The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Flynn’s pupils contracted slightly at her words, and then he let out a scornful chuckle. “F-Poison? And who’s Samantha? You’re speaking gibberish to me.”

Vivienne regarded him coolly. “You insinuated yourself into Flynn’s life, became his confidant, and waited till he let his guard down. The day before the shooting, you two switched identities.

In that massacre, the real Flynn died a hero, saving lives. And you—you lived on, wearing his face.

Francis, you’ve schemed for eternity at the cost of everything, even delivering yourself into our hands. Did you ever calculate that this life would be your last within these walls?”

Flynn—no, Francis now—his expression cracked at her words, but he quickly masked it with laughter.

His face, or rather the lifelike mask he wore, began to split, revealing a much younger visage underneath.

Vivienne couldn’t help but feel a pang of surprise. Willa was well into her forties, yet the man before her, supposedly her father, looked to be in his early twenties.

“Vivienne, you’re even sharper than your mother,” F-Poison admitted defeat. There was no point in hiding anymore. He had lost, utterly and without a chance to turn the tables.

Yet, losing to her didn’t feel like a disgrace. Vivienne was the most formidable adversary he had ever encountered.

Her mother, Karen, was formidable too, but he sensed in Vivienne that rare quality of the student surpassing the master. Given time, she would certainly eclipse her mother.

“But I’m curious, how did you unravel my secrets?” Now that his true identity was exposed, he abandoned all pretense, his youthful face twisted with a grotesque smile that was wholly unsettling.

“I’ve explained once to Samantha, and I don’t fancy repeating myself,” Vivienne replied, her gaze piercing.

She leaned in slightly, a smirk playing on her lips. “But there is one thing I will tell you.”

Francis raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“While you and Samantha devoted your lives to the quest for immortality, I haven’t concocted an elixir of eternal life, but I have created a life-extension pill that adds five years to a person’s life. It’s based on your ST-1, and it’s given me a direction for my own studies into immortality.”

The life-extension pill was indeed real.

was an accidental invention Vivienne had stumbled upon during her leisure

devise a life-saving pill, she discovered that her first attempt could prolong life—though it wasn’t what she was

she never brought

natural order of life and death was a

the pill might be a mere extension of life,

knew such a pill would cause chaos if released, with people killing for just one dose. That wasn’t something she

she made just ten pills and kept them

concept of an immortality drug intrigued her—not to sell, but as a scientific challenge, one she

shock.

had invented

he had known, all the elaborate schemes of RST would have been unnecessary.

“I don’t waste words on the

“Francis, remember to please your masters in your next life as a lesser creature, to atone for your sins in this one. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped in a cycle of rebirth as an

stepped out. From her backpack, she pulled a compact explosive and tossed

Boom!

echoed through the valley as Vivienne

silent, his face etched with

a bad mood, Vivienne turned to him, held his hand, and said, “Mr. Wolf, let’s go

person in the Ellington family he trusted

been another man wearing his uncle’s face. Before uncovering Francis’ identity, he had despised Flynn for his perceived betrayal and the threat he posed

wasn’t his uncle who betrayed him, but Francis—filled him with remorse for not trusting his

how unsettled he must feel. Now that Francis was out of the picture, Percival was undoubtedly

that gnawed to the bone until

at large, they couldn’t afford to let them continue the search

luxury

that Francis, Samantha, and the shadowy figure behind her were

Francis on the spot was the

of warmth coursed through Percival’s

him best was,