The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 548

Percival reached out and swiped a finger through the frosting, popping it directly into his mouth.

The next instant, his face contorted in agony, an expression of pain so intense it had never before graced his features.

"Is it poisoned?" Vivienne yelled out, alarm knitting her brow.

Percival waved her off, steadying himself on her knee. "It's just... incredibly bitter."

Vivienne was speechless.

"Bitter? Really?" She dared a taste herself, almost letting her lifelong love affair with strawberry shortcake plummet to rock bottom.

It was supposed to be frosting – sweet, indulgent frosting.

Why on earth was it so bitter?

A thought struck Vivienne. "Tastes like something my mom made."

Her words hung in the air, and she and Percival paused, a sudden realization dawning on them.

Slowly, they lifted their eyes to meet, and their gazes converged with silent understanding.

The cake before them indeed bore the mark of Karen’s handiwork.

The pair sat in stunned silence, neither willing to voice the conclusion forming in their minds. Yet, all the strange occurrences of recent days seemed to be pointing inexorably in one direction.

After a while, Vivienne shook her head. "I've never had such a terrible strawberry shortcake."

Percival unveiled a slice of strawberry shortcake he had brought and fed it to Vivienne. "Try this one; it's sweet."

A chuckle escaped Vivienne's lips, her eyes inadvertently flickering to the bitter disappointment that was the other cake.

Once they finished the delectable shortcake, Vivienne leaned back against the couch, patting her belly. "Mr. Wolf, didn’t you say you had something to discuss with me?"

Percival presented two invitations, laying them before Vivienne. "Take a look."

Vivienne picked up the invites, glancing over them with a smile. "The director wants to see me? He could have just said so. Why all the fuss?"

Although the Brooks family hosted the party and extended the invitation to Vivienne and Percival, they were not fooled. Vance's intention was as clear as day.

This party was nothing but a pretext for him to see Vivienne.

"So, are we going?" Percival asked, already anticipating her answer from the look on her face.

With a grin, Vivienne replied, "Of course, we're going. We can't miss out on the drama, can we?"

...

That evening, Vivienne and Percival arrived in their finest attire at the event.

Melissa Brooks and Ashley were greeting guests at the door. Upon seeing Vivienne, their faces lit up with joy.

"Vivienne, you made it! I’ve missed you so much. I've been trying to call with no luck," Melissa said warmly as she reached out and took Vivienne's hand affectionately.

Her loved one's return had clearly lifted Melissa's spirits; her smile was even brighter than before.

"I've been in Sea City for a while, had my phone off," Vivienne responded with a light laugh, then turned to Ashley. "Fully recovered?"

After the accident, Vivienne had saved the girl and had not followed up, confident there was no longer a threat to her life.

Ashley nodded. "Yes, completely. But Carl..."

"What happened to Carl?" Vivienne inquired.