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, her

she turned to Percival. “Percival, why don’t you take Isolde back home? Everything’s under control

at

through Percival’s, her smile beaming at Mara. “It’s been a

even she would have been

was

love, Mr. Wolf

only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake but

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

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

and I never meant for things

Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop

no one came to her

out loud but managed to keep her

lifted her head,

“What are you doing? I never blamed you in

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

She doesn’t hold grudges easily. Mara, don’t pull this act again. Admitting your mistake is one

snorted from the corner,

of elementary school was too

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

she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not, she winced at a

the bed, she clutched her cheek.

did Cecilia move to her side, helping

eyes

today’s technology, there’s hardly anything that can’t be fixed. Just take it easy, and we’ll