The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne's phone buzzed with an incoming message from Draven.

"Hunter belongs to an ancient line of warriors!"

Raising an eyebrow, Vivienne typed back, "Keep digging. Miss nothing."

"Ding!"

The alert for a new message went off, and as Vivienne marveled at Draven's efficiency, her screen was flooded with nearly a hundred messages.

WhatsApp was a sea of red notifications.

Texts were popping up one after another.

Logan Wood, Oberon Harper, Faye Churchill...

Just seeing those names gave Vivienne a throwback to her days as a homeroom teacher at Cloudcrest High School.

She rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Those kids were relentless.

The digits on the blackboard from back then, memorized to this day.

Thinking about it, time really did fly; they must be sophomores in college by now.

Setting aside what she was doing, Vivienne began replying to each message.

She let the WhatsApp notifications bounce as she prioritized responding to the heartfelt wishes sent to her and Mr. Wolf by her students.

After addressing her students' messages, Vivienne finally opened WhatsApp.

At the top was Griffin, with a long string of congratulatory emojis, ending with a somewhat sarcastic wish.

"This invitation is making me green with envy," Griffin's message read. "When will my goofball catch on? Will I ever get to wear a wedding dress, sob?!"

"But you bet, I'll be giving you the biggest red envelope. Not just for Leopold, but for our bond forged in fire."

Something came to Vivienne's mind, and she fished out a recorded video from the top of her WhatsApp, forwarding it to Griffin as a generous return gesture. Griffin instantly replied with a "?"

Vivienne left it at that, letting her discover the joy on her own.

Then came the laments from various juniors about preparing wedding gifts only now receiving the invitation.

Vivienne couldn't help but smirk, skipping over those messages.

a message too, "Congrats! Don't worry, even if I'm shooting

make sure the red

wouldn't miss

was from

just asking... can I crash the

name was

Wolf sounded like a

"No" was sent in reply, and Vivienne moved

call at the same time, resulting in

Charlotte: "??"

Griffin: "What the heck?"

knew their game. Answering one would rob her of

Charlotte she was busy and promised Griffin his

a brief moment

celebrity spectacle. Did everyone forget she was just a bride-to-be with

was

it, another text came

This time from Draven.

"Young master, Winston's awake."

In the hospital room.

bed, a frail figure that lit up upon seeing Vivienne, yet couldn't

only Vivienne, he quietly said, "Sis, you came to

beside him, Vivienne rarely felt the need to explain, "I

pale face struggled for words, "It hurts everywhere...

handed

He obediently swallowed.

smiled, "Quite brave, aren't you? Not afraid I might poison

head, his voice

the natural affinity

a hopeful tone, "Sis, can you tell me about auntie's

making sure she heard right, "My mom's

to her wedding once. But then, after

his lips pursed, and the

wedding, come to

"Really?

Vivienne paused.

he

"Winston, do you remember anything before

up, his small hands twisting, "I remember everything. I