Silence stretched on the other end of the line before Vance finally spoke, “245214216589.”

After getting the information, Percival hung up and entered the code into his computer.

Seconds later, the connected printer whirred to life, detailing the “Destruction Plan” documents.

up the report, scrutinizing every word, imprinting them

had hacked into the Vanguard Agency’s secure servers seeking the “Destruction Plan” files but always hit a wall

this was Karen’s

matter how skilled the hacker, without the correct file

a wrong input would trigger a counter-hack sequence, pinpointing the intruder’s

Vivienne had never succeeded—until

a glass of juice,

papers to Percival

more. Standing up, he compared the new printouts with the old; his gaze turned

the original operation

was the only remaining document after Karen’s “suicide,” clearly showing

matched

Agency chasing GTO but rather

that the intel on GTO’s location provided to the “Destruction Plan” was

was a calculated, swift annihilation of the Vanguard Agency’s special squad, orchestrated by an

face was as cold as ice. With such blatant evidence, no

realized there was a

a red line on the map. “This route? My mom led the first squad to

clenched the document, his knuckles white. “It’s because of this decision that most of the first squad survived, though they eventually walked into an ambush. Still, it was a better fate than the total loss

that the Agency suspected her, leading to the relentless pursuit,” Vivienne added, pointing at an image of

tightened Percival’s

He remembered.

him and Micah within the Vanguard

being hunted from all sides, she never revealed

it might have unleashed a storm of blood and

not yet fully developed, and even Karen

within the

in silence, the weight of revelations

the mole had indeed been identified, the raw truth still hit hard when it was finally laid bare before one’s

the last page of the dossier with a sense of dread. There, in meticulous handwriting, was the detailed