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!

in her

were enough before she turned to Percival. “Percival, why don’t you take Isolde back

up, Mara looked at Percival with remorse. “Percival… Viv…

through Percival’s, her smile beaming at

warmth was such that even she

she was driven—Vivienne was

love, Mr. Wolf merely a

thought, “Now I’m not only less appealing

to her. Since that was the case, she was not

stumbled to her feet, only to collapse

was wrong about everything before. Please forgive me. Gillian and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so far. I was awful, please don’t be angry with me anymore? I

was too young to understand, at least Cecilia

no one came to her

laughed out loud but managed to keep

fell into an awkward silence until Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled

are you doing? I never blamed

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

again. Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness comes from genuine remorse, not from

snorted from the corner,

kid fresh out of elementary school was too much for

Get up, what’s with this kneeling and

silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not,

herself against the bed, she clutched her cheek. “Ah, it

move to her side, helping Mara

ever heal?” Mara clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate

that can’t