The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Two days later.

Dorian’s company had finalized their new perfume line, and Vivienne found herself with some free time

to visit the hospital.

Anna had already returned to school, but Natalia and Yasmine were still hospitalized, though they had

been moved from intensive care to a regular VIP ward.

Jasper sat beside the crib with two plush toys in hand, smiling at the sight of his granddaughters’ joyful

faces, an involuntary chuckle escaping his lips.

Vivienne knocked on the door. “Excuse me, sir.”

Jasper’s face lit up with excitement. “Ah, young lady, you’ve finally made it. I was beginning to think you

had forgotten about me.”

“How could I forget such a charming gentleman?” Vivienne teased.

It was the first time Jasper had been described as charming, and he basked in the ty, “My, my,

your words warm an old man’s heart.”

Vivienne smiled.

Just then, Yuri and Zelda came in, and Jasper immediately boasted. “Vivienne just called me charming.

Take that, you bunch of brats who always call me stern. She doesn’t think so.”

He then turned to Vivienne. “I can call you Vivienne, right? It feels more personal.”

“Of course,” Vivienne replied with a laugh.

Yuri sighed, “Vivienne, my dad’s only ever this happy when he’s chatting with you. When he talks to

me, he’s far from charming.”

“Cheeky boy, go fetch Vivienne’s gift, will you? That’s all you’re good for,” Jasper scolded, glaring at

Yuri.

This boy was no good!

“Dad, I’ve brought everything. Don’t look at him. He’s useless,” Zelda said, also shooting Yuri a teasing

glare.

Yuri muttered to himself, feeling like the black sheep of the family.

Zelda retrieved a mahogany box from the cabinet, its craftsmanship clearly that of a master’s touch.

“Vivienne, this isn’t much, but please accept this small token of my father’s gratitude. Do not reject it.”

Inside was a set of Hope Blue Diamond jewelry in gold, which had sold for 80 million dollars at an

auction the year before, the Heart of Hope! The rarity of the craftsmanship was what truly set it apart.

Not much?

Even in Vivienne’s collection, there was only one such set.

“It’s too valuable, I can’t accept it,” She declined. She had helped save Natalia and Yasmine as a

byproduct of trying to rescue the captured babies; it was all in a day’s work. There was nothing she had

done that could justify her accepting such a valuable gift.

Jasper placed the box in Vivienne’s hands, saying, “You can’t refuse an old man’s gift; it’s bad luck.”

Zelda added, “Please, Vivienne, take it. We can’t imagine what our girls would have gone through

without you. Words can’t express our gratitude.”

“Come on, take it. Otherwise, my dad will insist on personally delivering it to your house,” Yuri joked,

holding his twin daughters.

Jasper tapped him with his cane, but not too hard. “Who said you could hold my granddaughters? Put

them down.”

“Can’t I hold my daughters? Dad, you’re being too harsh. Vivienne, you have to back me up here,” Yuri

pleaded.

Seeing their persistence, Vivienne finally accepted, then said to Yuri, “Mr. Perez, they say you owe a

favor to the hand that gives. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Laughter filled the room, and Vivienne felt a sense of peace settling in her heart. Unconsciously, she

had come to think of this room as her sanctuary, where she could just be.

When Vivienne left the hospital, it was getting dark. Percival was waiting downstairs and approached

her as soon as she appeared.

A gust of cold wind blew, and Vivienne wrapped her coat tighter around herself, asking, “Why didn’t you

wait in the car?”

“I wanted to see you sooner,” Percival said, taking Vivienne’s hand and noticing the bag she was

carrying. “What’s that?” He asked.

Vivienne glanced at it and smiled. “It’s an apology gift, I suppose.”

They had secretly collected her DNA to conduct a paternity test back in Sea City but had not yielded

the desired results.

Nevertheless, the gesture was seen as an offense, hence the gift as a form of apology.

Vivienne did not take much offense; she understood the Perez family’s desire to find their daughter,

perhaps noting some resemblance between her and their memories of their daughter.

But she was not the Perez child.

Her mother was not a Perez.

Though her mother was adopted, she never spoke of her biological family. Perhaps they had not been

kind, so they had given her up.

At the hospital, Jasper stared at the paternity test report, a deep regret filling his eyes.

Vivienne felt so familiar, so much like his little Sasha.

But the test showed no genetic link between them at all.

How could this be?

Yuri sat down, taking the report from Jasper. “Dad, stop looking at it.”

Yuri had also held out great hope for the test, feeling that Vivienne might be his sister’s child.

But the results were clear, and they had to face the fact.

Jasper’s eyes welled up with tears each time he thought of his daughter, his heart aching.

Yet he was convinced Vivienne must be related to his Sasha; his intuition was too strong.

“Isn’t the Ellington family having a birthday celebration soon?” Jasper asked.

Yuri nodded. “Yes, Dad. Do you want to attend?”Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay

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“Yes, find a way to get the Ellingtons to invite us.”

The Perez family, a powerhouse in Sea City, had never ventured to Rivenwood, and their stay had

been discreet.

It was normal for the Ellington family not to invite them to their celebration.

However, as long as they put in a bit of effort, getting an invitation was not exactly rocket science.

Meanwhile, the members from the second branch of the Ellington family were discussing something.

“Grandpa’s having his big birthday bash, and we can’t let Percival steal the spotlight again this time.

We’ve got to come up with something, or we’ll never get back on top,” Jeffrey grumbled vehemently.

Whenever he thought about the whopping 10 billion dollars given to Percival and Vivienne, he felt a

pang in his heart.

That was 10 billion dollars! How long could he have lived it up with that kind of cash?

Henry shot his son a disdainful look. “If you had any nerve, you wouldn’t have let Vivienne get the drop

on you with that dirt she has. Lucky for us, she hasn’t spilled the beans to your grandfather, or our

whole family would be toast. You really are good for nothing but screwing things up.”

“Dad, you can’t pin this all on me. If Fiona hadn’t just blurted out ‘yes’ without even trying to haggle, we

wouldn’t be in this mess,” Jeffrey deflected, throwing Fiona under the bus.

Fiona sat quietly on the side, her gaze fixed indifferently on the tablet in her hands.

Jeffrey felt like he was punching a pillow, his frustration finding no solid target.

“You good-for-nothing, say something!” Jeffrey snatched the tablet from Fiona’s grasp and slammed it

on the table with a thud.