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.

couldn't help but smirk,

too, "Congrats! Don't worry, even if I'm

shot back, "Just make sure the red

wouldn't miss it for the world. Expect the biggest red envelope from me!" Following Kala, Carl Brooks and Ashley Edwards also

last message Vivienne saw was from Aaron, quite

can I crash

name was last on

wedding with Mr. Wolf sounded like a mission with no

firm "No" was sent in reply,

Griffin both tried to call at the same time, resulting in a call

Charlotte: "??"

Griffin: "What the heck?"

rob her of peace for an hour, thanks

they could start, she signaled Charlotte she was busy and promised

a brief moment of

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

flooding in, Vivienne was tempted

she considered it, another text came

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

explain, "I rushed here, didn't tell anyone.

"It hurts everywhere... but I can't

his pulse, Vivienne handed him a

He obediently swallowed.

"Quite brave, aren't you? Not afraid I might

his head, his voice full of conviction,

natural affinity her

a hopeful tone, "Sis, can you

paused, making sure she heard right, "My

me to her wedding once. But then, after Alyssa

spoke, his lips pursed, and the light in his

wedding, come to

brightened, "Really?

Vivienne paused.

did he