The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 633

An hour had passed before Mara finally stirred, a ghostly pallor on her face. Her voice was a weak whisper, barely there.

She had never felt so terrible in her life—it was like being on death's doorstep!

That Gillian had actually given her a bottle of sleeping pills, and here she had thought they were vitamins.

If only she had known, she would not have taken a single one!

"Mara, you're awake." Cecilia's voice carried a mixture of relief and worry, as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart upon seeing Mara's eyes open.

To underscore her feebleness, Mara coughed deliberately, a decision she instantly regretted as her stomach convulsed painfully.

"Auntie, what happened to me?" Mara's eyes brimmed with tears, but her pain was genuine.

Cecilia sat by the hospital bed, wiping away the tears streaking Mara's face. "Oh, you silly girl. Do you have any idea how close you came to never seeing me again?"

Mara feigned shock, glancing down at her wrist as if seeing it anew, a look of realization crossing her face. "I... I'm sorry, Auntie. I just wasn’t thinking straight."

"You really..." Cecilia held Mara's hand, her heart full of unsaid words.

Across the room, Percival sat brooding on the couch, his eyes stormy as the horizon's edge.

Vivienne, on the other hand, watched the scene with a certain amusement.

Such a promising talent, indeed.

Mara seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Gillian had been.

If she were to be signed and groomed properly, she might even outshine Kala!

Kala: Impossible, utterly impossible!

Vivienne propped her chin in her palm, her mind racing with possibilities.

For Cecilia, a few words with Mara were enough before she turned to Percival. "Percival, why don't you take Isolde back home? Everything's under control here. I'll stay with her."

Slowly sitting up, Mara looked at Percival with remorse. "Percival... Viv... Vivienne."

Vivienne stood, looping her arm through Percival's, her smile beaming at Mara. "It's been a while."

Her warmth was such that even she would have been surprised at herself.

But she was driven—Vivienne was all about making money.

Money was her true love, Mr. Wolf merely a supporting act!

Percival thought, “Now I'm not only less appealing than a strawberry cheesecake but also money!”

Mara had not expected that Vivienne would actually reach out to her. Since that was the case, she was not about to miss this opportunity to overplay her hand!

She yanked out her IV and stumbled to her feet, only to collapse to her knees with a thud.

"Vivienne, I was wrong about everything before. Please forgive me. Gillian and Grandma misled me, and I never meant for things to go so far. I was awful, please don't be angry with me anymore? I admit my fault."

Mara knelt there, her forehead hitting the floor. Though intentionally hard, she had assumed that even if Percival did nothing and Isolde was too young to understand, at least Cecilia would rush to stop her. After all, if you're going to perform, you need to make it look real, right?