The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Percival found a fedora and a pair of sunglasses amidst a pile of men's clothing.

To the average Joe, these items might seem like mere accessories.

But for a man capable of disguising himself without detection, they were overkill.

He pointed them out to Vivienne.

At first, Vivienne was taken aback, but she quickly caught on to Mr. Wolf's implication and scoffed, "She thinks these items are worthless to us, little did she know we'd uncover her Achilles' heel."

The hat, the sunglasses, and this basement.

It all confirmed one thing.

Abigail, severely injured, was photophobic.

Hence, whether it was her hiding spots or the timing of her attacks on solitary women, they all had to be in the dark.

Vivienne stood up to leave, "Looks like I need to have another chat with the old man."

On her way, Vivienne took out her cell phone and called Finnian, only to be immediately hung up on.

Raising an eyebrow, she tried again.

Still hung up.

With a smirk, she decided against calling again and sent a text instead, "I'm on my way to the Perez's, will be there in twenty minutes."

Two seconds later, her phone rang.

Finnian's voice came through, feigning indifference, "Who said I'm at the Perez's? I'm not their nanny. Just because the kids got better doesn't mean I can't go back to my own place!" "You little brat, you just want to see me, but you're out of luck."

Vivienne laughed, her tone nonchalant, "Is that so? I just got a wild Heavenly-Snow Lotus, thought I'd let the master take a look. But if you're not there, then forget it."

Finnian snorted, "Don't try to fool me with that, I don't believe it.”

Vivienne calmly replied, "Suit yourself. It's useless to me anyway. Might as well give it to grandpa Perez for his tea."

"You..."

Finnian was clearly irritated, "You're wasting such a treasure on that old man's tea, are you trying to kill me?"

Vivienne played innocent, "You were the one who said you weren't at the Perez's, so I can only give it to grandpa now."

the subject, "I, I just had to rush back to the Emerald Monastery for

the point, "About that story you told me

"Just that?"

anyway. I'll see if I can find any ancient

Vivienne looked out the window, seemingly unaffected

asked, "Master went back to the

hasn't even left Rivenwood. Emerald

raised an eyebrow, "So, this

fuss over an agarwood bracelet, the old man is getting

"...What about the Heavenly-Snow Lotus you got for master

say it spoiled while waiting for him

Percival, "..."

mentor and disciple, they

ran into Cecilia, who had come to visit

objections to her

were indeed quite

at the table full of herbal

The silence was deafening.

naturally fell

Mr. Wolf's face

the balcony, "Mom, take this

smiled at

flipping a switch,

"Take what away? Vivienne is too polite to say, but you think you have a say in this? I went through a lot of trouble to get these; they're

Percival, "..."

he look like he needs

silent, Cecilia felt embarrassed, as men have

it's not effective, it can't be said

couldn't just watch her newlywed

we came, the future prosperity of the Ellington family rests on you How can you succeed if you don't take care of

"Pfft!"

a sip of water,

watching TV, jumped, "Vivienne, are

her head, "Just choked

wasn't her fault for overhearing; the balcony door wasn't quite closed,

remark at the Ellingtons would bring such a "consequence" to Mr. Wolf. She'd definitely be more careful with her words in the future. Wondering if it was too

the sound, and upon catching Vivienne's gaze, noticed her guilty