The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 40

Vivienne and Isolde were munching on cake when they finally decided on where to eat dinner.

They went for French cuisine!

Given that Isolde was a kid, they ordered some dishes on the lighter side.

By the time they finished dinner, it was already eleven o’clock. Isolde was feeling a bit tired and wanted

to head back to get some sleep.

Percival suggested that Thomas should give Vivienne a ride home, but Vivienne refused.

She wanted to take a stroll around the city alone.

Living up in the mountains for a decade, she didn’t get to experience the hustle and bustle of city life.

Even on the rare occasions she came down to the city, she would always finish the business, and then

head straight back.

The weather was quite nice today, with a cool breeze that made her feel super comfy.

Percival insisted on escorting her home, but Vivienne was adamant about going alone.

In the end, Percival caved in, only reminding her, “Send me a text when you get home, just so I know

you’re safe.”

“Alright.”

Thanks to spending the day with Isolde and the delicious strawberry cake, Vivienne was starting to

warm up to Percival. She wasn’t as frosty as before and even managed a small smile.

After Percival and the others left, Vivienne started to make her way home.

Tranquil Estates was close to downtown. It was no more than a fifteen–minute stroll.

But Vivienne took her time, taking in the sights of the bustling city.

Halfway home, she was jolted out of her thoughts by frantic shouts from behind her, “Outta the way!

Outta the way!

Vivienne turned around to see a group of people running towards her, with another group of stick–

wielding folks hot on their heels.

When she caught sight of the person in the lead, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Well, look who it is!

As they ran up to her, the lead runner suddenly stopped, uttering in surprise, “Miss Vivienne?”

9

Before Vivienne could respond, the person looked back to see the others catching up, and without

missing a beat, grabbed Vivienne and pulled her along.

-Perhaps because of Vivienne’s delay, they had lost ground and soon found themselves surrounded.

The person shielded Vivienne behind her, anger flashing in her eyes as she addressed a twenty–

something, buzz–cut man in front of him, “David, you called back up because you knew you can’t beat

me, huh? Real manly of you!”

“Charlotte! I admit, I can’t take you on! But don’t think you can just run away! In our line of work, winner

takes all. It’s your bad luck running into me today! If you’ve got the guts, bring your own backup!” David

retorted fiercely.

Vivienne was left speechless. She had walked into a street fight?

And the main character was Charlotte, the girl who had spoken up for her at the Hawthorn family

banquet, from the Redwood family?

This was certainly a surprise.

Charlotte spat in his direction, “If you hadn’t tricked me, why would I be here with only three people?”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got!

After leaving the Hawthorn family, she was planning on grabbing a bite with some friends. But then

someone came saying one of her friends had too much to drink, so she and three others went over

without a second thought.

Turns out, it was a trap set by David, and they were ambushed.

She had challenged David to a one–on–one, but that bastard brought reinforcements when he couldn’t

beat her – and not just one or two, but over twenty!

How was she supposed to take on so many people? So, she ran!

“Enough with the chit chat! You put my buddy in the hospital last time. This time, you’re leaving with a

broken leg. David brandished his stick menacingly.

“You want one of my legs? Fine! But our feud is our problem. She’s got nothing to do with it, let her go.”

Charlotte pointed at Vivienne.

David glanced at Vivienne, his eyes lighting up. She was beautiful!

Charlotte rolled her eyes, disgusted. “We have rules. Don’t drag innocent people into our mess. We’ll

settle our own scores!”

David tore his gaze away from Vivienne, thought for a moment, and said, “Alright!”

Charlotte let out a sigh of relief, turning to Vivienne, “Go, now.”

And then, in a whisper that only Vivienne could hear, “Get word to the Redwood family for me. Tell my

dad if he doesn’t do something, he’ll be looking at my corpse tomorrow.”

Vivienne was speechless.

Just like that, she was suddenly involved in their dispute, and now she was a messenger?

But considering Charlotte had stood up for her at the Hawthorn’s, she figured she could help her out

this once.

Vivienne nodded and took off.

Seeing her go, Charlotte sighed in relief. The Redwood family wasn’t far, about a five–minute drive.

But hailing a cab wasn’t really an option right now, so Vivienne had to run. If she was quick, she could

make it in ten minutes.

Charlotte was confident in her abilities. Even though the other side had twenty people, they were four.

They could hold out for fifteen minutes.

With that, she muttered to herself, “You’d better get here fast, or you won’t have anyone left to look

after you.”

Just as Charlotte was bracing herself for the fight, Vivienne suddenly returned.

Charlotte frowned, “What are you doing back here?”

Was Vivienne out of her mind? Couldn’t she see what was going on?

She’d already left, why come back?

And more importantly, with Vivienne back, who would get her message to the Redwoods!

Instead of responding, Vivienne walked up to David, “How much were the medical bills for your injured

friend?”

David was taken aback, “Three grand!”

Vivienne furrowed her brow in thought, then said seriously, “Here’s the deal, I’ll give you twenty grand.

Ten grand for your friend’s medical bills, and the other ten to settle the beef between you and Charlotte.

How does that sound?”

At this, Charlotte, David and his crew were all stunned, eyes wide!

Charlotte was the first to snap back to reality, quickly stepping up to her and snapping, “What are you

doing? These guys are real thugs, they’re vengeful, there’s no way money can buy them off!”

Vivienne turned to her, her expression even more serious than before, “If it can be solved with money,

it’s not a problem!”

Charlotte was at lost for words

Of course she knew that!

Her family, the Redwoods, are loaded!

Twenty grand is just pocket change to her!

The point was those guys don’t care about money!

Vivienne ignored her, instead turning to David and asking seriously, “What do you think? Will you

consider it? Or maybe you have a counter offer?”

David didn’t speak, but was mulling it over in his mind.

He was a local mobster, leading a crew of over twenty boys, with a boss above him.

Their daily bread came from managing their turf and collecting protection money.

But between paying off the boss and taking care of his boys, there was barely anything left each

month.

To be honest, with the money they made, even a decent meal was a serious consideration. After all,

every meal eaten was one less they could afford.

If they had any other capabilities, who would choose to live like this.

But now, with the prospect of getting twenty grand, he saw a glimmer of hope for the months ahead.

Vivienne didn’t disturb him, allowing him to think.

After a while, David looked at Vivienne and said, “Thirty grand! If you can come up with it, we can make

peace.”

He actually thought twenty grand would be enough, but he put forward thirty grand to leave some room

for bargaining.