The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Percival's interrogation left Floyd speechless and visibly shaken.

Juliet never expected Floyd, on his very first visit, to be so bold, let alone tamper with her mom's belongings. This pretty much ensured they couldn't back him up now.

Isaiah merely observed Floyd, his gaze a complex mix of emotions, suspicion not least among them. After all, their visit to his house had coincided with a family argument, plus finding him alone by the roadside - on reflection, it all seemed too coincidental. Coincidences, after all, tend to raise more questions than answers, right?

"What are you doing here?" Percival's tone hardened seeing Floyd's hesitance.

Startled, Floyd stepped back, tears pooling in his eyes, "I... I was just following Juliet's instructions to fetch something. I noticed the study light was on and thought to turn it off for you. These things were scattered on the floor, I just took a glance, and then you all arrived." Overwhelmed, Floyd broke down, his tears streaming freely. Percival, who had been gentle moments ago, suddenly seemed a different person, triggering in Floyd memories of his own father.

Hearing his daughter's name, Percival looked towards her, "Is that true?"

"He's not lying, daddy, at least about the first part. Isaiah and I were building a Lego tower and asked him to fetch a missing piece. We thought you had already sent him home." Percival, despite Juliet's words, remained unimpressed.

"I'm so sorry, truly. I didn't mean to pry." Floyd sobbed, apologizing profusely.

Percival, standing at the doorway, felt at a loss. Inspecting the items, he noticed only one document seemed disturbed. "Let's get you home," he finally said.

The incident made Floyd wary of getting too close to Percival thereafter.

Noticing Floyd's deliberate distance, Percival drove him back to his house in silence.

As Floyd entered his home, Percival caught a glimpse of a painting in the living room, its symbols eerily familiar.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Ellington. We wouldn't have known what to do without you," the housekeeper said, expressing her gratitude as she saw Percival off.

Floyd's disappearance into a blind spot of the surveillance had left her anxious, especially with the young master and the lady of the house quarreling, paying no mind to the situation.

take better care of the kid's mental health. Let's

glance at

us?" Juliet's mind was far from her Lego bricks, still troubled by

this would have happened. She

trusting the boy at that

window to

all that innocent," Isaiah said before heading

night, to find Percival waiting, enveloping her

so late?" she asked,

for you. Can't sleep without you,"

"What's wrong? You seem off. Did something happen at home?" Sensing

a word, showing her the documents he had

to dig into this?" Vivienne laughed, unaware of

his head, pointing at the documents, then recounted

the kid was closely examining a

him?" Vivienne raised an

all like someone who couldn't understand. Juliet and Isaiah need a dictionary, but he...

I dropped him off, I saw a painting in his living room with symbols

fell silent as they

the Field family's home during their visit, only catching

just family troubles, but now... it seems

Percival's

an inexplicable familiarity with the boy, as if they

tossing and turning under the covers, unable to fall