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

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

Mara looked at Percival with

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

such that even she would have been surprised

was driven—Vivienne was all about

her true love, Mr. Wolf merely

only less appealing than a

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

stumbled to her feet, only to collapse

never meant for things to go so far. I was

and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop her. After all, if you’re

her dismay, no one came to

out loud but managed to keep

an awkward silence until Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled with fear and pleading,

responded with a smile, mimicking Mara’s tone. “What are you doing? I never blamed you in

He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. “Yeah,

the biggest heart. She doesn’t hold grudges 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 make

from the corner,

of elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego

Get up, what’s with this kneeling and

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

she clutched her cheek. “Ah, it

helping

Mara clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate

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