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.

too,

was a different story. Upon waking and finding familiar faces – and the red-clad woman gone

I was

punch him out of frustration but restrained himself for

looked like under that mask?” Yuri couldn’t help asking. The woman had given him an odd sense of familiarity as if they had met before. The

The face under the mask was

disguise; they wouldn’t

she mentioned Samantha. What’s

Samantha’s whereabouts. Instead, he ended up being

Wolf, it’s time to head home.

home without having completed their mission. Were they just going to leave the woman in

“Okay,” Percival nodded.

for the woman in red. However, she was not exactly going to cause a problem. After all, they had deliberately allowed some things to happen so they could

here in M State? Apart from being third

and Percival: Don’t blame

get

encountered such tactics.

Larry, and a severely shaken Huxley, Vivienne

everything for that man, leaving my sister and I with only each other to depend on.

with those maniacs was hell! It was torture! But when I almost lost it, she suddenly brought me to this sanatorium, where I found Carl. You guys know what

lowered, hiding the

want to come back with

replied without

lips curved in a

heard outside. The

but ask, “Just two planes? How will

“Uncles, Vivienne and I will head back first. In a day, someone will come to take you

Everyone was puzzled.