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.

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

flicker of interest in his eyes, "I'm curious about

Percival suggested, "I'll take you back to the Linklaters. Mom and dad are about to get hitched, and they could use your help. Once there's more on the heart removal

Next time you

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

the car, bidding Percival

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

chatter, focusing instead on calming Arthur,

frowned, sensing trouble, "What's

the topic, "How did it go with the

yet. We'll have to

Arthur, still fuming, approached

saying. we're getting married-which

through the

affair with Scott Brooks

raising another

laptop to check the trending topics. The first was about Arthur and Sasha's wedding, followed by a scandal involving Sasha, Arthur,

to outright malicious, with many attacking Sasha's

of calm but 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

turned icy cold, as if enveloped in a frosty shroud, her brows furrowed tightly together, radiating a dangerous

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

that harm my mother will be met with a cease and desist letter. We

Vivienne tweeted this,

stir online, and her

was personally retweeted by