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, her mind

before she turned to Percival. “Percival,

up, Mara looked at Percival with remorse. “Percival…

arm through Percival’s, her smile beaming at

that even she would have been surprised

was driven—Vivienne was

love, Mr. Wolf merely a supporting

I’m not only less appealing than a strawberry

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

to her feet, only to

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 angry with me

Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia

dismay, no one came

laughed out loud but managed to keep her

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

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

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

has the biggest heart. She doesn’t hold grudges easily. Mara, don’t pull this act again. Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness

snorted from the

of elementary school was too

“Mara, Isolde is right. Get

her feet, and

bed, she clutched her cheek. “Ah, it

to her side, helping

Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate flower

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