The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

An hour had passed before Mara finally stirred, a ghostly pallor on her face. Her voice was a weak whisper, barely there.

She had never felt so terrible in her life—it was like being on death’s doorstep!

That Gillian had actually given her a bottle of sleeping pills, and here she had thought they were vitamins.

If only she had known, she would not have taken a single one!

“Mara, you’re awake.” Cecilia’s voice carried a mixture of relief and worry, as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart upon seeing Mara’s eyes open.

To underscore her feebleness, Mara coughed deliberately, a decision she instantly regretted as her stomach convulsed painfully.

“Auntie, what happened to me?” Mara’s eyes brimmed with tears, but her pain was genuine.

Cecilia sat by the hospital bed, wiping away the tears streaking Mara’s face. “Oh, you silly girl. Do you have any idea how close you came to never seeing me again?”

Mara feigned shock, glancing down at her wrist as if seeing it anew, a look of realization crossing her face. “I… I’m sorry, Auntie. I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You really…” Cecilia held Mara’s hand, her heart full of unsaid words.

Across the room, Percival sat brooding on the couch, his eyes stormy as the horizon’s edge.

Vivienne, on the other hand, watched the scene with a certain amusement.

Such a promising talent, indeed.

Mara seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Gillian had been.

If she were to be signed and groomed properly, she might even outshine Kala!

Kala: Impossible, utterly impossible!

her palm, her mind racing with

few words with Mara were enough before she turned to Percival. “Percival, why don’t you take Isolde back home? Everything’s

at Percival with remorse.

through Percival’s, her

such that even she would have been

was driven—Vivienne was all about

love, Mr. Wolf merely a supporting

not only less appealing than a strawberry

that Vivienne would actually reach out to her. Since that was the case, she was not about to miss this

her IV and stumbled to her feet,

about everything before. Please forgive me. Gillian and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so

hitting the floor. Though intentionally hard, she had assumed that even if Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at

her dismay, no one

laughed out loud but managed

Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled with fear and pleading, “Vivienne,

tone. “What are you doing? I never blamed you in the first

mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. “Yeah, Vivienne is so magnanimous, truly

easily. Mara, don’t pull this act again. Admitting

from

fresh out of elementary school was too

right. Get up,

could I do to apologize?” Mara screamed silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not, she winced

bed, she clutched

Cecilia move to her side, helping Mara back into bed. “You need

Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate flower about to be

“With today’s technology, there’s hardly anything that can’t be fixed. Just take it