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

Percival. “Percival, why don’t you take Isolde

Mara looked at Percival with

her smile beaming

that even she would have been

driven—Vivienne was all about making

Mr. Wolf

appealing than a strawberry cheesecake

Vivienne would actually reach out to her. Since that was

feet, only to

never meant for things to go so far. I was awful, please don’t be angry

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

no one came to

laughed out loud but managed to

head, her

are you doing? I never blamed you in

barely suppressed mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. “Yeah,

Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness

from the corner,

scolded by a kid fresh out of elementary school

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

do to apologize?” Mara screamed silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design

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

her side, helping

heal?” Mara clung to Cecilia’s hand, her eyes betraying a fragility, like a delicate flower about to be blown

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