The Million-Dollar Heart

Vivienne's phone buzzed with an incoming message from Draven.

"Hunter belongs to an ancient line of warriors!"

Raising an eyebrow, Vivienne typed back, "Keep digging. Miss nothing."

"Ding!"

The alert for a new message went off, and as Vivienne marveled at Draven's efficiency, her screen was flooded with nearly a hundred messages.

WhatsApp was a sea of red notifications.

Texts were popping up one after another.

Logan Wood, Oberon Harper, Faye Churchill...

Just seeing those names gave Vivienne a throwback to her days as a homeroom teacher at Cloudcrest High School.

She rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Those kids were relentless.

The digits on the blackboard from back then, memorized to this day.

Thinking about it, time really did fly; they must be sophomores in college by now.

Setting aside what she was doing, Vivienne began replying to each message.

She let the WhatsApp notifications bounce as she prioritized responding to the heartfelt wishes sent to her and Mr. Wolf by her students.

After addressing her students' messages, Vivienne finally opened WhatsApp.

At the top was Griffin, with a long string of congratulatory emojis, ending with a somewhat sarcastic wish.

"This invitation is making me green with envy," Griffin's message read. "When will my goofball catch on? Will I ever get to wear a wedding dress, sob?!"

"But you bet, I'll be giving you the biggest red envelope. Not just for Leopold, but for our bond forged in fire."

Something came to Vivienne's mind, and she fished out a recorded video from the top of her WhatsApp, forwarding it to Griffin as a generous return gesture. Griffin instantly replied with a "?"

Vivienne left it at that, letting her discover the joy on her own.

Then came the laments from various juniors about preparing wedding gifts only now receiving the invitation.

help but smirk, skipping over

even if I'm shooting abroad, I'll make it to the

"Just make sure the red envelope

message, "You're all about the cash, huh? But it's your big day! Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the

last message Vivienne saw was from Aaron,

asking... can I

his name was

sounded

sent in reply, and Vivienne moved on

tried to call at the same

Charlotte: "??"

Griffin: "What the heck?"

game. Answering one would rob her of peace

could start, she signaled Charlotte she was busy and

a brief moment of

wanted was a simple wedding, not a celebrity spectacle. Did everyone forget she was just a bride-to-be with

flooding in, Vivienne was tempted to just turn

it,

This time from Draven.

"Young master, Winston's awake."

In the hospital room.

bed, a frail figure that lit up upon seeing

Vivienne, he quietly said, "Sis,

him, Vivienne rarely felt the need to explain, "I rushed here, didn't tell anyone.

struggled for words, "It hurts everywhere... but I can't

his pulse, Vivienne handed him a life-saving

He obediently swallowed.

brave, aren't you? Not afraid

head, his voice full

understood the natural affinity her own mother had

"Sis, can you tell me

sure she heard right, "My

inviting me to her wedding once. But then, after Alyssa did something bad to

pursed, and the light

come to mine in a few days. My mom

brightened, "Really? You're getting

Vivienne paused.

did he mean by