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!

chin in her palm, her

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

Mara looked at Percival with remorse. “Percival… Viv…

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

warmth was such that even she would have been surprised

she was driven—Vivienne was

Mr. Wolf merely a

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 her feet, only to collapse to

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

Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop her. After all, if you’re going to perform, you need to make it look real,

dismay, no one came to her

but managed to

head, her eyes filled with fear and pleading, “Vivienne, will

mimicking Mara’s tone. “What are you doing? I

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

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

snorted from the corner,

kid fresh out of elementary school was too much for Mara’s ego to

sighed. “Mara, Isolde is right. Get up,

she climbed back onto her feet,

bed, she clutched her cheek. “Ah, it

then did Cecilia move to her side, helping Mara back into bed. “You need to

scar ever heal?” Mara clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like

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