The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Clutching her mother tightly, Vivienne’s tears erupted like a fountain. She wept uninhibited, her sobs echoing through the car like a child’s.

In her mother’s embrace, time seemed to stand still. It was different from the time she had swindled Finnian out of 80 million dollars; this was raw, unfiltered emotion.

After crying herself to near exhaustion, Vivienne finally ceased her tears and remembered she had a bone to pick with her mother.

“Mom, you…” Vivienne started but stopped as she noticed Karen dozing against the car window.

How could any mother be so absent? She was crying her eyes out!

“Vivienne, honey?” Karen murmured, waking to her daughter’s voice and wiping drool from her chin. “Oh, it’s been ages since I heard you cry. Still puts me right to sleep.”

Vivienne was speechless, gazing intensely at her mother, who seemed so different from when she had first seen Anna.

“Mom!”

Karen pulled Vivienne into a hug. “Frost, I’m starved. How about we grab some beef stew before we get into all that?”

Overhearing from outside, Percival could not bear the scene any longer and climbed into the car. He had hoped for a heartwarming reunion, yet Karen’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of beef stew!

Now he knew where Vivienne got her appetite.

“Master, is food all you ever think about?” Percival complained as he got into the car. Vivienne had been crying her heart out, and Karen had not even tried to comfort her.

Karen slapped Percival’s arm. “Shut it and drive.”

“Mom, please don’t knock the sense out of my Mr. Wolf,” Vivienne said, rubbing the back of Percival’s head tenderly.

Percival chuckled softly, grateful for Vivienne’s gentle touch.

Karen scoffed. “It’s not like you peed on him when you were a kid!”

Vivienne blushed crimson, having no memory of such an incident.

about

it; Karen always had the

up at Rivenwood’s finest stew house, where Karen feasted to her heart’s content. It

the scene was a bionic robot, an android,” Karen said, reclining in her chair and rubbing her belly without a care in

burped. “I tossed that rock to check if she was an android. Never thought I’d get

wet wipes, pondering quietly. “It only shows the androids inside GTO

Brooks family and the two samples Karen had left behind, had

pinnacle of these experiments—an android

given to Vivienne

for years, but now they

brows knitted. “It seems we have a mole among us

on Zachary, William Pendleton, or the Brooks

her used wipe neatly on the table. “There’s definitely a leak, but a mole is unlikely. Without Scott Brooks, the Brooks family is clean, and Baron has long retired. Maybe it’s time to

With Scott gone, the Brooks family has been under surveillance. No issues there, and

couldn’t risk using any chemicals.

caught the tail end of the

Agency showed up, their gunshots sounded muffled. I thought they’d switched guns. Could it be Vance again?” Karen propped her chin on her hand,

around and saw Vivienne in the same posture as

“Master, Vivienne, why don’t we head home and think

of home,

must be in

was not ready to face Jasper, not after everything. It was only because Diana had pushed Vivienne to

mother’s hesitation, Vivienne reached out and took Karen’s hand.

much for the term ‘family.’ In fact, she was downright resistant to

matter how strong a person is, there is always a tender scar

deeply wounded by her foster parents—left battered and bruised, both

long time, Karen had lived in a state of isolation, building walls so high that she would not let

had blood relatives who had been searching for her for over thirty years, the prospect of getting

Vivienne said, her hand warm in Karen’s—a comfort akin to the cozy sweaters her mother used to

past decade, Karen had stayed close to Vivienne, watching as she single-handedly established the Nine Mystics Society, witnessing her transformation from a tiny