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

she

zoomed in on the photo. There it was, clear as day: a marriage license with Percival

heavens!” she gasped, tossing aside the covers and grabbing a coat on her way

huge! My son has gone and married the girl of his

outcry. Clutching his chest, he exclaimed, “What in the world are

her phone at Richard. “Dad,

Just like I was back in the day. You’ve got to move fast when you find the right woman or some other chap might

Cecilia, “You know, I did the same with your mother. Baron Brooks was always hovering, waiting to whisk her away. I had to be

roll her eyes. Why did

Let’s start with a family feast tonight, and tomorrow,

heart swelling with joy at

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

her life. Although her mother has

content, and headed upstairs to get

the same time, the news had set the Emerald Monastery disciples’ chat

and got a marriage license

He didn’t even

no proposal, just

why the silent treatment? Did you have a hand

been staring at the group chat without daring to utter a word,

truly was

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