The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Gillian screamed, her voice edged with sheer terror, “Are you out of your mind? You’re in the car too, Mara!”

Panic clawed at her, urging her to leap from the speeding vehicle, but courage failed her.

As the car hurtled towards the end of the winding mountain road, Gillian curled up in the backseat, bracing for impact.

A jarring symphony of rubber grinding against asphalt pierced the air. Gillian’s head slammed against the seat, her forehead instantly blossoming with a bruise.

Mara exhaled a long sigh of relief, casting a scornful glance back at Gillian. “Scared now?”

“Just go off and die by yourself; don’t drag me into it!” In a fit of rage, Gillian hurled her purse squarely at Mara’s face.

Mara, now prizing her beauty more than ever, caught sight of the incoming assault and immediately yanked at Gillian’s hair, snarling, “Dare to mar my face? I’ll make sure yours isn’t worth keeping!”

Gillian let out a piercing shriek.

And so, the two women grappled inside the car, exchanging blows and pulling hair—an unseemly spectacle.

Exhausted and breathless, they eventually stopped, both bearing the marks of their skirmish, neither having gained the upper hand.

Touching up her makeup in the mirror, Gillian said, “If you’d actually swallowed vitamins, Vivienne would have caught on in a heartbeat. She’s the Specter Healer, and with her all-knowing mom, those two are sharper than anyone. You’d be the first to go if you slipped up.”

Mara scoffed. “You could’ve warned me. I would’ve taken less. You’re just looking to get rid of me!”

Gillian couldn’t be bothered to argue. “I’ll be transferring to Rivenwood soon. You’ll have to play along with a few more of my performances, so don’t forget.”

With a cold snort, Mara started the car and drove away. She would have never kept up this charade with Gillian if it were not for her thirst for vengeance. Once that was quenched, she would be the first to kill this bitch and drop her and Vivienne into the pigsty!

with contempt. Her thoughts mirrored Mara’s—each plotting the

her visit to the Linklaters, Vivienne dropped Karen off at the Perez Mansion and then headed to

sports, romance, and lively chatter. Only Aaron was in his dorm,

going to clear out? Don’t you have your own dorm?

end. His own dorm was seldom used, thanks to

season’s game on his tablet, paid no mind to

go! Damn! With those reactions, how do you

to explode in frustration when his phone rang—it

the sight of Vivienne’s name, the irritation

was staying at the university that day because Vivienne had

from the fridge, and dashed out, leaving

sat up, considering Aaron’s words, and quickly dialed

Elite

on the steps, observing

treated her like a kid, and she kept

on those days, she realized how mundane

clutching a strawberry cheesecake that had miraculously survived the run, save for one berry that

“Still lacking finesse, Aaron? Can’t even run a short distance without dropping

tone frayed Aaron’s nerves. “I’m sorry, Vivienne. I’ll be more

enemies you’ll face are the best of the best. Any slip-up could be fatal. If you stay

new head of the Miller family, Aaron was a target of

family soon, he would be swallowed by its undertow—a puppet emperor unfit

his head, guilt flashing in his eyes. “I’m sorry,

your training. And if I see you like this again, don’t

Vivienne, I’ll have surpassed Percival,”