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.

smirk, skipping over

too, "Congrats! Don't worry, even if I'm shooting abroad, I'll make it

shot back, "Just make sure the red envelope

the cash, huh? But it's your big day! Of course, I wouldn't miss it

last message Vivienne saw was from Aaron, quite explosive

just asking... can I

understood why his name was

sounded like a mission with no

reply, and Vivienne moved on from his

Redwood and Griffin both tried to call at the same time,

Charlotte: "??"

Griffin: "What the heck?"

one would rob her of peace for an hour, thanks to

start, she signaled Charlotte she was busy and

a brief moment

simple wedding, not a celebrity spectacle. Did everyone forget she

flooding in, Vivienne was tempted to just turn off her

she considered it, another text

This time from Draven.

"Young master, Winston's awake."

In the hospital room.

upon seeing Vivienne, yet couldn't

Vivienne, he quietly said, "Sis, you came to

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

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

his pulse, Vivienne handed him a life-saving

He obediently swallowed.

smiled, "Quite brave, aren't you?

his head, his voice full of conviction, "You

affinity

tone, "Sis, can

she heard right, "My mom's

her wedding once. But then, after

Winston spoke, his lips pursed, and the light in his

you want to see a wedding, come to mine in a few days. My mom will be there

"Really? You're getting married

Vivienne paused.

he mean by