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!

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

off at

in sports, romance, and lively chatter. Only Aaron was in his dorm, bombarding Kenneth with a tirade

own dorm? If you're staying here tonight, where

incessant visits. Kenneth, engrossed in the latest season's

those reactions, how do

in frustration when his phone

Vivienne's name, the irritation on his

that day because

the call, grabbed a cake from the fridge, and dashed out, leaving Kenneth no

words,

Elite

the steps, observing

when she was a sixteen-year-old student at Elite University, her classmates treated her like a kid,

on those days, she realized how mundane

and sweaty, clutching a strawberry cheesecake that had miraculously survived the run, save for one berry that had fallen off. "Got you

"I'm sorry, Vivienne. I'll be

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,

family soon, he would be swallowed by its undertow-a puppet

his head, guilt flashing in his eyes.