The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Victoria's gaze followed Vivienne's motion, turning to face the screen. The dim room, lined with high-tech medical paraphernalia, flickered with the sterile glow of the monitors. There, in the cold embrace of the hospital bed, lay a woman whose pallor was so ghostly it seemed to drain the life from her surroundings. Only the misty rhythm of her breath against the pale blue mask of the respirator bore witness to her clinging to life.

The footage was silent, yet Victoria could almost hear the incessant beep of the heart monitor haunting her ears. She held her breath, her heartbeat thundering, threatening to burst through her eardrums. She didn't need to be a medical expert to know her mother's condition was dire.

The arms that had once held her so tenderly were now a roadmap of scars-a patchwork of pain. Swere old, their wounds healed to leave nothing but pale ghosts on her skin. Others were fresh, angry, and brown, each one a raw nerve in Victoria's heart. "Mom..." her lips trembled, teeth chattering, a broken cry tearing through her throat.

Her sobs filled the living room, spreading like a sorrowful tide.

Vivienne watched in silence, gesturing to Anna and the others, who quietly ushered Kaitlyn out of the room, their steps retreating up the staircase.

Kaitlyn couldn't resist glancing back to see Victoria, who always seemed so formidable, now as vulnerable as a child who had lost her favorite toy. Her shoulders shook with helpless despair, a mirror to the tKaitlyn had stood amid the rubble, feeling the world collapse around her. Maybe she had misjudged Victoria all along? Her thoughts were cut short as she ascended the stairs, leaving behind Vivienne, who leaned over to pick up the laptop lying on the coffee table.

"All these years, you've been helping Gavin, hoping he'd take care of your mom, right?" she said softly.

Victoria nodded, her once proud posture collapsing as she sank to the floor. Her voice was hoarse. "I thought... if I did well enough, he'd tellwhere my mom was. I never imagined... I didn't know he would treat her like this." "We didn't either," Vivienne reassured, patting her shoulder.

"Do you know these men?" she asked, referring to Emrys and the others trying to make themselves invisible on the floor. Wiping away her tears, Victoria looked over with red, swollen eyes. Suddenly, her gaze froze, and her lips parted in disbelief. "Uncle?" "Uncle?" Vivienne echoed, a speculative tone in her voice. "Gavin's brother?" Sniffling, Victoria felt caught in a web of deceit. "Yes, his half-brother Emrys. According to the Abernathy family records, he died over a decade ago. But here he is, alive!" At the mention of his name, Emrys-who had been tied up by the Nine Mystics Society like a hog for slaughter-stared wide-eyed at Victoria, writhing on the ground with desperation in his eyes.

Vivienne approached and ripped the duct tape from his mouth. "What do you want to say?" "I ain't dead!" Emrys bellowed, "You little viper, you're in cahoots with her, aren't you? Gavin promised me. He said if I kept an eye on this Ellington woman, he'd takeback once it was all over. You traitor, you think you can fool me?" Victoria's gaze hardened. "All these years, you've been watching my mother?" Her voice was cold as steel, pushing Emrys back. Realization dawned in his beady eyes. "So what if I have? You better release me, or else I'll report you to my brother. You'll lose your claim to the Abernathy inheritance!" Oh, do you really think I care about hat inheritance?" Victoria scoffed. But I am surprised. You still haven't seen Gavin's true colors. You are 'our Dad's favorite, and yet Gavin he treacherous, heartless coundrel, took the head of the bernathy family right from under m! You think Gavin wouldn't betray 'ou?" Victoria's voice rosé with a hint of mirth. "How about I show you he family tree? I bet you won't find ‹ ingle mention of yourself!" "That's impossible! He promised me!" Emrys was in denial, his voice laced with disbelief.

Vivienne snorted. "How is it impossible? Gavin lied even to his own wife-a man who stepped on the very woman who helped him rise to power. How could you expect any loyalty from him?" Twirling her hair, Vivienne mused, "Before your father died, he must have left you money, right, Emrys? Ever seen it?" Victoria glanced at the monitor again before approaching. "Why would he? Gavin used that money to curse the woman he despised. He paid a fortune to ensure her ashes would be forever bound, damning her soul. That woman was your mother! He used your inheritance to condemn your mother to eternal damnation!" Emrys gasped for air, his face turning crimson with rage as Victoria's words echoed around him, revealing a truth too cruel to bear.

Victoria was relentless, her voicetinged with a bitter resolve, "Oh, and let's not forget about those shops and the company Gavin left you. He dumped them on the one guy you used to despise most-your bodyguard-to manage everything. And your maternal grandparents' family? Ruined by his actions! Their fate was just like your mother's. Emrys, while you've been holed up in the wilderness for over a decade, oblivious to the world, obsessing over tormenting my mother, the people you cared about were enduring the sagony. Tell me, isn't this karma?" Her laughter started lightly, but it soon grew into a wild cackle that grated on everyone's ears, especially Emrys'.

Vivienne, on the other hand, detected endless sorrow and mockery in that laugh. She blinked away the heaviness in her eyes and sighed silently.

Emrys was seething, his gums bleeding from clenching his teeth so hard. He roared, spitting blood, "You're lying! You deceitful bitch, you must be lying to me! Letgo; I need to return to the Abernathy estate. I must confront Gavin myself. I don't believe you! I refuse to believe!" How could this be possible? Victoria had to be deceiving him! The brother who once showed him such kindness, how could he perpetrate such cruelty upon his own mother? He remembered the promises of the past, the assurances that he would be welcomed back into the Abernathy fold.

It was all agreed upon... wasn't it?