The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

The buzz of the bustling barbecue joint filled the air as Vivienne savored the morsels Percival fed her. A thought struck her, and she looked up with curiosity. "Any word on Huxley yet?" Over the sizzling grill, Percival flipped a juicy burger and shook his head. "That guy's slippery. If he's involved, his crew won't let him get caught that easily." Vivienne nodded in agreement. "Ever since Samantha vanished, GTO's been eerily quiet." As Percival handed her a slice of steak, he raised an eyebrow, "You don't think GTO's behind this?" She shook her head, lacking evidence but trusting her instincts. "If GTO had their hands on that kind of tech, they'd have flaunted it ages ago. No way they'd wait this long and then put Huxley on the job." "Mr. Wolf, I'll have sof that," she said casually, pointing at a plate of ribs.

Vivienne continued, "If I'm right, this has got to do with that woman in red. That potion-if you can even call it that—seems more like a refined kind of hex. It's designed to mess with your head; the actual effects, we'll have to wait for Brody's lab report." Percival's surprise was evident. “Mom's in a coma; how could this drug work on someone who's asleep? Unless... it can force them awake?" Since marrying Vivienne, Percival had naturally started calling Karen 'Mom', despite her not having woken up yet. It was a term of endearment he was getting used to.

Vivienne laughed lightly, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “The human brain is the world's most complex mystery. Modern medicine can manipulate certain emotions, but it can't control the body. Reviving someone from a coma is next to impossible." If such a drug existed, vegetative states wouldn't be such a dilemma in medical science.

"Anyway, with the target on Mom's back, the hospital's no longer safe. Are you full?" Percival took her word as gospel, quickly standing up with her even before she could answer. At that moment, his phone rang.

Aaron? "Why would he have my number?" He wondered.

Percival had made a note of Aaron's number to protect him from swooping in on his precious Vivienne.

"What's up?" Vivienne asked, having just paid the bill with Percival's card. She saw the furrow in his brow and peeked at the caller ID.

Recognizing the familiar name, she let out a puzzled “Aaron?" and took the phone to answer, "Aaron, what's going on?" Aaron's anxious voice immediately sounded, "Vivienne, it's bad! Your cousin's caught up in something nasty. Check the trending news!" Meanwhile, a luxury car screeched to a halt outside the barbecue place, drawing screams and gasps from onlookers as sparks flew from the tires.

Then, as the car doors swung open, two figures dashed out and went into the barbecue joint like a gust of wind, leaving the bystanders in awe.

"What just flew by?" "That car! So cool, I want one!" "Ramona's still blabbing online, and Ms. Brooks has been taken hby her agent. But the inteis dragging her through the mud, and they can't reach you, so they called me." Recalling Darren's panicked plea for help, Aaron spoke rapidly, and Vivienne's expression darkened with each word.

The waitress nearby trembled at the sudden shift in the young lady's demeanor.

"Vivienne! Percival!" Before she could speak, the restaurant's door burst open, and two agitated figures, Griffin and Leopold, rushed in.

Griffin, particularly, had red, swollen eyes as if she had been crying, a stark contrast to her usually cheerful demeanor.

She barely noticed what Vivienne was doing as she grabbed her hand, "Vivienne, please help me. My grandpa, he's not going to make it!" "Aaron, hold on." Vivienne scanned the room, crowded at meal time, and sensed Percival's discomfort at the attention. Leopold caught the signal and was the first to act, pulling Griffin aside. "This isn't the place for this talk. Let's step outside." Percival wrapped an arm around Vivienne's shoulder. "I've got a place nearby. Let's head there." In the car, Percival sat in the passenger seat, eyeing the rear-view mirror. Griffin was a pitiful sight, clinging to Vivienne and sobbing.

Leopold, driving, felt Percival's judgmental gaze as if silently critiquing his ability to comfort his girlfriend, thinking, "Con, Percival, who gets jealous over a woman?" "What exactly happened?" Percival had never seen Leopold so serious.

Vivienne could hardly breathe with Griffin clinging to her. She managed to ask, "Start from the beginning; what happened to him?" All in one day!

She had just managed to take care of the situation with Kala and coordinate with the company fora press release. She hadn't even put her phone down when Griffin and Leopold showed up, one in tears, the other with a grave look. And now, after several minutes in the car, they had yet to speak. Griffin, finally sitting up, managed to say, "My grandpa, something's wrong with him. He woke up this morning and started... dancing like he was possessed." "Dancing?" Vivienne raised an eyebrow in disbelief, the words almost forming on her face.

Percival raised an eyebrow in question as he heard the news. What kind of absurd poison makes one dance?

Griffin had finally stopped crying, wiping away her tears, "I'm serious, it was like sfreaky possession I've got the video can show you. He just started flailing around, his limbs all out of control, eyes glazed over. No matter how we yelled, he wouldn't respond, like he was under ssort of spell. Right, Leopold?" Leopold, who was driving, nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah, Vivienne, you should have seen it. Godfrey's moves, they were just like those you'd see in a horror movie." He had been utterly shocked when he went to find Griffin earlier.

Usually, Godfrey Martinez was a pillar of stability in his mind, a man of substance and depth.

Who could have imagined that one day he'd be thrashing around like a marionette with newly attached •NO.

limbs, his skin an eerie shade of blue, looking for all the world like a freshly unearthed zombie. "Percival, I took sphotos too. Just look for yourself; it was downright terrifying. At first glance, I thought it was the start of the zombie apocalypse." He managed to pass his phone over to Percival.

Meanwhile, Vivienne was holding Griffin's phone, her hands still trembling from the shock.