The Million-Dollar Heart

The slap never landed on Victoria's face.
Instead, it was caught in unison by Harrison and Victoria. Their expressions froze momentarily before they pushed Sophie out
with force!
Someone with no background in martial arts would easily end up on the floor, which is exactly what happened to Sophie. She
crashed, landing squarely on her behind.
The pain in her tailbone was excruciating, making her curl up on the ground, yet she still found the strength to curse, "Victoria,
you're going to pay for this! I just wanted to help you, and this is how you repay me? I'm telling Dad!"
Her shrill voice echoed around the diner.
Normally, Victoria would have charged at Sophie, fists ready. But with Harrison there, she lost interest in the squabble. "Harrison,
why didn't I see it before? You have a thing for Sophie, don't you? Seeing her humiliated bothers you, right?"
"If you had just told me, I would've packed my bags already. Tell my father we're getting a divorce, let you two lovebirds have
your happy ending."
Harrison was on the verge of exploding, "Victoria, can't you act normal for once?! If I lose the trial tomorrow, I'll end up like
Kipling!"
"And then, who in the Abernathy family will truly stand by you?"
Victoria scoffed, "If you didn't want Sophie here, you should've said something at home. Oh, but you're scared of being exposed
as a hypocrite, worried Madeline would spill the beans to my father?"
"Harrison, have some dignity! If you can't convince Vivienne to back down, don't blame me. I'm done playing the devoted wife!"
With a dramatic wave of her hand and eyes wide with anger or perhaps an act, she declared, "Whatever happens with this
lawsuit, it's none of my business!"
"Is anyone even listening to me?!"
Sophie, ignored and in pain, struggled to her feet, her voice hoarse from shouting. She was determined to make Victoria pay.

But the bickering couple might as well have been deaf to her. Harrison, with a fierce look in his eyes, ignored Sophie completely,
"Victoria, stop being unreasonable! If I get locked up, what good will it do you? Remember, for better or worse, we're in this
together!"
With a snort, Victoria turned and walked away, no longer interested in engaging with Harrison.
If it weren't for Vivienne's scheme, she would never have married him in the first place.
Far to the north of Rivenwood, nestled among the mountains, stood a unique mansion.
A car approached slowly, coming to a stop in front of the mansion. A man stepped out and rang the doorbell.
The door opened quickly, and the man entered.
Inside, a woman in a red dress lounged on the sofa, swirling a glass of red wine, her demeanor seductive.
The man approached respectfully, "Abigail, Harrison's trial begins tomorrow. Gavin has been scrambling to get him out."
The woman in red took a sip of her wine, her fingers trailing along the sofa, "Fool!"
The man kept his head down, "With the Abernathy family out of the game, only the Grimshaw family remains."
She stood, approaching a rose in the windowsill, "If they're useless, eliminate them."
"Yes," the man replied.
Abigail glanced at him, adding, "Leave no one behind."
The man hesitated, "But, with the ancient warrior lineage under scrutiny, wiping out the Abernathy family might attract unwanted
attention."
Her smile deepened as she approached him, "Do you think I've been hiding successfully up till now?"
"I don't understand!" the man confessed.
"Vivienne's making a big show of
overturning the Littleton family's case to bait a bigger fish - Samantha, and through her, me.' Abigail's smile widened, "That girl is
more cunning than her mother."

The man frowned, "But how could she know you're connected to the Abernathy family?"
Abigail laughed heartily, "Because she's Arthur's daughter!"
The man was shocked, "Arthur's daughter? How? He's been on the battlefield his whole life."
"She is a gift from me to him," Abigail said, looking out the window with a cryptic smile, "I wonder if he'll appreciate this gift."
The man shuddered involuntarily as
he beheld the smile on the woman's face. It was a smile that seemed to mask a sinister plot, a plot that, he felt, had nothing to do
with the scheme they were currently orchestrating.
The woman in red shifted her gaze away and asked, "Where's Samantha?"
"She's down at the Grimshaw family's secret lab, still trying to crack the secret to the elixir of life," the man responded.
The woman in red snorted in disdain. "Useless! It's been months without a peep. Vivienne, that girl, barely in her twenties and
she's already concocted the elixir of life.
And Samantha thinks she can take
her on? She's delusional!" Content
The man was taken aback. "What? Vivienne has already created the elixir of life?"
Speaking of Vivienne, the woman in red's eyes lit up with admiration. "That girl truly deserves the title of a prodigy. She might just
be the greatest treasure I've ever come across in my lifetime."
The man was puzzled by her use of the word "treasure." He asked, "If Vivienne has already made the elixir of life, why don't we
just take it from her? It would save us a lot of trouble!"
"Smack!" The woman in red's hand seemed to fly through the air, landing a slap on the man's face. "I've told you before, we're
not to lay a finger on Vivienne."