The Million-Dollar Heart

Vivienne had no patience left for pointless interactions, so she turned on her heel and walked away.

Hailey was left standing there, mouth agape in shock, unable to react before Vivienne, the spirited young woman, had already left her behind. How could she face anyone now?

Her face flushed with indignation as she huffed with frustration, looking desperately towards Yorick for some form of justice.

Yorick, seated comfortably in an armchair, fixed Hailey with a serious look. "Hailey, you're not getting any younger. You've just returned, and you're already picking fights with the younger generation? Thank goodness this is within the Linklater family. If this had been public, it would've been the talk of the town."

"Family is family. We should stick together through thick and thin."

With those words of wisdom, Yorick added before leaving, "And let me be clear, this isn't just for Hailey. This goes for every member of the Linklater family. Take it to heart!"

Arthur and Sasha nodded in agreement.

Dracon, standing off to the side, his expression a mix of emotions, suddenly felt guilty as if his grandfather had seen through his facade. Thus, he pretended to agree fervently with Yorick's words, and Cassidy, somewhat convinced, nodded along too.

As Vivienne left the grand entrance of the Linklater estate, she pulled out her car keys, ready to drive to Rivenwood to a boutique she had her eyes on for some time. She planned to order a pair of custom- made diamond rings there.

with its growls, reminding her she had skipped breakfast at the Linklater household. She stopped at

multigrain pancakes or perhaps a hand-held pie? I also have some homemade eight-treasure porridge," offered an elderly woman, pushing

of the eight-treasure porridge, noticing it contained lotus seeds.

couple of chairs

and ordered a hand-held pie with egg but no green onions, and a serving of the eight-treasure

drafts for a pair of diamond rings she had personally designed, feeling something

filled with tenderloin and extra slices for Vivienne, flipping the vegetables slightly for a bit more cook, adding a fried egg, and garnishing with special salad dressing and ketchup before rolling it up and delivering it personally

slightly embarrassed by the attention, Vivienne thanked her and suggested, "I

trouble at all. I see you're busy. Are those ring designs on your phone?" Vivienne nodded, not minding as she showed the designs to the elderly

intently. "The one on the left is the lady's ring, right? And the

me, and the right one is for my fiancé, Mr. Wolf," Vivienne replied, speaking as if sharing

But I think the lady's ring could use more diamonds around the band, spaced just a

in Vivienne, who then inquired

to her past as a jewelry designer and shared a tale