The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne was no stranger to using her imagination. She rummaged through her bag and handed Aaron a stack of papers. “I need the final product in three days. Get it done.”

Aaron accepted the papers, and to his surprise, they contained plans for a state-of-the-art camera system made from transparent crystal material. If installed as the eyes of a bionic robot, they would be indistinguishable from human eyes!

“I assure you, the task will be completed.”

This was Aaron’s first mission since joining the Nine Mystics Society, and he could not afford to take it lightly.

He had to nail it to impress Vivienne and to prove that he, not Percival, was her most capable assistant.

“Good.” Vivienne nodded, watching Aaron’s confident demeanor.

This was his chance to prove himself, and whether he succeeded or failed, she would finally be able to flush out the traitor.

The reason she had tasked Aaron was to test him, to ensure he was not naively treating the Society like some kind of adventure game.

As Vivienne prepared to leave, Aaron opened his mouth to speak when a deep, magnetic voice called out from ahead.

“Vivienne, I’m here.”

Both Vivienne and Aaron looked up, their expressions changing. Vivienne was elated. Aaron, on the other hand, was clearly annoyed.

“Mr. Wolf! Did you bring the strawberry cheesecake?” Vivienne ran over like a schoolgirl, throwing herself into Percival’s arms, her eyes lighting up at the thought of her favorite treat.

Percival chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Don’t you want to see me instead of just eyeing the cheesecake?”

like a strawberry cheesecake made by Mr. Wolf himself. Give it

a kitten after cream, Vivienne could not wait to dig into the

light across the playground, the two

as she savored each bite of the cheesecake, while the one he had waited half an hour in

the cake box before fading away, along

whispers of the wind seemed to scoff at his futile effort. “How laughable, your painstaking efforts couldn’t outshine a simple

scene unfold, a slow smile creeping across

had bought. The cloying

timely offering of iced coffee.“I heard the campus heartthrob was moping here, so I came

accepted the iced coffee. Though he had not spent much time with Mara,

but what’s this about a

Kenneth, man. The gaming ace and the future finance mogul, the ideal boyfriend, inheriting a fortune. You guys are always together, and people are

“What’s

gossip, I guess. I knew about it on my first day. The top-liked post on the campus network is about

phone. “Look at all the confessions. People

“There’s nothing between us. If anything,

bros, but it’s fun for us to fantasize. There are plenty who have secret

mention of secret crushes, Aaron’s spirits visibly

painful. No amount of strawberry cheesecake could cure that kind of

through Aaron, having witnessed the scene

your mind? If you want, I’m here to

not care who was listening

but she doesn’t like me back. She’s

low. “I don’t know how to get her

to begin with! You’re outstanding, but Percival is many times more outstanding,” Mara thought silently, though she