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 chin in her palm, her mind

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

Mara looked at Percival with

through Percival’s, her smile beaming

warmth was such that even she would

she was driven—Vivienne was all

true love, Mr. Wolf merely a

I’m not only less appealing than

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

and stumbled to her feet, only to

I 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

had assumed that even if Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush

dismay, no one

laughed out loud but managed to keep her

head, her eyes

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

her barely suppressed mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair.

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

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

sighed. “Mara, Isolde is right. Get up, what’s with

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

against the bed, she clutched

to her side, helping Mara back into

clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes

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