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,

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

at Percival with remorse. “Percival… Viv…

stood, looping her arm through Percival’s, her smile beaming at

such that even she would

was driven—Vivienne was all

her true love, Mr. Wolf merely a supporting

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

her. Since that was the case, she was not about to miss this opportunity to

her IV and stumbled to her feet, only

for things

floor. Though intentionally hard, she had assumed that even if Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop her. After all, if

her dismay, no one came

but managed to keep her

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

are you doing? I never blamed you in the

mirth. He smiled,

this act again. Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness comes from genuine remorse, not from such theatrics. Why make

snorted from the

elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego to

is right. Get up, what’s with this kneeling

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

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

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

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

technology, there’s hardly anything that can’t be fixed. Just take