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!

propped her chin in her palm,

few words with Mara were enough before she turned to Percival. “Percival, why don’t

up, Mara looked at Percival

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

such that even she would have

was all about making

Mr. Wolf merely a supporting

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

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

to her feet, only to collapse

about everything before. Please forgive me. Gillian and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so far. I was

and Isolde was too young to understand, at

her dismay, no one came

loud but managed to

head, her eyes filled with

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

mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. “Yeah, Vivienne is so magnanimous, truly

Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness comes from genuine remorse,

from the

of elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego

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

Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by

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

to her side, helping Mara back into bed.

her eyes betraying a

today’s technology, there’s hardly anything that can’t be