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.

his head, too, indicating he

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

I was

wanted to punch him out of frustration but

help asking. The woman had given him an odd sense of familiarity as if they had met before. The mention of having held Vivienne as a child had also piqued his curiosity.

under the mask was probably not

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

“Vivienne, she mentioned Samantha.

had been on a solo mission from Vivienne, part of which was to investigate Samantha’s whereabouts.

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

home without having completed

“Okay,” Percival nodded.

in red. However, she was not exactly going to cause a problem.

our purpose here in M State? Apart from being third wheels,

and Percival:

get used

and this was the first time Vivienne had encountered such tactics. The silver needles from her fan were coated in a deadly

only minor injuries, a cracked rib for Larry, and a severely shaken

that man, leaving my sister and I with only each other

with those maniacs was hell! It was torture! But when I almost lost it, she suddenly brought me to this sanatorium, where

lowered, hiding

want to come back with

replied

a

jets could be heard outside. The uncles peeked out to

two planes? How will

and I will head back first. In a day, someone will

Everyone was puzzled.