The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Robbie Wright remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Even if Arthur Linklater and Sasha Perez do get married, I'll find you a suitable match, Alyssa. You're my one and only sister. And, hey, try to make amends with Grandpa, will you? You know how upset he was last time. It's important to keep the peace."

Alyssa Wright lowered her head, murmuring softly, "Got it, brother."

But how could any match compare to Arthur?

The next day.

Vivienne Hawthorn and Percival Ellington were at a hospital, where the body from the previous night had just been brought in for examination.

Percival had planned to review the findings first before sharing them with Vivienne, but since she was free, she decided to join him.

Vivienne approached the body and pulled back the white sheet covering the deceased's face. With gloves on, she pressed on the corpse's skin, noting its pallor and rigidity, indicating death had occurred between one to two days ago.

It seemed the victim had not been dead long before her heart was removed.

Inspecting the chest cavity, she noticed the skin was intact, save for a small incision. Whoever had removed the heart had done so with precision, leaving minimal external damage.

After a thorough examination, Vivienne found no other injuries, suggesting the body hadn't been tampered with further.

Despite the tranquility of the victim's expression, the scene was grim.

Leaving the hospital, Percival wrapped his arm around Vivienne, guiding her outside.

"Find anything?" he asked gently.

Vivienne shook her head, "Nothing conclusive. This is just the first body we've come across. We'll need more cases to form a pattern."

She mentioned that neither Draven nor the Frostfire Intelligence Agency had provided any leads, suggesting this case might be tough to crack.

of intrigue in her voice, "Dracon Linklater has been acting up lately. Maybe it's time we

his eyes, "I'm curious

about to get hitched,

added, "Guess I'll be witnessing their lovefest. Next time you pick me up, how about making me

widened, affectionate, "It's been a while, hasn't it? Consider it done,

at the Linklater residence, Vivienne stepped out of the car, bidding Percival a tender goodbye before entering

set foot inside when Arthur's voice thundered, "What the hell

Arthur, who was visibly incensed, even confiscating

sensing trouble, "What's going

topic, "How did it go with the body you

yet. We'll have to wait for the

Arthur, still fuming, approached

"Some idiot online is saying. we're getting married-which is

through the mud, claiming.

with

he's been raising

to check the trending topics. The first was about Arthur and Sasha's wedding,

comments ranged from supportive to outright malicious, with many

her eyes hard with resolve. It was clear they were facing not just a mystery regarding the heart removal but also a battle against public opinion. "How dare she think she's good enough for War God? He can't possibly

if enveloped in a frosty shroud, her brows furrowed tightly together, radiating

her Twitter and sent out cease and desist letters to those particularly vile internet trolls who had been spewing venom

Twitter that harm my mother will be met with a cease and desist letter. We will not retract and will

tweeted

online, and

was personally retweeted by