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!

in her

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 Percival with remorse. “Percival… Viv…

arm through Percival’s, her smile

she would have

she was driven—Vivienne was all about

was her true love, Mr. Wolf merely a

only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake but also

was the case, she was not about to miss this opportunity to overplay

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

Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things

Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop her. After all, if you’re going to perform, you need

her dismay, no one came to

but managed to

lifted her head, her eyes filled

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

Vivienne, noting her barely suppressed mirth. He smiled,

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

from

of elementary school

Isolde is right. Get up, what’s

apologize?” Mara screamed silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not, she winced at

bed, she clutched her cheek. “Ah,

then did Cecilia move to her side, helping Mara back

her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate flower about to

hardly anything that can’t be fixed.