The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)

Five days later, in a basement of some coffee shop.

Six men, wearing nothing but trousers, were chained to an iron scaffold. Their upper bodies were tense and crisscrossed with wounds.

They glared at Draven, who was in front of them, and Vivienne, who was sitting behind him, sipping her coffee.

"Aren't you going to talk?" Draven asked.

In his hand was a bottle of medicinal powder, which he slowly sprinkled onto the wounds of the six. His words carried a clear threat, yet his tone was eerily calm.

"This is a special powder we've concocted. A touch of it on your wounds, and it'll feel like you're being bitten by countless bugs. It's gonna hurt like hell. Better spill the beans; I promise to make it quick."

The six men were sweating bullets from the pain. The powder on their wounds was washed away by their sweat and mingled with their blood.

They opened their mouths as they gasped for breath but were unable to make a sound. The pain was unbearable. It was like bugs were gnawing at them, causing stars to dance before their eyes. They nearly fainted from the agony.

Whenever they were about to faint, Draven would jab a needle into their heads to keep them awake, so they wouldn't miss a moment of this unbearable torture.

Vivienne finished her coffee and glanced at the six men.

They were captured when they were ambushed at Imperial Blossom Nursery when they were trying to kidnap Thaddeus and Cordelia.

She had made arrangements for Dorian, Thaddeus, and Cordelia to be protected in secret, lying in wait for these people to walk into the trap.

The first two times, the captured men immediately committed suicide by poison.

The third time, she intervened personally.

As long as she was there, even if they took poison on the spot, she could bring them back from the brink of death.

However, these six men were tight-lipped. Despite Draven's interrogation, they remained silent. So, they had to ask Vivienne to step in.

When she first entered the basement, the six men looked at her with disdain.

They thought she was just a little girl who was incapable of anything.

But it didn't take long for them to experience firsthand what it meant to wish for death.

After only three trials of poison, one of them couldn't take it anymore. Ignoring the disdainful and angry looks of his companions, he signaled to Draven that he wanted to talk.

Unfortunately, their jaws had been dislocated and they were under the influence of drugs, so none of them could make a sound.

He shook his head, and Draven finally understood his intent. He sneered. "So, you're finally ready to talk?"

The man, enduring the pain, nodded his head with maximum effort.

Draven looked at Vivienne.

Vivienne nodded. She was about to give Draven the antidote, but her phone rang. With a frown, she glanced at her phone and then said regretfully to the man, "Sorry, something's come up at school. I don't have time to hear you out. You'll have to wait till I get back."

She stood up and gave him a glance with a smile that was both seductive and cruel. "Hang in there till I return, okay?"

The man's eyes widened in disbelief at Vivienne. The girl they initially underestimated suddenly seemed as terrifying as a demon.

Before leaving the basement, she gave Draven a look, indicating that she wanted him to use all of the dozen or so bottles of medicine on the table before she returned.

Her boss was really something.

...

Cloudcrest High School.

The April exams had just ended, and the students of Class Eighteen had made a significant improvement, leaving everyone stunned.

What surprised everyone the most were Logan and Charlotte. Out of more than four hundred seniors, their rankings had rocketed from the bottom to the top hundred, surpassing more than three hundred students in just a month.

Besides, although Oberon didn't make it into the top hundred, his score could at least guarantee his entrance into college.

After the results were announced, Vivienne was besieged by passionate parents at the parent-teacher meeting. Even parents of students from other classes who weren't doing well academically sought her out hoping to transfer their children to Class Eighteen.

However, compared to the enthusiasm of the parents, students from other classes, especially those who once defended Arabella and attacked Vivienne, wanted to avoid her.

Part of it was due to shame. They were easily swayed by Arabella's lies and attacked Vivienne, only to find that Arabella, the so-called talented girl, was nothing but a surface-smoothing liar.

Moreover, she was suspected of committing a crime.

They felt incredibly awkward whenever they thought of Arabella.

On the other hand, they were afraid. The whole of Havenwood knew about Vivienne kicking Arabella off her feet. Even grown men couldn't endure her kick, so it was better for them to keep their distance.

Still, many students felt guilty but were too embarrassed to apologize to Vivienne directly, so they quietly stuffed snacks and apology letters into Vivienne's desk.

When Vivienne arrived at school, she saw Percival sitting at her desk, munching on the snacks.

Seeing her frown, Percival quickly explained, "We have PE today."

Then he pushed a pile of letters in front of Vivienne. "These are apology letters from the students."

He noticed that Vivienne's gaze fell on the snacks in his hand. He coughed lightly. "I was worried they were poisoned, so I tested them for you."

Vivienne wished he would get poisoned.

After briefly reading a few of the apology letters, she pushed them back to him. "You read them. If you feel they're sincerely apologetic, have the principal cancel their previous punishment." With that, she lowered her head and started organizing the May study plan for Class Eighteen.

Percival was delighted to see her treating him like a tool.

He believed she should rely on him.

His grandpa had hopped back to Rivenwood two days ago. After his departure, Percival noticed that Vivienne was truly as cold as ice. She didn't even bother to put on a show.

In the past, he could always find her. Nowadays, aside from school, he could barely catch a glimpse of Vivienne.

Just then, Vivienne's phone rang. The caller ID read "Mr. Black."

She picked up. The voice on the other end was pleasant. "Ms. Hawthorn, the information I provided was accurate, wasn't it?"

"Yep, the money's been transferred." Vivienne replied without avoiding Percival.

"Great." The man on the other end hung up cheerfully.

The caller was none other than the leader of the group of men in black who showed up at Cloud Eatery last time, Mr. Black.

Ever since then, Mr. Black seemed to have had a light bulb moment. He realized that Vivienne's money was easy pickings, so he switched up his game. Any time negative intel about Vivienne popped up on the dark web, he'd immediately flip it and sell it to her.

He went from being a head honcho of assassins to an intel broker.

Thanks to this, Vivienne was able to prepare in advance and successfully apprehend the six assassins now locked up in her basement.

Percival's eyes flickered. He was in the loop about the events that happened outside the Imperial Blossom Nursery earlier today.

He had also secretly sent a bunch of his guys to protect the Dorian family. He knew that they were important to Vivienne, so naturally, he also had them in his heart.

But his men had been deployed, and yet they hadn't been of any use. They didn't even get a chance to make a move before someone wiped the floor clean with the assassins. He didn't even get a chance to show off in front of Vivienne.

Just then, Lysander called, saying a transfer student was being assigned to Class Eighteen, and asked Vivienne to come to his office to collect the student.

To Vivienne's surprise, the transfer student was none other than Faye.