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

a few words with Mara were enough before she turned to Percival. “Percival, why

up, Mara looked at Percival

her smile beaming at Mara. “It’s been

she would have been surprised at

she was driven—Vivienne was

was her true love, Mr. Wolf merely

“Now I’m not only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake

Since that was the case, she was

stumbled to her feet, only to collapse to her knees with a

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

did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop

no one came to her

but

her head, her eyes filled with fear and

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

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

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

from the corner,

of elementary school was too much for

Get up, what’s with this kneeling and

Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not,

against the bed, she clutched her

helping Mara back

Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility,

anything that can’t be fixed. Just take it