The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Chapter 43

Joseph was dumbstruck, staring at Vivienne without uttering a word.

She had been hiding behind the door, and he hadn’t noticed!

What did it mean that she had slipped him a aphrodisiac?

As if to answer his silent question, Vivienne’s grin widened. “What happened yesterday was payback

for what you did years ago, Joseph. You weren’t wrongly accused!”

Her expression was surprisingly calm, not a trace of anger on her face.

But that made her all the more devilish.

“You!” Joseph pointed at Vivienne, “You’re,nothing but trouble!”

“Enough! Big bro!” Dorian suddenly roared. “Evelyn is your sister–in–law, and you did that to her. Now

you dare to insult Vivienne. Do you think I wouldn’t cut ties with you?”

He was filled with regret.

Utter regret!

When he knew Beatrice disliked Vivienne’s mother, he had thrown himself into his work, thinking that if

he tried harder, Beatrice would accept Vivienne’s mother.

As a result, he had completely neglected his family.

“Get out of my house. From now on, you’re not welcome here,” Dorian said, pointing towards the door.

He wanted to seek justice for Vivienne’s mother, but without evidence, even calling the police wouldn’t

help if Joseph just denied everything.

The only thing he could do was to break off contact with Joseph.

“What do you want Vivienne to explain?” Cordelia couldn’t hold back her anger. “What about you and

Emma? Vivienne ‘did drug you, but that was because you drugged her first. She was just getting back

at you!”

Cordelia spoke up resolutely. “You cheated on your wife, you even have a bastard child. You did

something wrong and you blame Vivienne? Where’s your dignity?”

Cordelia had been having a hard time in the Hawthorn family these past few years.

Her family wasn’t well–off, and after marrying Dorian, she was looked down upon by Beatrice and his

brothers.

Despite her low status, she had her pride, but she had been enduring it all for Dorian.

Hearing Joseph, a complete jerk who had bullied Vivienne’s mother, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

At that moment, she realized that excessive patience would never earn their respect, but would only

make things worse.

Rather than enduring, it was better to break ties.

Their daughter had to keep them away from him.

“Shut up! This isn’t your place to talk!” Joseph shouted angrily.

“This is my house! I’m Dorian’s lawful wife! I’m Vivienne’s stepmother! I have the right to speak here!”

Cordelia retorted sternly. “Leave my house now, or I’ll call the police.”

Joseph hadn’t expected the usually docile Cordelia to be so firm, and he was taken aback.

After a moment, he regained his senses and barked, “Call the police! Go ahead! She drugged me, and

you’re still on her side? I wanna see if she can walk away scot–free after the police get involved.”

Vivienne suddenly smiled and said, “Me drugging you? Do you have any proof?”

“I…” Joseph was speechless.

He had no evidence.

Vivienne was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, and she said lightly, “You have

no evidence that I drugged you, but I have evidence that you drugged me. Wanna try your luck?”

If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have the guts to stand here and argue with her.

If they weren’t causing trouble, that would be her mistake.

But Joseph was Dorian’s brother.

Although Dorian had always been protecting her, she could still feel that Dorian didn’t want to escalate

family conflicts.

He had been protecting her, and she hadn’t been overly demanding of the Hawthorn family because of

him.

Sometimes she even wondered, she had only been getting along with Dorian for half a month, but she

had already strayed from her original intention when she first came to the Hawthorn family.

She had come to the Hawthorn family without any intention of letting them off easy.

What had changed her mind?

Probably the affection Dorian had shown her.

“You!” Joseph was fuming, but he also realized that Vivienne was cunning. If he kept causing a scene,

she would definitely call the police.

And he had no proof that Vivienne had drugged him.

Instead, the Hawthorn family was at her mercy.

Ever since the banquet, rumors and scandals about the Hawthorn family and him had been swirling

around. The Hawthorn family couldn’t afford another scandal.

Joseph tried to stand up but found himself too weak. He gritted his teeth and said, “You just wait and

see. I won’t let this go.”

After saying this, he glared at Dorian, “Aren’t you going to make her give me the antidote?”

Dorian was unhappy with his attitude, but he was his brother after all. He could only look at Vivienne

helplessly, “Vivienne…” Without making things more difficult for Joseph, Vivienne crouched down and

shoved a pill into Joseph’s mouth.

After Joseph took the antidote, he stormed off angrily.

Once he was gone, the house fell silent.

After a long while, Dorian turned to Vivienne, “Vivienne… Did you really drug Joseph yesterday?”

Even though Vivienne had admitted it herself, he still couldn’t believe it.

He couldn’t believe that Vivienne would have such a harmful drug.

In his eyes, Vivienne was a kind–hearted girl. She wouldn’t hurt people like this.

Even though Joseph had it coming.

Vivienne looked up at Dorian, her eyes cast down and her voice mild, “Mr. Dorian, he is your family. I

don’t acknowledge him. If you mind, I can move out.”

“Nah, that’s not what I meant.” Dorian hastily explained, “What I meant was, if you’ve been wronged,

you should have told me. I could have helped you out. You shouldn’t have let yourself get into such a

pickle!”

He was feeling bad for Vivienne, but he wasn’t blaming her.

“So what if I told you?” Cordelia suddenly piped up. “Could you take on your mom or your bro? I reckon

Vivienne did the right thing! If we can’t help her, why shouldn’t she take revenge for herself and her

mom? That kind of person deserves to get their comeuppance.”

Hearing this, Dorian seemed to see the light, “Yeah, he should pay for his actions. Vivienne, you did the

right thing.”

Seeing that he wasn’t blaming her, Vivienne cracked a small smile.

“Vivienne, when did you start learning medicine? How come you’ve never mentioned it?” Cordelia

asked, remembering Vivienne’s medical skills.

“I started learning when I was bored up in the mountains.” Vivienne paused, then added, “I’ve been

learning since I was ten.”

A look of delight spread across Cordelia’s face, “So you’re pretty good then?”

“I’m alright.” Vivienne answered modestly..

Cordelia didn’t respond, but she made a decision in her mind.