The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Not far off, Willa sat pensively atop a stone wall, her eyes fixed on the joyous scene unfurling in the Perez family’s backyard. The guilt that had clung to her heart was finally dissolving, bit by bit.

Watching Jasper’s face brighten with laughter, a smile unwittingly crept across Willa’s lips.

Just like Diana, Willa had always known she was adopted.

As a child, she had longed to call Jasper “Dad” just like Diana did, but for some reason, the words never came easily.

But deep down, she was certain there was only one man in her heart who could ever take the place of a father, and that was Jasper Perez.

It was not until she unraveled the mystery of her past that she understood the source of her discomfort.

Willa had resolved then and there to bring Sasha back home, to gift Jasper with one genuine, wholehearted laugh.

Now, at last, that wish had come to fruition.

Gradually, Willa’s gaze shifted to Maddox. She watched him clutch his head in a comical display of distress and couldn’t help but chuckle.

That guy, no matter what life threw at him, never changed!

Willa lingered on the wall for a while longer before slowly getting up, ready to leave.

Suddenly, she caught Karen’s meaningful glance from afar. Despite the distance, she knew Karen was looking straight at her.

With a resigned shake of her head, Willa realized Sasha had caught on.

She pulled out her phone and shot Karen a text, [I’ll be home waiting. Spend some quality time with Jasper.]

Jasper had a long talk with Karen, eager to catch up on all the years gone by. Karen summarized the events, omitting her time with her foster family and simply mentioning that her foster parents had passed away, leaving out the rest.

Towards the end of their conversation, Jasper glanced over at Vivienne playing with Natalia and Yasmine and asked, “Sasha, who exactly is Vivienne’s father?”

Karen knew this question was inevitable and didn’t shy away from it, but she also was not ready to reveal too much.

you is he’s the bravest, most remarkable man in the world, my true love. Our separation has always been

in his heart, as if his little girl had grown up and been taken away by some young

two, then this unknown son-in-law was number

great as you say?” Jasper still

man to win your daughter’s heart, to make me willingly

felt at ease. “Alright then, he’d better at least measure up to that Ellington boy, or else

he’s

then, Vivienne called out, “Mom, no badmouthing Mr.

Jasper to his feet. “See what I mean? Girls grow up so fast. Dad, let me take you

the drowsiness.

of the bedroom, Natalia and Yasmine had already called it a night, leaving just

beer

with one hand and took a seat next to

can, Maddox initiated a toast, “Sasha,

Maddox’s reminder

Maddox had just turned sixteen, eager to mimic the adults and have a

threatened to join him, which led to Jasper catching

I’ll drink

Karen simply raised her can,

together, beer spilling over the edges, unable to

taking a sip, Yuri looked at his sister with concern, “Sasha, do you really not remember anything from our childhood? What’s the reason?

shook her head. “It’s not that. While I did have a head injury, it was not fatal, and I could heal myself. I have recovered, or else I wouldn’t have come up with the bionic tech. There must be other reasons I haven’t discovered

it be that GTO gave you some kind of drug that damaged your neural pathways, making it hard

of drug could neither

indeed a puzzle for

that could stump both Karen and Vivienne

do you know the

born from a criminal organization called RST. After Dad and Yorick took down RST, their leader, F-Poison, left behind his daughter Willa and disappeared. I was abducted by him three years

file mentioned F-Poison was into human trafficking for experiments

memory loss. Instead, it’s the potion my mother researched that they’ve been seeking for years.