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.

burst of realization, Cecilia sat

she

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

aside the covers and grabbing a coat on her

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

outcry. Clutching

thrust her phone at Richard. “Dad,

my grandson for you—bold and decisive! Just like I was back in the day. You’ve got to move

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

eyes. Why did Richard sound

making plans. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a celebration. Let’s start with a family feast tonight,

heart swelling with joy at

don’t forget to invite Dorian’s family. They should be involved in

smiled. “Don’t worry, Dad. I know. They’ve treated Vivienne well all her life. Although her mother has returned, they’re still her parents to

content, and headed upstairs to get ready for

set the Emerald Monastery disciples’

went and got a marriage license

sneaky dog! He didn’t even propose

No ceremony, no proposal, just off

have a hand in Percival

chat without daring to utter a word, finally replied, [I’m

he truly

what went through his mind when he opened his phone to find