The Million-Dollar Heart

Vivienne smirked, her voice carrying an air of nonchalance, "When you stir things up, the rats come out of hiding. Otherwise, how can a cat like me find them?"

The whole issue with Sadie and Julian didn't need to be this complicated. She could have easily dug up the past with her hacking skills.

But she chose not to.

This entire affair was a bit foolish, not at all her usual style.

As Mr. Wolf often said, it was time to keep a low profile.

But the purpose of laying low was to draw out the person behind the scenes.

Samantha had been off the grid for a while. Vivienne thought it wouldn't take long for her to resurface, but she was proving more patient than expected, her whereabouts still a mystery. Even the man behind Samantha was an enigma to her.

However, based on the clues she had, whoever was aiding Samantha was among a few prominent families. As for which one, she still needed more time to determine. The moment wasn't ripe yet. Finnian, wide-eyed, wondered how he could've missed such a simple truth.

"But aren't you worried about tipping them off? That they'll hide everything away?" he asked.

Percival's eyes curved slightly, his deep, magnetic voice speaking for Vivienne, "Stirring the pot isn't always a bad thing."

Finnian went silent, then said, "But that doesn't mean the snake will come out."

Vivienne picked up the coffee Zelda had poured for her and took a sip, "We know too little about the ancient warrior lineage. It's time to tear a hole through the Abernathy family's defenses." It was time to force Samantha into the open.

One Samantha wasn't a concern, but her ability to concoct potions, and the ancient warrior lineage behind her, was another story. If she were to develop a potion harmful to society and hand it over to the ancient warrior lineage, it could lead to chaos.

Luke Perez nodded, "The local businesses, tax evasion, fire safety - they're all low-hanging fruit. Vivienne plans to use these tactics against the other ancient warrior lineages. It's all part of her strategy." "See, old man?" Jasper Perez laughed after hearing Vivienne's plan, "My granddaughter's got brains. You think everyone's like you? Just loafing around our house, mooching off us!"

were nowhere to be seen when the

him, "If I had stepped

lightening your load, and now you're blaming

"Hey, you..."

bring out that ancient book?" Percival interjected, seeing Jasper and Finnian about to

yellowed book from her bag, "Grandpa, I found this at the Brooks family's place by chance. Kaitlyn

apart. Yet, because it

in contemporary knowledge, had never seen anything like

Vivienne, took the book and scrutinized it. The dense text made his head spin, and eventually, he passed it to

gave him a look, "Do I look like

guys to help translate anyway,"

he chuckled awkwardly

man's expression changed upon glancing at the

did the Brooks family

the ancient script, "I recognize some of these symbols, but I can't read the whole thing. Jasper, can you?" Jasper shook his head, "This thing's at least a

hand, "It seems

from the ancient warrior lineage compiled a grimoire combining the strengths of various families. It caused quite a stir, leading to fierce competition for

Vivienne understood.

safe. He

perhaps, it wasn't Scott who was interested in the

woman had always

weren't going to target the

escape; it seemed more like she chose not to. She must have been