The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Godfrey's heart sank as he had only just found out the Perez family had run into trouble.

He hadn't expected the problem to trace back to his own doorstep.

Without intending to hide anything, he spoke up, "I'm fully aware of what happened, and I'm just as shocked about the Perez family's misfortune. But this whole bomb situation is definitely a misunderstanding. We only found out this morning that something was stolen from us." "The Martinez family serves our nation loyally; we would never engage in such absurd actions, especially not against our own kin."

"This is something the Martinez family would never do."

Godfrey was ready to put his reputation on the line to guarantee for the Martinez family.

Luke raised a hand, "Godfrey, you've got it wrong. We're not pinning this on the Martinez family."

"Both the Martinez and the Perez families hail from ancient warrior lineages. We just need to uncover the truth. We won't wrong the innocent and hope for your cooperation."

Godfrey breathed a sigh of relief, "Feel free to investigate. We'll fully cooperate to catch whoever's behind this. Such heinous acts cannot be overlooked."

Arthur got straight to the point, "Could we have full access to the Martinez family's armory for our investigation? We need to gather evidence."

Godfrey, no longer in a position to refuse, gestured for Leopold to lead the way, "Leopold, take Arthur over there and make sure Griffin knows we're fully cooperating with the investigation." Leopold, seeing Godfrey so compliant for the first time and sensing Arthur's imposing presence, felt the air around him grow heavy.

"Of course, Grandfather," he quickly replied.

As they left, Godfrey wiped off the sweat from his brow.

What a mess.

To think someone dared to steal from the Martinez family's heavily guarded armory.

They must have the audacity of a lion.

Thankfully, the Perez family was reasonable. Otherwise, no amount of talking would clear his name.

escape from death last night, particularly Jasper, who only woke up after

the future relationship between the two families could be

matter how much he explained that the Martinez family wasn't behind the bombing, the fact remained that the bomb

shirk this

suddenly asked, "Were you on the phone with

sitting in the passenger seat, was taken aback and

concerned about information leakage, Leopold was about to explain when he heard Arthur ask, "How is she? Feeling better?" Leopold, caught off guard,

he asked softly, "War God, did something happen

"Nothing. Just

how Arthur's demeanor changed drastically when Vivienne wasn't around, turning into a cold and intimidating presence. He dared

meet those unfathomably deep

the armory, the guards let them through upon receiving advanced

deep into the heart

was already waiting

family uncle coming for a routine investigation. Nothing more." Griffin looked down at their intertwined hands,

nothing to fear. Even under investigation, if the Martinez family is innocent, it's for our own

armory, to where the missing equipment

was off-limits to anyone outside the Martinez

publicly claimed that only a bomb was missing, there was

his

directly, "It's

newly developed heavy-duty

yet fully tested.

is immense, enough to level the entire

was her

tone was calm, but Luke

nearly