The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne and Percival's paperwork went through without a hitch. After a quick lunch, they wrapped up all the formalities within half an hour and collected the various IDs and permits issued by the authorities. The newlyweds' first stop was to drive to the HK Penitentiary.

After some restructuring by the Vanguard Agency, several convicts had been transferred from their previous underground cells to these more secure facilities.

Now, they were housed alongside traitors to the state and suspects involved in particularly heinous crimes.

The security was so tight, a fly couldn't buzz through the air without being zapped by one of the hidden laser guns in the corners.

It was Vivienne's first visit to this prison, and she discreetly looked around, the green light strips on the floor giving her the sensation of walking through the corridors of a high-tech spaceship from a sci-fi blockbuster.

"Are we going to send the criminals we catch to this place from now on?" Vivienne suddenly asked, turning to look at Percival.

The man nodded without hesitation, "The number of turncoats within the Vanguard Agency has the higher-ups on edge. From now on, all prisoners captured by any special division will be detained here. Without a pass from the top brass, no one is allowed to transfer them out."

And by the top brass, he meant the leader who oversaw all the special divisions.

A flicker of intrigue passed through Vivienne's eyes.

As they spoke, they were led to the cell where Whitford Abernathy was being held.

was in a standard-issue gray jumpsuit, with black electronic shackles on his wrists. He barely glanced up at their

and gestured for

window, "You've got it cushy compared to your brother, Cormac. He spent over a

pricked his finger. Drops of blood fell, but he was too numb to react, his face finally showing a hint of emotion, "You've seen Cormac?" Vivienne nodded as if it were the most

retorted sharply. He reached for a piece of tissue to dab at the blood, his voice resolute, "Gavin promised to look after Cormac. You think you can take someone from the head of the Abernathy family? Such big talk for a little

talking about, is that being exiled to a small mountain village, living with Gavin's most despised

tone in Percival's voice halted Whitford's

you know the guards posted around your brother in that village can't even hold their own against the least competent of my subordinates, right?"

cared about, his brother was his soft spot. As Vivienne's voice trailed

ago, you were a shareholder in both the Littleton and Schram families," Vivienne didn't come right out with it but began recounting what she'd learned, "You colluded with Harrison to steal the Littleton family's

pupils dilated, his knee-jerk reaction, "Impossible, don't even think

now, Whitford was

tilted her head, her beautiful eyes

the surprise in her gaze effortlessly and smiled faintly, affectionately ruffling her hair. He pulled out a walkie-talkie from

Soon after.

a vial, and upon closer inspection, one could see the simple yet elegant patterns on it, suggesting it was custom-made. But Vivienne recognized it at a glance; it was the kind of bottle her mother had always favored for her most satisfactory concoctions. The feigned death serum was one of those. However, she remembered her mentor saying that the initial batch of serum had been sold off and was now

"This drug, similar to the feigned death serum in effect, is highly dangerous to the body. Without a regular antidote, it won't be long before Cormac suffers

turned his gaze