The Million-Dollar Heart

An hour had passed before Mara finally stirred, a ghostly pallor on her face. Her voice was a weak whisper, barely there.

She had never felt so terrible in her life-it was like being on death's doorstep!

That Gillian had actually given her a bottle of sleeping pills, and here she had thought they were vitamins.

If only she had known, she would not have taken a single one!

"Mara, you're awake." Cecilia's voice carried a mixture of relief and worry, as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart upon seeing Mara's eyes open.

To underscore her feebleness, Mara coughed deliberately, a decision she instantly regretted as her stomach convulsed painfully.

"Auntie, what happened to me?" Mara's eyes brimmed with tears, but her pain was genuine.

Cecilia sat by the hospital bed, wiping away the tears streaking Mara's face. "Oh, you silly girl. Do you have any idea how close you came to never seeing me again?" Mara feigned shock, glancing down at her wrist as if seeing it anew, a look of realization crossing her face. "I... I'm sorry, Auntie. I just wasn't thinking straight."

"You really..." Cecilia held Mara's hand, her heart full of unsaid words.

Across the room, Percival sat brooding on the couch, his eyes stormy as the horizon's edge.

Vivienne, on the other hand, watched the scene with a certain amusement.

Such a promising talent, indeed.

Mara seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Gillian had been.

If she were to be signed and groomed properly, she might even outshine Kala!

Kala: Impossible, utterly impossible!

her chin in her palm,

before she turned to Percival. "Percival, why don't you take Isolde back home? Everything's under control here. I'll stay with

through Percival's, her smile beaming

such that even she would have been surprised at

she was driven-Vivienne was all about making

was her true love, Mr.

"Now I'm not only less appealing than a

was the case, she was not about to

IV and stumbled to her feet, only to collapse to her knees with

everything before. Please forgive me. Gillian and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so far. I was awful, please don't be angry with me anymore? I admit my

did nothing and Isolde was too young to

no one

out loud but managed to keep

room fell into an awkward silence until Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled with

a smile, mimicking Mara's tone. "What are you doing? I never blamed you in the first

at Vivienne, noting her barely suppressed mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. "Yeah, Vivienne is

the biggest heart. She doesn't hold grudges easily. Mara, don't pull this act again. Admitting your mistake is one thing, but forgiveness comes from genuine remorse, not from such

snorted from

scolded by a kid fresh out of elementary

Get up, what's with this kneeling

or not, she winced at a sudden pain in her face. Propping

did Cecilia move to her side, helping Mara