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.

the time you cried about diapers and not wanting to break the rule of ‘no touching between

settled it; Karen always had the

her heart’s content. It was then that she circled back

scene was a bionic robot, an android,” Karen said, reclining in her chair and rubbing her

to check if she was an android.

wipes, pondering quietly. “It only shows the

and the two samples Karen

scene was the pinnacle of these

was given to Vivienne

made no progress for years, but now they could match

seems we have

or the Brooks family. She thought they had found the mole, but

unlikely. Without Scott Brooks, the Brooks family is clean, and Baron has long retired. Maybe it’s time to look elsewhere, like

family has been under surveillance. No issues there, and the Churchill and Pendleton families are out of the

of the airborne particles, we couldn’t risk using any chemicals. Even Percival’s shot wouldn’t

caught the tail end

thought they’d switched guns. Could it be Vance again?” Karen propped

the same posture as Karen, he

Vivienne, why don’t we head home

of

must be in

after everything. It was only because Diana had pushed Vivienne to the brink that she had emerged from

Vivienne reached out and took Karen’s

much for the term ‘family.’ In fact,

strong a person is, there is always a tender scar

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

state of isolation, building walls

for her for over thirty years, the prospect of

comfort akin to the

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