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?"

stunned everyone-not least because it

too. Kenneth was standing

found out Vivienne was Aaron's coach, he did not know how to face her and had come to believe she was

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

he relied heavily on his third brother's

from the best," Kenneth mumbled,

everyone to dinner, and Richard, supported by Vivienne and

"How would you know

told me. When Imogen found out

on Imogen, with Isolde cheekily asking, "Auntie Imogen, how did Uncle catch your

just gushing over how good-looking I am compared to your

because I didn't see Auntie Imogen yet. She's so young and pretty, like Vivienne.

Flynn could not argue-Imogen really was much younger than

in grad school. We met at Magnolia University.” "So,

lecture at our school, lots of girls were smitten. But I was

girls, you were the one

sweeter than my brother and Vivienne!" Percival, who was nonchalantly feeding Vivienne, looked at his sister and stated, "Vivienne and I aren't like

agreement after swallowing the piece of meat Percival had

of

right," Flynn teased, "you two are just