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

with Mara were enough before she turned to Percival. “Percival, why don’t you take Isolde back home? Everything’s under control here. I’ll stay

at Percival

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

warmth was such that even she would have been surprised at

driven—Vivienne was all about making

was her true love, Mr. Wolf merely a

not only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake

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

her IV and stumbled to her feet, only to collapse to her knees with

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

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

one came to

loud but managed to

room fell into an awkward silence until Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled with fear and pleading, “Vivienne, will you forgive

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

glanced at Vivienne, noting her barely suppressed mirth. He smiled, affectionately

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

snorted from the

of elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego

Isolde is right. Get up, what’s with

onto her feet, and

the bed, she clutched her cheek.

Cecilia move to her side, helping Mara

Mara clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying

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