The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Juliet slapped her chest with a promise, "Don't you worry, Mom, we won't let you down!"

Standing nearby, Isaiah sometimes wondered about life itself. Were girls naturally this enthusiastic, kind of like his aunts? No, that wasn't quite right-his uncle was pretty lively, too. Lost in thought, Isaiah suddenly felt warmth atop his head, where Vivienne's hand had come to rest without him noticing.

"Off to school now. I'll come pick you up after, okay? If I can't make it, Dad will be here."

This time, Juliet had no objections, well aware of Vivienne's busy schedule.

"Got it, Mom. Don't forget to eat," Juliet said, planting a kiss on Vivienne's cheek in parting.

Isaiah's goodbye was less fervent; he hugged Vivienne briefly, waved, and then hurried to catch up with Juliet.

Vivienne watched the kids enter the school before turning to leave, noticing Floyd's gaze lingering on her. She pretended not to see and quickly vanished from Floyd's sight.

Back in the car, Percival handed her a USB drive. "Here's everything Soren managed to dig up. Might be useful for your lab work."

Hearing Soren's name, Vivienne immediately thought of Anna. "How have those two been lately?"

"Soren and Anna? Well, Anna's practically living in your lab these days, and Soren's been swamped with tasks at the squad. They probably haven't seen each other much. Plus, Soren's been off since that last mission; I heard he wasn't feeling great yesterday." That explained why Anna seemed so distracted yesterday-she was worried about Soren's condition.

"How's the mission wrap-up going? Maybe he should come help in the lab; I could take a look at his symptoms."

Percival chuckled. "Always worrying about everyone else, huh? How about a little concern for me?"

an eyebrow at him. "Haven't I worried about

the villain here. Raising kids on my own hasn't

about all I've done for the kids?!" Vivienne's eyes twinkled mischievously. "If you want

hadn't changed a bit

Percival left. Inside, Vivienne found Anna so engrossed in her work that she

we have to go through this? You know how dangerous it is to let experiments run

realizing her mistake, apologized to Ms.

lab, Anna.

the right state of mind to argue. She retreated to the break room, while Vivienne, through the glass, saw the sadness in her eyes. Love had indeed distracted her. Why did love

pondered, Soren

preparing her acupuncture needles as Soren described his

on the task at hand than on comparing Soren's physique to Mr. Wolf's, though the

to Soren, while Anna returned to her work, trying to ignore the drama unfolding

Then he remembered failing to reply to her

Soren's frantic attempt to text Anna, wondering if it was possible Anna

Just follow the prescription I gave you and take the meds for five days, and you'll be fine," Vivienne declared with a flourish, removing the bandages that Soren had on his back. Soren quickly got dressed, offering a simple,

freezing for a moment

doing here? Are your injuries healed?" Anna's voice was laced with concern, drawing an affectionate

My star pupil, indeed.

with your