The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne popped the cork from the porcelain vial and held it to her nose, inhaling deeply. It was not any ordinary medicine she was familiar with.

Her gaze lifted slowly, locking eyes with Finnian.

“Yes, it’s our family’s secret recipe. Only Sheldons know how to concoct it,” Finnian said, his excitement palpable.

Vivienne gave him a scrutinizing look. Knowing Finnian’s true nature, even if he did not want to have anything to do with the Edwards family, even if he wished they would just wither away, he would not ignore the plight of the innocent workers.

He would not stand by with an antidote in hand and watch them die.

Finnian seemed to anticipate her question and volunteered the information. “I once gave the formula to someone from the Edwards family, Vance’s grandfather specifically, but the old man did not take it seriously.

Then, | was chased all over the place and took refuge up in the Emerald Mountains. | lost touch with the Edwards’ affairs, and it was left at that.” Back in the day, Finnian, or Ulysses as he was known in his family, had fled from a htragedy. During his escape, he learned that the Edwards family had acquired Mystic Vein’s mining rights.

Aware of the dangers of Mystic Vein, he passed the antidote formula to Vance’s grandfather.

But this very act revealed his whereabouts, leading to a relentless pursuit by other ancient warrior lineages.

Finnian had thought Vance’s grandfather would heed the warning. Unfortunately, it did not make any difference in the end.

For years, Finnian had been dodging assassins from the ancient warrior lineages, and it was only after faking his death that he discovered Vance’s parents had died due to the Mystic Vein’s excavation.

Only then did he realize that the Edwards family had i. the antidote altogether.

But it was too late. He could not find Vance or save the workers any other way.

Vivienne nodded. “So, the Edwards family sealed their own fate. But Finnian, did you use your alias to strike a deal with the Edwards Group to sell those gas masks to save their miners?” Finnian choked, incredulous that she had found out. He had carefully avoided all of Vivienne’s informants! Wait a minute! There was someone else.

Finnian’s eyes gradually shifted to Percival, who was slicing a cake. Feeling the sharp gaze, Percival looked up and returned a beaming smile.

Inwardly, Finnian cursed Percival.

He should have known it was this rascal Percival! The Ellington Group held a significant place in the business world, so uncovering a small detail like the gas masks was no surprise.

Vivienne tapped the table. “Finnian, don’t forget you owe80 million dollars. Are you trying to skip out on your debt?” Seeing Vivienne’s sly grin, Finnian knew he could not keep his secret any longer.

“Alright, alright, I'll pay you back, okay? But let's be clear: once | pay off that debt, you can’t take over my company and still claim | owe you eighty million!” Vivienne extended her hand. “Let’s start with the shares of your company.” Finnian grimaced, reluctantly pulled out his phone, and stepped outside to make a call.

Ten minutes later, Vivienne’s phone confirmed that she was now the owner of a medical supply company.

“So, can | have my IOU now?” Finnian said as he sat back down, eyeing Vivienne.

Instead of an answer, Vivienne merely smiled, and even Percival, who had finished slicing the cake, looked on nonchalantly.

Finnian blinked and then realized what was happening. He punched the two figures before him, but instead of a human reaction, both robots opened their mouths and, like the previous synthetic human, spat out two scrolls.

[Finnian, this is a gift for you.] [The 10U will wait until I've collected eighty million.] Taking a deep breath, Finnian found himself laughing. “That cunning girl, always full of surprises.” He dipped his finger into the cake’s icing and popped it into his mouth, only to spit it out immediately. “Blimey! Why's it so spicy?” Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was not the cake he had brought in but a fake one! “Vivienne! You just wait! You little rascal!” Fuming, Finnian carried the two synthetic humans back hand dumped them in front of Vesper.

“Look at this!” Vesper, who was immersed in a book, could not help but smile at the sight of the two machines.

“That girl's got spunk,” Vesper said approvingly.

Finnian sighed. “So, it’s justagainst the world now, is it?” “You could say that.” Vesper chuckled, pinching the cheek of ‘Vivienne’. But his expression suddenly turned grave.

Finnian was still mourning the loss of his company when he saw Vesper swiftly erasing his traces.

“What's happened?” Finnian asked, confused.

Vesper’s brow furrowed. “Your apprentice has tricked you. These synthetic humans, they're bugged with trackers!” With that, Vesper hurriedly made his escape.

In the meantime, the real Vivienne was sitting in her car, savoring a strawberry cake.

“Hmm, not quite as good as Mr. Wolf's, but still delicious,” She thought.

Indeed, strawberry cake was the best thing in the world.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated for All Books Updates...

Percival watched Vivienne’s delighted face and could not help but marvel at the power of money.

Truly a little miser at heart.

As Vivienne ate, she glanced at her watch and said, “Paused for three minutes, and now it’s moving again?” Vivienne's wristwatch was a marvel of miniaturization, a sleek accessory that doubled as a microcomputer when the need arose.

The tracker on her personal defense drone had started to move again, scooting barely half a mile from its last known position.

Percival set off in pursuit of the signal, but Vivienne shook her head. “Wait, that’s one of the old man’s decoys!” She sent the coordinates of the moving tracker to Matthew. Soon after, he called back, panting, “Vivienne, I've been chasing this wild goose for nearly two miles! I'm beat!” So, the crafty old fox thought he could send them on a wild goose chase? “Alright, clock out.” Vivienne ended the call and joined Percival in knocking on the imposing front door.

The door swung open, revealing a robot butler with an uncustomized face.

As soon as it saw Vivienne, alarms blared, “Red alert, red alert, the brat is here, the brat is here!” Percival chuckled under his breath, but the sight of Vivienne’s darkening scowl made him swallow his amusement.

Vivienne snapped off the robot's head with her bare hands. After a comical “Ah, I'm dead,” the robot fell silent for good.

Finnian rushed over, his surprise evident. “Holy smokes, how on earth did you find this place?” “Don’t play dumb with me. Where's Vesper?” Vivienne demanded.

Finnian shrugged nonchalantly. “How should | know? But if you're looking for him, | might be able to set up a meeting.”