The Million-Dollar Heart

The group followed Flynn into the house, where he was immediately taken aback at the sight of his niece, Fiona, in a wheelchair.

"Fiona, what happened to you?" Flynn asked, his voice laced with concern.

Richard had been vague when he called Flynn back home, mentioning only that a lot of things had gone south and they needed his help sorting things out. But seeing Fiona like this was a shock to the system.

Flynn had always had a soft spot for his nephews, but Fiona, his only niece, was like a precious gem to him-someone to be protected at all costs.

Fiona gave a weak smile and shook her head. "Uncle Flynn, it's nothing serious. It's just a bit of a heart condition. I can't be on my feet too much."

"How on earth did you end up with a heart problem? What did the doctors say?" Flynn asked urgently.

Heloise let out a disdainful snort. "Why don't you ask the great Master Vivienne about that? She knows exactly what's going on. Don't you, Vivienne?"

Vivienne lifted her gaze coolly, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. "Fiona knows better than I do, doesn't she?"

Fiona pursed her lips, holding Heloise back. "Mom, not everything is Vivienne's fault. Uncle Flynn just got back, and Aunt Imogen is here too. Please, let's not do this now."

Flynn glanced at Vivienne with a hint of reproach but said nothing more.

Imogen, standing close to Flynn, also kept quiet.

Heloise, however, was not so easily silenced. "If I can't even talk about what she did..."

Cecilia, fuming, looked ready to lash out. "You..."

"Enough, Aunt! How has my sister-in-law Vivienne wronged you? Do you really want me to tell Dad everything your family has done and see who ends up embarrassed?"

rebuke stunned everyone-not least because it came from Kenneth, the

was taken aback, too. Kenneth was standing up

face turned red at the sudden attention. Ever since he found out Vivienne was Aaron's coach, he did not know how to face her and had come to believe she was worthy of his brother Percival. Caught up in the moment and fed up with Heloise's relentless attacks on Vivienne,

awkward silence, ruffling Kenneth's hair with a laugh. "Look how much you've grown, Kenneth! When I left, you were only this tall. Now look at you, a star in the E-sports scene!" Kenneth was a child Flynn had found and wanted to reunite with his biological parents. After a fruitless search, Flynn had intended for one of his brothers to

third

learned from the best," Kenneth mumbled,

followed your brother around as a kid, and you still do," Flynn teased, earning a few chuckles and easing the tension brought on by Heloise. Aurelia called everyone to dinner, and Richard, supported by Vivienne and Imogen, made his way to the table. Flynn and Percival trailed behind. "You've got

replied indifferently, "How would you know Vivienne is

back and explained, "Your mom told me. When Imogen found out who Vivienne was, she went nuts

everyone doted on Imogen, with Isolde cheekily asking, "Auntie Imogen, how did Uncle

"Hey, little miss. You were just gushing over how good-looking I

didn't see Auntie Imogen yet. She's so young and pretty, like Vivienne. So, compared to her,

and Flynn could not argue-Imogen

twenty-five, fifteen years younger than me," Flynn said, looking at Imogen adoringly. "She's still in grad school. We met at Magnolia University.” "So, it was love at first sight

your uncle gave a lecture at our school, lots of girls were smitten. But I was

all those girls, you were the one I

sweet sentiments floated between them, Richard smiled approvingly. Isolde giggled behind her hand. "So sweet, even sweeter than my brother and Vivienne!" Percival, who was nonchalantly feeding Vivienne, looked at his

after swallowing the piece of meat

smudge of grease from

right," Flynn teased, "you two are