The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 353

Outside the art gallery.

Jasper Perez clutched a forged portrait Vivienne had given him, exhaling a wistful breath.

After hours of standing there, long after the gallery had emptied, he couldn't shake the feeling that the silhouette in the artwork was eerily familiar.

Yet it didn't quite match the memory of his daughter, Sasha, who had gone missing years ago.

Perhaps it was just his age playing tricks on him. After all, Sasha was just a ten-year-old kid when she vanished, and the woman in the portrait appeared to be in her mid-thirties. The gap in years made it hard to draw any solid connection.

Or was it simply because of the mole?

Just then, a man in a crisp black suit hurried over, "Dad, you had me worried sick! You can't just disappear like that. The brothers would have my head if anything happened to you!"

It was Jasper's fourth son, Yuri Perez.

Jasper gave him a side-eye and carried a commanding aura, "Since when do I have to report my whereabouts to you?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Yuri said with a hint of frustration in his voice.

Ever since Sasha's disappearance, Jasper had never looked at his sons the same way. He had treated them with cold shoulders and hard stares over thirty years.

Yuri sighed, "Your health is not well, Dad. If you go somewhere, at least let me know. It worries us, you know?"

Jasper scoffed, "Instead of worrying about me, why don't you put that energy into finding Sasha?"

"We've already sent people out to look again," Yuri replied.

Jasper peered down at the portrait again, then handed it to Yuri, "Take a look at this. The woman in this picture has passed away, leaving a daughter named Vivienne."

Yuri glanced at the portrait and paused, taken aback, "The mole is so identical to Sasha's. Dad, where did you get this?"

"What does it matter where I got it from?" Jasper shot back, emotionless. "Vivienne has a fiancé, Percival, who is from the affluent Ellington family. Look into them and see if you can dig up anything that might lead us to Sasha."

"Okay. I'll get right on it!" Yuri said, a surge of hope in his voice.

Their search for Sasha had been exhaustive and fruitless despite it took the whole family’s efforts.

They just found something but the lead was soon cut off. It didn’t come to him that the picture, in which a woman having an identical mole behind the ear to Sasha, suddenly appeared.

Now, with a potential lead, he got an intuition that the light had pierced through the constant gloom.

Jasper grumbled with disdain after shooting him a look, "Just go and don't dawdle. I don't want to see you until you have news; seeing you boys just irks me!"

Yuri bristled internally. Some families favored their sons, but Jasper? He appeared to hold a grudge against them as if they were strays in the street.

Wait, they were even worse than strays. Strays at least got scraps from his table, while his sons were lucky to get a grunt.

Yuri knew better than to leave Jasper alone, so he said, "Let's get you home, Dad. Trust me, I'll find Sasha for you."

If he didn't bring his dad home, his brothers might very well tear him apart and feed him to the dogs.

Jasper roared, "Home? I'm not going anywhere until Sasha is found. And I want you to buy me a townhouse. I'll be staying here for a while."

He couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with Vivienne, and he needed to find out why this young woman seemed so oddly close to him.