The Million-Dollar Heart

Gillian screamed, her voice edged with sheer terror, "Are you out of your mind? You're in the car too, Mara!"

Panic clawed at her, urging her to leap from the speeding vehicle, but courage failed her.

As the car hurtled towards the end of the winding mountain road, Gillian curled up in the backseat, bracing for impact.

A jarring symphony of rubber grinding against asphalt pierced the air. Gillian's head slammed against the seat, her forehead instantly blossoming with a bruise.

Mara exhaled a long sigh of relief, casting a scornful glance back at Gillian. "Scared now?"

"Just go off and die by yourself; don't drag me into it!" In a fit of rage, Gillian hurled her purse squarely at Mara's face.

Mara, now prizing her beauty more than ever, caught sight of the incoming assault and immediately yanked at Gillian's hair, snarling, "Dare to mar my face? I'll make sure yours isn't worth keeping!" Gillian let out a piercing shriek.

And so, the two women grappled inside the car, exchanging blows and pulling hair-an unseemly spectacle.

Exhausted and breathless, they eventually stopped, both bearing the marks of their skirmish, neither having gained the upper hand.

Touching up her makeup in the mirror, Gillian said, "If you'd actually swallowed vitamins, Vivienne would have caught on in a heartbeat. She's the Specter Healer, and with her all-knowing mom, those two are sharper than anyone. You'd be the first to go if you slipped up."

Mara scoffed. "You could've warned me. I would've taken less. You're just looking to get rid of me!"

Gillian couldn't be bothered to argue. "I'll be transferring to Rivenwood soon. You'll have to play along with a few more of my performances, so don't forget."

With a cold snort, Mara started the car and drove away. She would have never kept up this charade with Gillian if it were not for her thirst for vengeance. Once that was quenched, she would be the first to kill this bitch and drop her and Vivienne into the pigsty!

eyed Mara with contempt. Her thoughts mirrored Mara's-each plotting the demise of the

to the Linklaters, Vivienne dropped Karen off at the Perez

campus was bustling with the energy of youth-students engaged in sports, romance, and lively chatter. Only Aaron was in his dorm, bombarding Kenneth with a tirade of

are you going to clear out? Don't you have your own dorm? If you're staying here tonight, where am

was at his wit's end. His own dorm was seldom used, thanks to Kenneth's incessant visits. Kenneth, engrossed in the latest season's game on his tablet,

how do

frustration when his phone

of Vivienne's name,

university that day because Vivienne had said

a cake from the fridge, and dashed out, leaving Kenneth

words, and quickly dialed

Elite University's

sat on the steps, observing the couples and groups around

treated her like a kid, and she kept to herself, indifferent to their

on those days, she realized how mundane college life

had fallen off. "Got you a strawberry cheesecake." Vivienne took the cake, noting the lost berry. "Still lacking finesse, Aaron? Can't even run a short distance without

tone frayed Aaron's nerves. "I'm sorry, Vivienne. I'll be more careful

not about being careful. It's about realizing that the enemies you'll face are the best of the best. Any slip-up could be fatal. If you stay a half-baked fighter, you'll end up on the wrong side of a blade!" Vivienne's reprimand was harsh, not out of cruelty, but because, as the new head of the Miller family, Aaron was

soon, he would be swallowed by its

his head, guilt flashing in his eyes. "I'm