The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Jasper was fuming, his face beet red with anger.

After finally reconnecting with his estranged daughter and granddaughter, the last thing he wanted was to have his precious granddaughter, Vivienne, whisked away by some smooth-talking charmer when he wasn’t looking.

“This guy, Percival, always seemed decent enough, but it turns out he’s sneaky as a fox!” Yuri exclaimed, shaking her head disapprovingly.

Luke chimed in, determined, “We can’t just let him get away with whisking Vivienne away. We need to settle the score.”

Leaning lazily against the wall, arms crossed, Fredrick offered a more pragmatic view. “What’s there to settle? Even if you confront Percival, do you really think Vivienne, who’s head over heels for him, would agree to leave him?”

Vivienne: I’m not head over heels!

Jasper shot Fredrick a glare. “If you’ve got nothing sensible to say, zip it!”

Raising an eyebrow, Fredrick countered, “So what’s your plan? Force them to annul the marriage right away?”

Jasper was at a loss for words. How could he, as a grandfather, encourage his own granddaughter to divorce? Nonetheless, he was still not happy with it!

Fredrick clapped Jasper on the shoulder, trying to ease the tension. “Look, she’s all grown up. They’ve got their marriage license. Instead of getting all worked up, why not focus on throwing them a proper wedding? We, the Perez family, won’t let our girl be shortchanged!”

Jasper snorted dismissively. “A wedding, sure. But the Ellington family is not getting off easy for tricking my granddaughter!”

Maddox and Yuri nodded in agreement. Zelda sighed, the voice of reason lost in the commotion.

Meanwhile, Cecilia had just woken up from a nap and, out of habit, began scrolling through Facebook. Suddenly, she came across Vivienne’s post – no caption, just a photo of a marriage license. Still groggy, she scrolled past it and then saw an identical post from Percival.

of realization, Cecilia sat

did she just

pause, she went back to Percival’s post and zoomed in on the photo. There it was, clear as day: a marriage license with Percival and Vivienne’s names on it. Then, she scrolled up and saw

she gasped, tossing aside the covers and grabbing

gone and

startled by Cecilia’s outcry. Clutching his chest, he exclaimed, “What in

Richard. “Dad,

stunned, suddenly burst into laughter. “Haha! That’s my grandson for you—bold and decisive! Just like I was back in the day. You’ve got to move fast when you

was always hovering, waiting to whisk her away. I had to be cunning and

only roll her eyes. Why did Richard sound so proud

phone back and began making plans. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a celebration. Let’s start with a family feast tonight, and tomorrow, we can discuss wedding dates with the Perez family. We’ll make sure

her heart swelling with joy at

forget to invite Dorian’s family. They should be involved in setting the date,” Richard added, referring to Dorian Hawthorne and Cordelia

her life. Although her mother has returned, they’re still her parents to her. As her

nodded, content, and headed upstairs to get ready for

the news had set

went and got

dog! He

No ceremony, no proposal, just

you have a hand in Percival eloping

daring to utter a word, finally replied, [I’m being framed!

he truly

his mind when he opened his phone to find Percival and Vivienne’s marriage license all over