The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Halfway through dinner, Daphne took the initiative, lifting her wine glass in a toast to Vivienne. "Viv, this one's for you, on behalf of my precious Emily. If it hadn't been for you taking her away from that godforsaken place of Havenwood and mentoring her, I can't begin to

imagine what could have become of her."

"Now, seeing her thriving by your side, I reckon it's the universe doing us a solid."

Perhaps memories of her own past trials made her emotional, as Daphne's eyes briefly welled up.

Vivienne stood up, her response heartfelt, "You're giving me too much credit. Emily's success at Vanguard Agency is all her own doing. All I did was recognize her potential."

Then, replacing her wine with a glass of water nearby, she added, "Been battling a bit of a cold, hope you don't mind my switching to water."

Daphne nodded in understanding, letting her be at ease, as she herself downed the wine.

The dinner went smoothly, wrapping up in a warm atmosphere. Vivienne offered Daphne a ride home.

As they left the restaurant, a sudden chill of danger washed over them. Across the street, a group of menacing figures in black, armed and heading straight for them, appeared out of nowhere.

"Viv, watch out!" Emily was the first to react, instinctively stepping in front of Vivienne.

Before Emily could act, a dozen elite guards materialized around Vivienne, swiftly encircling the attackers.

The confrontation was quickly contained, with Vivienne's gaze turning icy.

These were operatives of Mr. Wolf, a last resort not deployed lightly.

It appeared Abigail had been aware of this.

an inconspicuous bystander glanced their way, a gun blatantly aimed at

counter, but the gunman shifted aim to Emily and

she moved to intervene, only to see someone else had already stepped in front of

who were solely focused on her safety,

mission was singular: safeguard Vivienne at all

was hit by the bullet and collapsed

Daphne, crying out, "Mom!

signaled her team to follow the shooter as they rushed Daphne to

Daphne herself. She carefully extracted the bullet from her shoulder, noting a small butterfly tattoo with an existing scar. After

head,

got the shooter. She insisted

wouldn't just sit idly by, especially not

told Percival, "Call

shaken by the day's events,

minutes later, with Sasha's voice coming through, "Missing me

ever composed, got straight to the point, "Mom, Daphne's

sent Sasha into a flurry of excitement and questions, to which Vivienne simply replied, "Come home. We need to talk." Hanging up, Vivienne pondered the

hospital, with Percival ensuring Daphne's safety, Vivienne decided to check on Emily but was stopped by Percival's insistence on her needing

through a two-hour surgery

to admit, maybe Mr. Wolf had a

Thomas, on the other end, informed her of Emily's

had been motivated by a significant sum of money, but the details

revealed a complex plot with no clear answers, leaving

"Anna's relentless curiosity is about to send my

voice carried an air of indifference, "Let her be.