The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Aaron gently nudged the hospital room door open, slipping inside with Mara close on his heels.

In the bed lay Karen, her breathing steady and the machines around her showing no signs of distress.

Aaron tiptoed over, with Mara following suit.

As they drew closer, Mara pulled out a photograph and held it up for comparison, “It’s her. What do we do? Take her with us?” Aaron nodded. “Yeah. I'll disconnect the equipment. Get ready to lift her. I'm taking her to the Millers’ to squeeze out who she really is.” “Aren't we going to... you know?” Mara hesitated.

“Man, if he won't do the deed, how am | supposed to complete my mission?” She thought.

Aaron replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “What? Kill her? That's illegal!” Inside, Mara fumed. It was a good thing she had calong, or this mission would be a bust, and she would be the one in trouble! As Aaron worked on the machines, Mara discreetly reached into her pocket and withdrew a small knife.

Holding the knife over Karen's chest, she swallowed hard. Murder was not on her resume. She hadn't even killed a chicken before. How could she go through with this? But if Karen didn’t die, she would be the one to pay the price.

Aaron, the fool, not willing to dirty his hands with murder, was useless to her.

It was so dark; Aaron wouldn't see. By the the noticed, she’d be long gone.

Even if things went south, the boss would handle it. No worries.

Mentally pumping herself up, Mara closed her eyes and prepared to plunge the knife down.

Just as she was about to commit to the act, her wrist was caught in a vice-like grip.

Already strung tight with tension, the sudden grip nearly sent Mara’s soul flying from her body.

She let out a piercing scream that seemed to split the night, “Ahh!” At her cry, the lights in the room blazed to life.

Stepping back, her wrist still captured, Mara looked around in panic.

This was no empty hospital room.

Vivienne, Percival, and the woman holding her wrist with an icy glare were all present, along with a few men Mara didn’t recognize, all staring daggers at her.

And her supposed ally, Aaron? He stood among them, grinning at her.

“You guys... you...” Mara couldn’t handle the shock, her vision darkening as she crumpled to the floor.

Willa released her grip, wiping her hand with disgust. “Vivienne, you called in the cavalry for this piece of trash?” Maddox was equally puzzled. “Seriously, not to mention you, your Aunt Zelda could've handled this one easily!” Yuri nudged Maddox with his shoulder, “Zelda is tough as nails; she wouldn't even blink at this amateur!” “Why are you so protective? It was just a figure of speech!” Maddox rubbed his shoulder where Yuri had hit him.

Fredrick stepped forward, hoisting Mara onto a couch. “Enough bickering. What do we do with her?” Luke stepped up and said, “Wow, this girl's got a scary face. Lucky for Natalia and Yasmine, they're not here.” The Perez brothers shared a look: Seriously, bro? That's your takeaway? Vivienne approached and pressed her thumb to Mara’s philtrum. The unconscious Mara instantly gasped back to life.

Her eyes snapped open to find the Perez brothers standing behind Vivienne, watching her.

“Ah! Don’t hurt me, please!” Vivienne hoisted her up with distaste, “When you had that knife to my mom'’s throat, did you think you'd be begging like this now?” Mara froze, “She... she’s your mom?” Vivienne’s mom looked so young? She seemed about Percival’s age. How could it be? “Aren’t you an orphan?” “Who are you calling an orphan?” Yuri was the first to bristle.

“Don’t you go spouting nonsense, girl. We've got four uncles right here, no orphans in sight!” Luke added his voice to the chorus.

“Exactly. Keep talking, and I will rip your mouth out!” Fredrick threatened.

Maddox was already gearing up to make good on that threat! Vivienne held her uncles back. “Alright, uncles, may | please have a word with her?” The men finally settled down, stepping back.

Vivienne casually pulled up a chair and sat down, with Aaron and Percival standing behind her.

The shock wore off, and Mara realized Aaron had played her.

“You deceitful little twerp; you hadfooled,” She glared at Aaron.

She had thought she had won him over, rejoicing that her mission was progressing faster than Gillian’s.

But she had been duped.

Aaron chuckled innocently at Mara. “The things you toldwere quite convincing, but you forgot one thing.” “What's that?” Mara demanded.

Aaron’s eyes gleamed with a cunning that belied his youthful face. “I know Vivienne better than you ever could.” Percival shot a sidelong glance at Aaron, his eyes rolling in an uncharacteristically flippant gesture that would have made Leopold laugh for a year had he seen it.

Aaron continued, “I sensed something off about you from the moment you showed up at Elite University trying to cozy up toand Kenneth. The following encounters were just to figure out your endgame. As for Karen's situation, | was in the dark, and | didn’t know Vivienne had found her mom. That was unexpected.” Mara clenched her jaw. She had been outplayed.Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated for All Books Updates...

“Plus, you made a critical mistake. By showingthat photo, you revealed yourself as F-Poison’s lackey. As a leader of the Nine Mystics Society, how could | not know what GTO was up to? A photo like that, Percival would never leave it lying around. And if the person in the photo was a real threat, Vivienne would know.” Percival shot a glance his way, his voice a shade of nonchalance. “Your biggest mistake is thinking I had sfirst love as if Vivienne here wasn’t my first and only.” Aaron rolled his eyes with a disgusted look, thinking inwardly, “Why do you even chin, boomer?” Vivienne stretched out her hand, bringing the increasingly tangential conversation to a halt.

Her eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled at Mara, inching closer with a grin that bloomed like a flower in spring, “Mara, we're all family here. | asked you over because there's something we need to discuss. Can you play along?” Mara felt a chill down her spine. Vivienne’s approach felt less comforting than a slap across the face.

What was this all about? “Just spit it out, will you? I'll tell you anything | know. Can we skip the scare tactics?” Mara edged back.

Vivienne turned to glance at Percival. “Am | being scary?” Percival said, “No, my Vivienne is the picture of kindness.” Mara thought silently, “Do you two even hear yourselves?”