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!

chin in her palm,

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

sitting up, Mara looked at

arm through Percival’s, her smile beaming at Mara. “It’s been a

such that even she would have been surprised

was driven—Vivienne was all

her true love, Mr. Wolf merely a

“Now I’m not only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake

that was the case, she was not about

yanked out her IV and stumbled to her feet, only to collapse to her

misled me, and I never meant for things

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

no one came to

out loud but managed to keep

awkward silence until Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled

are you doing? I never

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

easily. Mara, don’t pull this act again. Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness comes from genuine remorse, not from such theatrics. Why

from the

by a kid fresh out of elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego

“Mara, Isolde is right. Get

I do to apologize?” Mara screamed silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or

she clutched her cheek. “Ah,

then did Cecilia move to her side, helping

to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a

that can’t be fixed. Just take it easy, and we’ll work