The Million-Dollar Heart

Vivienne sat up straight, her gaze cool and calculating. "Spill it, what's the deal with you and F-Poison? And besides Gillian, who else is in on it?" Mara hadn't expected Vivienne to know even about Gillian. It was clear she wouldn't be leaving until she came clean.

She dropped to her knees, her voice a mix of desperation and fear. "Percival, Vivienne, I didn't mean to betray you all. I had my reasons!"

Vivienne spared her a disinterested glance, motioning for her to continue.

"My brother, Huxley, he's been taken by F-Poison to M State. I had no choice but to save Huxley's life; I had to do as they said. They already killed my mom. I didn't dare disobey!"

It was a predictable story for Vivienne.

Only two people could exert such leverage over Mara - her brother, Huxley, and her mother, Nancy. Even if she wanted to disregard the lives of her own family, she had to consider her own skin. "What did they promise you in return?" Vivienne pressed.

Mara wiped away a tear, her voice trembling. "Boss said if I turned Aaron to her side, I could rebuild the Boyd legacy, claim back all of the Boyd family fortune, and they'd help me get my revenge... So I..." Vivienne almost laughed.

Even if Mara regained every last cent of the Boyd fortune, what then? Did she really believe she had the power to restore her family's name?

Vivienne was not looking down on Mara. Mara's lack of capabilities was a known fact.

"When you say 'Boss', are you referring to F-Poison?" Vivienne prodded.

Mara shook her head. "I don't know who you're talking about. All I know is Boss looks just like Gillian. They took us both. Gillian resisted at first, but Boss pinned her with a silver needle, leaving her incontinent and vomiting blood until she called her 'Boss'.

My mom was killed then, too, skinned alive. I was terrified. They took Huxley. That's why I agreed to work for her."

seemed Mara was indeed referring to

time you

café where I met Aaron. She's the one who

fists, vexed at how close he had

laptop, hacking into the café's surveillance. There was F-Poison. But as she left the café, she vanished into thin air. Percival frowned, annoyed. "The same

ages, always

If F-Poison were easy to catch, they wouldn't have been searching

once this whole time and communicated with Gillian alone before?" Mara nodded earnestly. "I swear,

before Mara's eyes. "Fine. Tell Gillian you messed up, ask her to handle it, and say you're going on the lam. Got it?" Mara looked

thought about

face brightened. "You'll

can't

handed Vivienne

sprinkled its contents onto Mara's face without anesthetic. Mara writhed in agony, the pain worse than any she had known before. The others ignored

Vivienne watched, satisfied.

to let Mara die, but her experiments were too valuable to trade

while, Vivienne settled into Percival's

subsided, Vivienne stirred. "How's

her in his lap.