The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 122

Vivienne caught on to the mockery in his tone and lifted her gaze, landing on his pink lips that were moistened by the soup and momentarily daydreaming. She was reminded of last night and felt her cheeks heat up.

Percival looked up at her and saw her rosy lips sipping the soup. He was reminded of the allure those lips held, stirring something within him.

He quickly recalled her mocking his kissing skills last night and couldn't help but ask, "Vivienne, have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Vivienne was taken aback. "No, why?"

"Nothing. I just thought you were pretty good at kissing." Percival tried to play it cool, but even he could sense a bit of jealousy in his tone.

He thought that just because his Vivienne never had a boyfriend didn't mean she hadn't been kissed.

Just the thought of other men kissing Vivienne was enough to stir his heart.

Vivienne felt a bit awkward, and her cheeks flushed even more. "It was during college. I was just curious and watched some adult videos with my roommate."

Percival was speechless.

This girl really had no filter.

Vivienne lightly kicked his chair. "How many girls have you kissed before?"

"One." Percival answered with a smile.

Vivienne was stunned. She didn't replace it strange for this twenty-eight-year-old man to have only dated once. It wouldn't be strange if he had one or two girlfriends. But for some reason, even though it was an expected answer, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She lost her appetite after looking at the meat in her bowl.

"It was with you." Percival added, under Vivienne's surprised gaze. "In my dreams."

Vivienne's mood instantly cleared up.

After breakfast, Vivienne changed Percival's bandage. The medicine she gave him was really effective. After just one night, Percival's hand was almost back to normal.

And that was because she wanted to intentionally punish Percival for stalking her, so she didn't use the best medicine.

Today was the weekend. Vivienne didn't have to go to school, and Percival didn't have to go to the Ellington Group's Havenwood branch.

With nothing to do, Vivienne had Percival clear out two rooms and had a ton of spices delivered. One room was used for storing spices and the other for mixing them.

Since natural spices could sometimes cause allergies, many previously usable natural spices were now internationally banned and could only be replaced with industrially synthesized ones.

She hadn't touched perfumery in a while. Although she didn't take Elijah, seriously, she did need to familiarize herself with the newly released industrial spices.

Percival went to the study on the lower floor to work remotely. He was dealing with some matters from Ellington Group's Rivenwood headquarters.

Vivienne only then realized that the lower floor was also Percival's. He had even knocked through the ceiling of the floor and built a staircase that led directly downstairs.

The lower floor was also an open-plan duplex, with nearly every room knocked through. It was filled with bookshelves that extended from the floor to the ceiling.

Vivienne took a look and randomly picked out a few books. There were books on astronomy, geography, economics, and philosophy. There were even some rare stand-alone books. She was quite surprised. "You haven't been in Havenwood for long, so how come you have so many books?"

"I buy books when I'm bored, and before I knew it, I had a lot." Percival answered while looking at his computer. "Those stand-alone ones are to make my grandfather happy."

Percival paused, then said, "In the future, if he's mad at you, just take a stand-alone book from me and give it to him. He'll definitely cheer up."

"Hmph, how could I possibly be mad at Vivienne?" Richard in the video chat seemed very annoyed at Percival. "Vivienne is a good girl. I like her very much; I feel happy just seeing her. Only you, you naughty child, would make me angry."

"Richard." Vivienne realized then that Percival was video chatting with Richard, so she walked over to say hi.

"Vivienne." Richard immediately smiled when he saw Vivienne. "I heard you moved in with Percival."

"Yes, he got injured, so I came over to take care of him for a few days." Vivienne nodded in reply.

"A few days is not enough." Richard shook his head. "Let me tell you, wasp venom is very potent. Although his hand has deflated, the venom is still in his body and could flare up at any time. So, you should stay here indefinitely."

Richard was getting carried away, and Percival started feeling embarrassed for him, but Vivienne was very tolerant towards Richard, laughing and responding to whatever he said.

After chatting for a while, Richard laughed and said, "Vivienne, I heard you're entering a competition. Good luck, beat that punk Elijah!"

Vivienne laughed. It wasn't a boxing match after all.

She moved aside, not wanting to interrupt their grandfather-to-grandson conversation.

She carefully skimmed through the books on Percival's bookshelf, looking for anything useful. Accidentally, she discovered a small box in a corner.

The box had a combination lock and was spotless. It was clearly frequently used and cleaned.

She glanced at Percival in the distance, who was busy with his computer and had his headphones on. She then quietly started trying to crack the combination. She opened the box. Inside was a delicate anklet, adorned with tiny silver bells.

She used to love this anklet. She wore it on her ankle every day. Wherever she went, the sound of the bells followed.

Her mother used to joke that she sounded like a little alarm clock since she was always making a racket.

But she lost the anklet later on, and despite searching for a long time, she couldn't replace it.

How did this anklet end up in Percival's possession?

She was about to put the anklet back, but Percival had somehow appeared behind her.

He sidled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. With a slight chuckle, he whispered in her ear, "Vivienne, what are you looking for?"

"What's this?" Vivienne swung around with the anklet in her hand and a playful smile on her face. "Is this a prized possession Mr. Ellington has been carefully guarding? Could it be a keepsake from a girl you fancy?"

"It's from an old buddy of mine." Percival didn't elaborate further and held Vivienne tighter, with a hint of annoyance tinging his voice. "Vivienne, apart from calling me by my full name or Mr. Ellington, could you possibly come up with another way to address me?"

"Another way to address you? How would you like me to call you?" Vivienne tilted her head upwards to look at Percival, then, with a sudden serious expression, she asked, "Should I call you Mr. Wolf?"