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!

propped her chin in her palm, her mind racing

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

looping her arm through Percival's, her smile beaming at Mara. "It's

warmth was such that even she would have

was driven-Vivienne was all

Mr. Wolf merely

I'm not only less appealing

actually reach out to her. Since that was the case, she was not about

to her feet, only to

and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so far. I was awful, please don't be angry with me

that even if Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand,

one

but managed to

Mara lifted her head, her eyes filled with fear and pleading, "Vivienne,

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

suppressed mirth. He smiled, affectionately ruffling her hair. "Yeah, Vivienne is so magnanimous, truly

heart. She doesn't hold grudges easily. Mara, don't pull this act again. Admitting your

snorted from the corner,

scolded by a kid fresh out of elementary school was too much for Mara's ego to

sighed. "Mara, Isolde is right. Get up, what's with this kneeling

could I do to apologize?" Mara screamed silently. Reluctantly, she climbed back onto her feet, and whether by design or not, she winced at a sudden

did Cecilia move to her side, helping