The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 230

Dorian was dumbstruck.

Wasn't this the house he used to rent for five hundred dollars a month?

How did it become Thaddeus's?

“Did you also see Thaddeus’ name?" Cordelia looked up with confusion etched all over her face. "I thought I was seeing things.”

The two were silent for a while, then it hit them.

“Vivienne bought the house in Tranquil Estates!”

Cordelia, her eyes welling with tears, plunged into Dorian’s arms. “I knew a house for only five hundred a month in Tranquil Estates was too good to be true. That girl, Vivienne...”

She felt so stupid. Anyone with a grain of sense would know that a house in Tranquil Estates wouldn’t be rented out for just five hundred dollars a month. Moreover, this neighborhood had never been open to external renters.

Despite this, they had rented it at an incredibly low price.

It was Vivienne's house.

Dorian held Cordelia as a lump began to lodge itself in his throat. He felt bad. He owed Karen and Vivienne so much, and despite his best efforts to make up for it, he kept accumulating more debt.

Tears kept streaming down Cordelia’s face. “Dorian, we can never repay Vivienne.”

Dorian gently patted her head and whispered, “Then let's just love her more in the future. I will work hard to build up my career so we can move to Rivenwood, where we can take care of her.”

“Okay.” Cordelia said with a smile.

“Mom, Dad, you're old married folks, so why are you so clingy?” Astrid joked to lighten the mood.

“Your boss gave you a week off. You're not in a hurry to leave, are you?” Cordelia didn't answer but glared at her.

“No, no rush.” Astrid was a bit scared when her mother suddenly became upset.

“If you’re not in a hurry, then stay home and keep me company for a few more days.” Cordelia sighed. “All my children are leaving the nest. I’m starting to feel lonely.”

Astrid fell silent.

Her mom sure was a handful. She didn’t have to take her frustration out on her just because she missed Vivienne.

...

Two days later, in Rivenwood.

In the quiet suburban forest, Anna, with a swift and clean move, plunged a knife into the heart of the last man in black. After pushing his bulky body away, she staggered back a few steps and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. Around her, seven or eight men in black lay dead.

Night had fallen, and the cold moon hung high in the sky, seemingly watching the injured girl through the sparse branches.

Anna caught her breath, tore off a piece of her sleeve with her bloody knife, and used it to bind the wound on her arm, tying a knot with her teeth.

Just as she released her teeth, she saw a flashlight darting around in the darkness of the forest.

“Damn it! These guys are like flies!” She cursed under her breath as she spat out a mouthful of blood and headed in the opposite direction.

After she was kidnapped, she managed to escape when her captors let their guard down.

She was now on the run and had been relentlessly shaking off their pursuits and fighting off assassins.

“Ms. Vivienne!” Anna cried out in worry.

Vivienne suddenly opened the car door, jumped out, rolled over to Anna, and pulled her to run. “Go!”

Percival drove another black car over and stopped beside them. Leopold opened the back door and pulled them into the car.

Before the car door even closed, Percival hit the gas, spinning the car around and driving off.

At the same time, a installed time bomb in the silver car exploded, taking the engines and fuel tanks of other black cars with it.

The powerful explosion almost flipped Percival's car over.

Anna turned back and saw the burning cars they left behind. In the midst of the flames, several men were crying out in pain and rolling on the ground in agony.

Leopold also turned back. He looked at the calm Vivienne and Percival as he whistled, “That's what you call a real man. Real men never looking back at an explosion!”

“I'm a woman.” Vivienne casually corrected him.

"Cough, cough, Vivienne, you're something else!" Leopold could brown-nose as smoothly as a seasoned politician. "Though you're a woman, you've got more guts than any man I know. You're the real deal. No dude can keep up with you."

"Are you implying that I'm some kind of gender-bender?" Vivienne shot him a sly, side-eyed look, revealing a hint of malice in her eyes.

"No, no, I'm complimenting you!" Leopold hastily backpedaled. "I'm saying you're tougher and stronger than any man or woman I know."

"Well, after all these years, I can't say you've made much progress elsewhere, but your silver tongue certainly has." Vivienne remarked nonchalantly.

"That's all thanks to your good teaching, Vivienne." Leopold didn't feel a shred of shame for his buttering-up skills.