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 he was

a different story. Upon waking and finding familiar faces – and the red-clad woman gone – he knew he had been

I was a

wanted to punch him out of frustration

had met before. The mention of having held Vivienne as a child had also piqued his curiosity. However, he combed through his memory but found no trace of

under the mask was probably not

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

up. “Vivienne, she mentioned Samantha.

which was to investigate Samantha’s whereabouts. Instead, he ended up being the one kidnapped, a humiliating turn

chuckled, looking at Percival. “Mr. Wolf, it’s time to head home.

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

“Okay,” Percival nodded.

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

from being third wheels, what else did

and Percival:

get

Vivienne checked them 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

and a severely shaken Huxley, Vivienne addressed the latter, “Didn’t F-Poison capture

Back then, Mom lost everything for that man, leaving my sister and I with

lost it, she suddenly brought

Vivienne’s eyelids lowered, hiding the look in her

you want to come back with us?”

Huxley replied without

curved in a mysterious smile. “Alright

of private jets could be heard outside. The uncles peeked out to see two

“Just two

“Uncles, Vivienne and I will head back first. In

Everyone was puzzled.