The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Keith's voice dropped to a whisper, "No, I'm not leaving Rivenwood. With the officials and their hounds on my tail, I need a hideout in some secluded part of Rivenwood. Stock it with a month's worth of water and provisions."

"Let them loosen their grip on the borders, then you can sneak me out."

Brady hadn't expected this casual contact, who hadn't been activated for ages, to be so resourceful.

But now wasn't the time for nitpicking. He took a deep breath and said, "Fine, as long as you're not afraid of being caught by Vivienne and her crew. And remember, if you betray us, we, the Abernathys, won't spare anyone you care about!"

The next day.

Vivienne woke up from a good night's sleep unfazed by the news of Keith's escape.

She had anticipated this outcome, "Keith, always a thorn in our side since the Littleton debacle. Must be one of the Abernathys' moles in the force."

In the car, Anna raised her voice, "Ms. Vivienne, isn't it better that he's vanished?"

Leopold's incredulous voice came through the speaker, "Better? Anna, are you still half asleep?! How do we dig into the Abernathys without a lead?"

The front passenger seat pursed their lips in silence, turning away to massage their temples, not wanting to engage further with Leopold.

Vivienne, even from the backseat, could feel the frustration, "If Keith is off the grid, we can spin the story however we want. Whose side was he on? Use your head!" Leopold was stunned, "Really? But Vivienne, without solid evidence, won't we face complaints?"

"The Abernathys wouldn't dare," Percival couldn't stand Leopold's periodic brain fades.

Leopold finally got it, "So, we're hunting for a legitimate reason to raid the Abernathys. Percival, why didn't you just say so? What's with the riddles this early in the morning?" Pausing, Leopold added, "And don't we already have enough on them? Why go through all this trouble just for an excuse?"

He was lost at the complexity that seemed to thicken around Vivienne and Percival's plans.

Simple matters turning unnecessarily convoluted.

a look reserved

mimed locking his

arrived at

Percival stepped out, followed by Anna, Leopold, Thomas, and

a

to throw a jab at Vivienne but she ignored him completely

shades of purple and

Kenneth had already taken his seat

Abernathys had their representation too - Gavin, Victoria, Sophie,

the room, her gaze pausing briefly before a smile played

to Percival, "Looks

They might drop Gavin, but not Harrison." Vivienne hummed, glancing at Gavin, "The fact

face, "He won't

Vivienne raised an eyebrow.

"Got a tip. Someone's already en route to the

how much Gavin's willing to

back, "Vivienne, you've

Gavin had to die.

by their

his fate firmly in their grasp. How he would meet his end was a matter of whimsy.

plaintiff, Jerry spoke first, "The Littleton incident a decade ago wasn't thoroughly investigated." "For ten years, my client has been gathering evidence." He handed documents to the judge, "These papers prove Littleton's product was safe." "Yet, the victims insisted it was Littleton's fault, backed by Harrison's testimony. We suspect a conspiracy against the Littletons, involving Harrison."

flown in from abroad, an expert in

Upon hearing Jerry's accusations,

Jerry to finish before finally speaking up: "I object! Your honor, this incident happened a decade ago. The original

we have a scientist who was part of the original research team as a witness. He faced numerous challenges alongside

doors swung