The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Victoria's gaze followed Vivienne's motion, turning to face the screen. The dim room, lined with high-tech medical paraphernalia, flickered with the sterile glow of the monitors. There, in the cold embrace of the hospital bed, lay a woman whose pallor was so ghostly it seemed to drain the life from her surroundings. Only the misty rhythm of her breath against the pale blue mask of the respirator bore witness to her clinging to life.

The footage was silent, yet Victoria could almost hear the incessant beep of the heart monitor haunting her ears. She held her breath, her heartbeat thundering, threatening to burst through her eardrums. She didn't need to be a medical expert to know her mother's condition was dire.

The arms that had once held her so tenderly were now a roadmap of scars-a patchwork of pain. Some were old, their wounds healed to leave nothing but pale ghosts on her skin. Others were fresh, angry, and brown, each one a raw nerve in Victoria's heart.

"Mom..." her lips trembled, teeth chattering, a broken cry tearing through her throat.

Her sobs filled the living room, spreading like a sorrowful tide.

Vivienne watched in silence, gesturing to Anna and the others, who quietly ushered Kaitlyn out of the room, their steps retreating up the staircase.

Kaitlyn couldn't resist glancing back to see Victoria, who always seemed so formidable, now as vulnerable as a child who had lost her favorite toy. Her shoulders shook with helpless despair, a mirror to the time Kaitlyn had stood amid the rubble, feeling the world collapse around her. Maybe she had misjudged Victoria all along?

Her thoughts were cut short as she ascended the stairs, leaving behind Vivienne, who leaned over to pick up the laptop lying on the coffee table.

"All these years, you've been helping Gavin, hoping he'd take care of your mom, right?" she said softly.

"I thought... if I did well

didn't either," Vivienne reassured, patting her

she asked, referring to Emrys and the others trying

over with red, swollen eyes. Suddenly, her gaze froze, and her

a speculative tone in her voice. "Gavin's brother?" Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels

in a web of deceit. "Yes, his half-brother Emrys. According to the Abernathy family records, he

a hog for slaughter-stared wide-eyed at Victoria, writhing

little viper, you're in cahoots with her, aren't you? Gavin promised me. He said if I kept an eye

hardened. "All these years, you've been watching

what if I have? You better release me, or else I'll report you to my brother. You'll

I care about that inheritance?" Victoria scoffed. "But I am surprised. You still haven't seen Gavin's true colors. You are your Dad's favorite, and yet Gavin, the treacherous, heartless scoundrel, took the head of the Abernathy family right from under him! You think Gavin wouldn't betray

was in denial, his

the very woman who helped him rise to power. How could you expect any loyalty from him?" Twirling her hair, Vivienne mused, "Before your father died,

paid a fortune to ensure her ashes would be forever bound, damning

with rage as Victoria's words echoed around him, revealing a truth too