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.

love. Our separation

Jasper felt a bittersweet pang in his heart, as if his little girl

was rascal number two, then this unknown

as you say?” Jasper still

a special man to win your

Jasper felt at ease. “Alright then, he’d better at least measure up to that Ellington boy, or else I won’t be

he’s even

Vivienne called out, “Mom, no badmouthing Mr. Wolf behind

clicked her tongue and helped Jasper to his feet. “See what I mean? Girls grow up so fast.

he could not fight off the drowsiness.

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

can of beer to his

hand and took a seat next to Zelda, Vivienne by her

toast, “Sasha, you owe

forgotten, but Maddox’s reminder triggered

when Karen was nine, and Maddox had just turned sixteen, eager to mimic the adults and

him, which led to

said, “Maddox, I’ll drink with

raised her

their cans together, beer spilling over the edges, unable to contain their collective joy and

“Sasha, do you really not remember anything from our

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

kind of drug that damaged your neural pathways,

a possibility, but what kind of drug could neither you

indeed a

Karen

know the origins of GTO?”

called RST. After Dad and Yorick took down RST, their leader, F-Poison, left behind his daughter

into human trafficking for experiments to develop a

loss. Instead, it’s the potion my mother researched that they’ve