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.

too, "Congrats! Don't worry, even

"Just make sure the

a voice message, "You're all about the cash, huh? But it's your big day! Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

message Vivienne saw was from Aaron, quite

asking... can

understood why his name was

wedding with Mr. Wolf sounded like a

reply, and Vivienne moved

and Griffin both tried to call at the same time, resulting in a

Charlotte: "??"

Griffin: "What the heck?"

rob her of peace for an hour, thanks

signaled Charlotte she

a brief

not a celebrity spectacle. Did everyone forget she

in, Vivienne was tempted to just turn off her

moment she considered it, another

This time from Draven.

"Young master, Winston's awake."

In the hospital room.

lit up upon seeing Vivienne, yet couldn't help but sneak

he quietly said, "Sis, you came to

felt the need to explain, "I

"It hurts everywhere...

Vivienne handed him a life-saving

He obediently swallowed.

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

head, his voice full of

the natural affinity her own

"Sis,

she heard right, "My mom's

mentioned inviting me to her wedding once. But then, after Alyssa did something bad

spoke, his lips pursed, and the light in his

to mine in

brightened, "Really? You're getting married

Vivienne paused.

he mean

she asked, "Winston, do you remember anything before

hands twisting, "I remember everything. I really wanted to