The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

When Vivienne and Percival turned to look again, the woman in red had vanished without a trace.

Vivienne wanted to chase after her, but Percival grabbed her wrist. “Vivienne, let it go. She hasn’t shown us her full hand yet.”

Even for Vivienne and Percival, it had been a stalemate at best. If they pursued her, their chances of victory were slim.

Besides, their main reason for coming to M State was to rescue people, and now that they had, their mission was complete. However, they still hadn’t figured out why the puppet master behind this charade had gone to such lengths.

Vivienne peered in the direction the red-clad woman had disappeared, her gaze murky and unreadable.

Atop a nearby hill, the woman in red stood, her eyes fixed on the scene below where she could see Vivienne’s group.

Lucky for her, she had packed a smoke grenade, which briefly obscured their vision, allowing her a swift escape.

It had been years, and it was time for her to return to Veridia.

She scoffed disdainfully, snapped her fan shut, and walked away. “Wait for it. We’ll meet again.”

…

Elsewhere.

Huxley had fainted from fright during the scuffle and was now jabbed awake by Vivienne’s needle.

“You guys alright?” Vivienne asked, looking toward Larry and Carl.

Larry, clutching his chest, replied, “Vivienne, we’re fine.”

He had sustained some injuries, but they weren’t a big deal for him.

head, too, indicating

and the red-clad woman gone – he knew

thought I

looked at him and wanted to punch him out of

The woman had given him an odd sense of familiarity as if they had met before. The mention

no use. The face under the mask was probably not

are masters of disguise; they wouldn’t dare show their true faces

stood up. “Vivienne, she

which was to investigate Samantha’s whereabouts. Instead,

“Mr. Wolf, it’s

returning home without having completed their mission.

“Okay,” Percival nodded.

was in control except for the woman in red. However, she was not exactly going to cause a problem. After all, they had

in M State? Apart from being

Percival: Don’t blame

You get used to

for injuries. The woman in red’s moves had been bizarre, and this was the first time Vivienne had encountered such tactics. The silver needles from her fan were coated in a deadly poison, which would have required

cracked rib for Larry, and a severely shaken Huxley, Vivienne addressed the latter,

no idea! Back then, Mom lost everything for that man, leaving my sister and I with

was torture! But when I almost lost it, she suddenly brought me to this sanatorium,

hiding

to come

replied without

a mysterious

private jets could be heard outside. The uncles peeked

but ask, “Just two planes? How will we

In a day,

Everyone was puzzled.