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.

…

Linklater territory, where no one dared to intrude; not even Vivienne

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

this? F-Poison too scared to show up on

it into a decanter, saying, “A married woman can’t simply

know how to play. Which

I am not yet married,” the man responded, maintaining a genteel smile as he faced

that unsettled him. Straightening up, he demanded, “Out with it. What

want nothing more than to rescue Ms. Diana from Vivienne’s

Diana’s name, Dracon’s eyes lit up. “You found Diana? Where

casually cut into his steak

wrist. “I’m talking to

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

“Mr. Linklater, we have

and asked again,

lately. If you could… take care of him for us, then I could share Diana’s whereabouts. What do you

“If Percival was so easy to deal

man wagged a finger. “You managed to send Gillian to Vanguard Agency. Dealing

recently visited Yorick, remember? He even brought

man leave,

all, Yorick was his

his car, he dialed F-Poison. “Yes, but I doubt he’s got the

father wasn’t