The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Faye puckered her lips and scoffed dismissively. “It’s just for convenience, you know. I’ve only met Carl a handful of times. It was his uncle Scott and my dad who arranged our marriage from the start. We were bound to be linked by marriage sooner or later, so we figured we might as well choose someone we knew. That was the deal between us. Besides, Carl had a thing for Calista and almost called off our engagement. It was only his brother Ronald who stepped in and stopped him.”

Charlotte, always keen for some juicy gossip, prodded further. “How do you know it was Ronald who stopped him, not Carl himself wanting to stay engaged?”

“Are you kidding? He was head over heels for Calista at the time. There’s no way he wanted to stay engaged. He told me himself that Ronald convinced him to stick it out for the sake of the Brooks family, suggesting that eventually, he’d break off the engagement with me.”

“Pfft, I never realized Ronald was such a smooth talker. Now that his brother’s in a coma, I don’t see him pushing to call off the engagement. When exactly was he planning to do that?”

Just outside the door, Zachary happened to pass by and overheard Faye’s conversation, his expression growing even more somber.

He didn’t knock but instead went to find Vivienne.

“Madam, the warehouse has been unsealed, but they still took two robots from each of our warehouses for sampling and investigation,” he reported.

Vivienne was already aware of the situation. “Let them take their samples. I suspect that’s their real objective anyway.”

“But, Madam,” Zachary continued, “while questioning the agents, I managed to get a look at the serial numbers of the malfunctioning robots. They were all defective models that should have been destroyed long ago. There’s definitely a mole inside our organization. I suspect…”

“Just focus on what you’re doing; I’m on top of it,” Vivienne cut in.

Reassured, Zachary agreed. “Alright, I’ll follow your lead. And about Carl – do you need my help? I have some influence in M State; maybe I could find him.”

“No need. Someone’s already on it.”

Vivienne’s smile was cryptic as she dismissed the topic.

…

staring out the window. This was Linklater territory, where no one dared to intrude; not even Vivienne or

a man in a dark suit entered, carrying a bottle of fine

sneered without turning his head. “What’s this? F-Poison too

it into a decanter, saying, “A married woman can’t simply come out to meet Mr. Linklater

know how to play. Which number are you in her list

yet married,” the man

felt an inexplicable chill, an ominous pressure that unsettled him. Straightening up, he demanded, “Out with it. What

man’s grin deepened. “We know you want nothing more than to rescue Ms. Diana from Vivienne’s clutches. We have

of Diana’s name, Dracon’s eyes lit up. “You found Diana? Where is she? Is she alright? Has

steak as if

Dracon grabbed the man’s wrist. “I’m talking

man flipped his hand, driving the steak knife toward Dracon’s hand. Dracon jerked back

the man in shock, Dracon heard him say, “Mr. Linklater, we have a

and asked again, “Where

napkin. “There’s a little issue with Percival lately. If you could… take care of him for us, then I could share Diana’s whereabouts.

easy to deal with, would you still be

finger. “You managed to send Gillian to Vanguard Agency. Dealing with Percival should be

intently as the man continued, “Percival recently visited Yorick, remember? He even

man leave, Dracon

Yorick

F-Poison. “Yes, but I doubt he’s got the guts for

his biological father wasn’t something done