The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne didn’t respond. The enigma of F-Poison still perplexed her heart. He was the first mystery she’d pursued for so long without any leads.

The same was true for Karen, of course.

“It seems the answer to the secret still lies in the potion,” Karen said, gently tousling Vivienne’s hair and pinching her cheek. “Come on, let’s head to the lab.”

Vivienne rolled over on Karen. “Mom, can we grab a bite before we go?”

“Why is it always about food with you?”

“Mr. Wolf always takes me for a treat before we head out. If you don’t, I’m not going anywhere!”

Karen’s lips curved into a slight smile as she pulled out her phone and dialed Percival. “Your Vivienne is craving something delicious. Can you drop it off at YQ Research Center?”

Percival was in the middle of a meeting, but upon hearing the request, he immediately wrapped it up.

Nothing was more important than Vivienne wanting a delectable treat!

Watching her mother’s cunning face, Vivienne grumbled, “I got all my sneakiness from you!”

“Well, you’re my girl, aren’t you? Let’s get moving!”

There was no helping it; the only person who could truly handle Vivienne was Karen.

At the YQ Research Center, Percival arrived with a Japanese meal and decided to wait around.

Brody passed by Percival multiple times, rolling his eyes at each encounter.

Finally, Percival caught him. “Ever know what it’s like to have an eyeball gouged out?”

Brody shivered but retorted, “You heartbreaker. Do you know what it feels like to be castrated?”

Percival was baffled; had he broken Brody’s heart or what?

Realization dawned upon Brody from Percival’s expression, “Not me! That pig!”

Percival was even more confused now. Which pig was he talking about?

and

small room with a person sitting in it, with only one eye and surrounded by photos

incomprehensible, this person

scoffed, “She’s always a nuisance when I’m conducting experiments. The only way to keep her calm is by plastering your

then remembered her

Karen also arrived, each

girl’s organs starting

my fault.

what kind of experiments

leaned on the railing, looking at the somewhat maniacal Calista. “Vivienne, shouldn’t you be finding me a new test subject by now? Although your medicine has been effective, and she is indeed slowly regenerating her organs, the human body’s endurance is limited. Her organs will inevitably begin to fail, and by the looks of it, she won’t last

handed Percival a piece of salmon sushi. “Really? I’ll look for another candidate.

your

popping the next piece of salmon into her

to himself:

innocent man in this

the thought of turning Brody into

observing Calista’s failing organs, then suddenly

and inject

stunned, but Vivienne

Boss. We only have two doses of ST-1 left. You’ve already had me alter cell growth with it, which has wasted

up ST-1

about this, Boss!”

if he were a little puppy. “ST-1

dawned on Brody. “Alright,

women were something

in the underworld, a name that resonated

all because of

to say the

to pay attention to Brody’s internal cries. They injected Calista, who

was hooked up to numerous monitoring devices, tracking the condition of her

agonizing pain, writhing on the floor, screaming incoherently, reminiscent

stabilized. She sat on the floor, gasping for air

of recovery, their functionality slowly returning to normal levels.

miraculously begun to repair

and Karen were incredulous at the turn of

limits, and once those are exceeded, the very drugs that once sustained