The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 467

Jasper was still wading through a swamp of guilt as he continued, "I've been treating you like a stand-in for my daughter, and I crossed a line. I hope you're not upset. I'm just an old man with selfish desires; I don't want to lose contact with you."

Vivienne snapped back to reality and offered a gentle smile. "It's okay. If you like, I'd be happy to call you 'Grandpa.'"

Hearing Vivienne's words, Jasper was overwhelmed with emotion, tears tracing the lines of his weathered face.

She offered to call him 'Grandpa.' How could he not be moved?

Jasper patted Vivienne's hand, struggling for words before finally managing, "Yes, yes, that would be wonderful."

With each affirmation, Vivienne felt her own eyes mist over.

Every time she met Jasper, she experienced a peculiar sensation.

It was an instinctual pull to be close to him.

Not a duty, not an obligation, but an innate desire for closeness.

When she received the paternity test results, her emotions were anything but calm.

She was elated.

Happy for herself and for her mother.

If her mother was indeed Sasha, then whatever her fake family had done, it did not matter to her anymore.

In this world, there were true family members who cherished her, protected her, and loved her.

Vivienne and Jasper talked for hours, the air filled with laughter and warm conversation.

After dinner, Vivienne left the Perez Mansion.

She did not call Percival to pick her up; instead, she strolled down the road, her cool face set in solemn contemplation.

There was no mistake in her paternity report.

She was definitely related to the Perez family!

The mistake lay with the Perez family!

Who did not want Jasper to recognize her?

And could her mother's disappearance have another explanation?

As these thoughts circled her mind, a slow smile crept across her lips.

The Perez family, how intriguing.

Behind her, a discreet black Bentley inched along the road so slowly that it was overtaken by electric scooters.

Inside, Percival sat in the back seat, silently watching Vivienne's retreating figure.

"Percival, shouldn't we offer Vivienne a ride?" Thomas, the driver, inquired.

Percival shook his head. "No need. Vivienne is in a mood; she needs some time alone."

Thomas nodded, though he did not understand how Percival could read Vivienne's mood from her silhouette.

...

Back at the Perez residence, Jasper remained seated in the garden.

"Dad, Willa is leaving. She asked me to give this to you," Yuri handed over a bag.

Jasper looked inside to find all of Willa's savings throughout the years, along with a few articles of clothing.

Willa had served as his bodyguard in Sea City and had grown up by his side, raised like his daughter.

But Willa's background was distinct.

She was the child Jasper had found during a crackdown on RST, barely four at the time, remembering only that her name was Willa.