The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Harrison masked his turbulent emotions with a practiced ease, his mind, however, was a tumultuous sea. "I just saw Vivienne and Percival. But, they didn't seem to notice me. Surprised, I guess." "Why would that surprise you?" Victoria couldn't grasp the significance. "You're hardly a celebrity. Why should they care if they saw you or not? Harrison, you're too full of yourself." Used to Victoria's sarcastic jabs, Harrison didn't even flinch. He even managed a gentle smile, taking Victoria's hand in his, holding her firmly by his side despite her struggles. "You're right. They had no reason to notice me." "I heard Sophie got turned down by Leopold recently. She's quite upset. We should go see her to make sure she's alright." Victoria scoffed at the thought of Sophie being in trouble but paused her attempt to pull away.

Sophie being rejected, and now to show up in front of her cozy with Harrison, would probably infuriate her! With that thought, Victoria ceased her struggles.

Behind them, Seaton, tasked with carrying gifts, raised an eyebrow, his gaze landing on the intertwined hands of the pair in front of him. He swallowed his doubts and hurried after Victoria into the elevator.

"The Sterling family thinks they're so high and mighty just because they have scash!" Sophie lay weakly in her hospital bed, her eyes, turned towards Gavin, were streaked with tears.

She looked utterly wronged, as if she'd faced the greatest injustice outside.

Gavin, who always had a soft spot for Madeline's tears, now felt his heart tug seeing her daughter, who bore a striking resemblance, in distress. "My daughter, a direct descendant of an ancient warrior lineage, settling for his son would have been beneath her! And yet, that Sterling patriarch dared to snub me! Especially Leopold, utterly detestable!" "Dad, who's got you so worked up in the middle of the day?" Victoria entered, catching the tail end of his rant. Her eyes sparkled with unspoken delight as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, accidentally brushing her earring.

With a slight smile, she strutted into the room ahead of Harrison, not even glancing at Sophie, and went straight to Gavin. "You're already dealing with high blood pressure; getting upset over such trivial matters isn't worth it." "Trivial?" Madeline looked at Victoria in disbelief and hurt. "Look at Victoria. Even if Sophie, her sister, is in here sick over this, and Victoria calls it trivial?" Seeing her cry, Gavin's heart clenched. He waved Victoria away with a gentle gesture, "You're growing more insensitive by the day! Sophie got dumped, and you're pleased, aren't you?!" Of course, she was pleased! As for Sophie, did she even see the size of the chip on her shoulder?! Victoria inwardly sneered but outwardly, her face darkened. "Dad, I'm just worried about your health! How can you seelike this?! Besides, there was nothing serious between Sophie and Leopold to begin with. Him not being interested is hardly surprising. It's embarrassing, making such a fuss over a man that it lands her in the hospital." Her rapid-fire commentary left even Harrison scrambling to catch up.

Sophie, in her bed, pointed a trembling finger at Victoria, too infuriated to form words. Eventually, she just turned her face into the pillow, her sobs echoing in the room, her eyes hidden and seething with malevolent emotions.

Madeline clutched her chest in agony. "Look at her! Victoria, I know you don't like Sophie. But how could you say such things?! Sophie is your sister, a lady of the Abernathy family. Not securing a marriage alliance with the Sterling family el.f doesn't mean your days will get any easier." "Victoria, apologize!" Gavin roared in anger. "The Abernathy family, a lineage of ancient warriors, and this is how you speak of us?! Don't forget, you're also an Abernathy! If your sister is deemed unworthy, do you think you'll fare any better?!" "Dad, Victoria just speaks her mind." Seeing the brewing storm, Harrison quickly interjected, "This is indeed an oversight by the Sterling family. If they had no intentions of forming an alliance, they should have made it clear, not hurt Sophie like this." Pausing to gauge Gavin's reaction, which seemed to soften, he added, "And who knows, maybe Leopold does like Sophie. There could be another reason." Gavin frowned. "What other reason could there be?" "Dad, didn't you know? Leopold is very close to Percival and gets along well with Vivienne too. Maybe they don't like Sophie and said something to Leopold, so he..." Before he could finish, everyone caught the drift.

So, Vivienne was the one playing games, keeping Leopold away from Sophie, huh? Victoria rolled her eyes in silence: Apart from her, it seemed like the Abernathys had all their brains invested in Harrison.

Sure enough, Harrison caught Gavin and Madeline brooding.

His eyes darted around before he slowly admitted, "In hindsight, it's partly my fault. I was naive, and got mixed up with Kaitlyn. Now they want to clear Kaitlyn's name, aSophie, being my sister-in-law, naturally becomes a target, Maybe only if I can prove my innocence in Kaitlyn's case, they might start accepting Sophie again." Gavin flinched, as if the thought just struck him, "How is this your fault? If Vivienne, that meddler, thinks she can stick her nose into this, she better be up for it!” "Bodyguards!" Gavin took Harrison's words to heart, "Go ask that Emrys guy to bring his whole family here, and do it fast! I want to see, after all these years with no evidence, how Vivienne plans to overturn the case!" Victoria's lips twitched. She couldn't decide whether to laugh at Gavin's slow uptake or admire Vivienne's formidable capabilities. Now, if Gavin were to head to the village in Emerald City, he'd probably find nothing but empty houses. Bringing back the people was out of the question, though picking up a brick or two as a keepsake might still be feasible.

That old coot had clearly forgotten all about Emrys' family! If they weren't of use today, he probably wouldn't even remember Emrys' phone number! And now, the person Gavin was looking to find were probably still tied up in Vivienne's villa.