The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

hapter 136

Vivienne paused for a moment, diligently racking her brain for any loopholes in the intricate scheme

laid out before her. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She sprang to her feet and strode towards the door,

bumping into Felix as she passed

Just as she was about to look up, she felt a strong pull dragging her away from Felix.

“Watch out” Percival said while holding her hand

Feliz’s gaze briefly lingered on their intertwined hands before he nodded in apology and continued on

his path.

“Percival, do you have your laptop in your car? Vivienne asked abruptly

“No, it’s at home.” Percival replied, shaking his head.

“Then take me home now.” Without further explanation, Vivienne started towards the

elevator

“What happened?” Percival trailed after her with eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Ignoring his question, Vivienne rode in silence back to Bay Estates. As soon as they entered the

house, she picked up the laptop from the couch and started reviewing the surveillance footage from the

motel.

After discovering that a young woman had visited the room a day before Arabella had checked in,

Vivienne delved deeper into the young woman’s background. She discovered that the woman had

previously installed a hidden camera in the room to catch her husband cheating. With this information

in mind, Vivienne quickly dialed Matthew.

“Pass the word along. Have the police release a statement about discovering a hidden camera in the

room at the motel where the incident occurred.”

Being the efficient man he was, Matthew had the news circulated within half an hour. The internet was

ablaze with discussions about the hidden camera found in the room where the

assault had taken place.

The following afternoon, Vivienne received a call at school.

It was the young woman from the surveillance footage of the motel.

“Ms. Hawthorn, my name is Linda. I have the footage from that day in the room.” Linda got straight to

the point. “This video can definitely prove your father’s innocence. I’m asking for 5 million dollars for it.”

“How did you get this video?” Vivienne asked, matching Linda’s directness.

“Ah, that.” Linda chuckled. “I had previously installed a hidden camera in that room to catch my

husband cheating. I forgot to remove it, and it turns out it captured your father’s incident.” After a brief

pause, Linda continued, “If you don’t want the video, I’m considering selling it to

someone else. I think your adopted sister would be willing to pay

“She doesn’t have money Vivienne retorted with a cold laugh.

“Of course, I know you have money. After all, you do have a taste for expensive perfumes.” Linda

chuckled heartily “So I came directly to you”

“Give me your address. Fll come to see you tomorrow for a face-to-face transaction.”

Vivienne decided

Linda promptly provided her address.

After hanging up the call, Vivienne cast a cautious glance at the corner of the staircase from where

Felix was descending with a stack of books.

However, the next day, Vivienne did not show up at Linda’s place. Instead, she was leisurely sipping

coffee at a café across the street from Linda’s with her laptop in front of her, displaying a live feed of

Linda’s apartment.

The man sitting across from her, Percival, glanced out the café’s window and informed

Vivienne “She’s here.”

Vivienne followed his gaze and caught sight of Arabella, dressed casually in a tracksuit and a baseball

cap, entering the building where Linda lived.

Five minutes later, Arabella appeared on Vivienne’s laptop screen in the surveillance feed.

“What are you doing here?” Linda’s face paled as she saw Arabella. “Get out!”

Ignoring Linda’s protest, Arabella cut to the chase. “I heard you have a video that you want to sell to my

sister, Vivienne. I can pay the same price.”

“The same price?” Linda scoffed. “If I sell it to you, I want double. 10 million dollars or no

deal!*

Taken aback, Arabella snapped. “Are you trying to rip me off?”

“Ha! If I sell the video to Vivienne, I’m helping to clear her father’s name. That’s a good deed.” Linda

replied coldly, with disdain in her eyes. “But selling it to you? That’s aiding and abetting. You want me to

commit a very heinous act, so I have to charge more.”

“Do you really have the footage?” Arabella’s face paled.

“Yep, your dad was knocked out as soon as he entered your room.” Linda replied nonchalantly.

“So you really did capture everything?” Arabella’s laugh was tinged with a hint of unease. “Are you sure

you won’t sell the video to me?”

“Nope. Your sister has more money. She would probably even pay me 20 million if I asked.” Linda

looked at Arabella with blatant disregard.

“In that case…” Arabella’s eyes darkened. She lunged at Linda and began choking her. “You might as

well die.”

Chapter 136

By the time Vivienne arrived at the scene, Arabella was on top of Linda, choking her and demanding to

know the location of the video.

Linda screamed loudly for help.

Vivienne stepped forward and kicked Arabella off Linda.

Arabella sat on the floor, stunned for a moment. Her phone buzzed with a flurry of

notifications. Everything that had just occurred in the room had been uploaded to the internet by

Vivienne.

The footage not only proved that Arabella had framed Dorian but also cleared Dorian of all charges.

The twist in the tale left the internet in a state of shock.

Netizens were baffled. Had Arabella lost her mind? Why was she going to such lengths just to frame

her adoptive father?

Arabella gazed at the relentless questioning on Twitter as her mind went blank. Suddenly, she snapped

back to reality and scoffed at Vivienne. “You’re playing me, aren’t you? There’s no video, is there?”

No one responded to her. Vivienne and Linda simply watched her in silence.

The police officer Vivienne had called walked in at that moment, handcuffed Arabella, and led her

away.

Arabella was right. It was all a ruse. There was no video.

It was all a con to trap Arabella.

Who would have thought she’d fall for it so easily?

When Vivienne received a call from Matthew, informing her that Dorian had been released, she and

Percival were quietly tucked away at school.

Matthew was incredulous on the phone. “Madam, you’re incredible. How did you know it would be

Arabella, that dope, who would go after the woman instead of GTO directly taking

care of it?”

“Because GTO was afraid that even if they took out Linda, they wouldn’t find the video, and maybe that

fabricated video would end up in my hands.” Vivienne replied with a slight chuckle. “So they let Arabella

take the first step.”

Thankfully, Arabella was as dim-witted as she had expected.

Vivienne had simply set a trap. She deliberately misled the police and spread false news of a pinhole

camera found in the room.

Then, she had manipulated Linda, coaxing her to spread the rumor that she held a video that could

prove Dorian’s innocence, and lured her into making contact.