The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 139

As the camera panned in the news report, a crowd of infuriated locals, unable to bear Arabella's audacious lies, flocked to the scene to give her a piece of their minds. The turnout was so massive that it caused traffic congestion outside the precinct, forcing the police to step in to maintain order.

However, perhaps because they too were fed up with Arabella's actions, the officers only kept the crowd from disrupting traffic, not from attacking Arabella.

Arabella and Beatrice were bombarded. They screamed nonstop. They had bleeding wounds and disheveled appearances. Yet not a single soul showed them sympathy.

Finally, Arabella and Beatrice were hauled away by an ambulance.

Coincidentally, they were taken to the same hospital where Dorian was staying.

Dorian had just been wheeled out of the operating room at that time, with Vivienne and others accompanying him. They overheard the nurses whispering. "You know the girl and the old woman who were just brought in?"

"The ones from the news who falsely accused their relative of pedophilia and indecency?"

"Right. They both had their heads cracked open. When we stitched them up, we intentionally reduced the dose of anesthesia. They were crying out in pain!"

"Good job!"

The nurses chuckled and walked away.

Vivienne glanced at Dorian, who was still under the influence of anesthesia and sound asleep.

He had lost a significant amount of weight during his two-day stint in detention. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks and temples were sunken. It was clear that he had been through hell. Recalling the twenty-three stitches the surgeon had shown her earlier, Vivienne's lips curled into a cold smile.

Arabella! Good! This was just the beginning, as long as you can bear my tactics.

Cordelia had been muttering that once Dorian woke up, they should sue Arabella for defamation.

To Vivienne, compared to the harm Arabella had inflicted on Dorian and his family, this was hardly a punishment.

Sensing her thoughts, Percival lowered his voice and said, "Not satisfied?"

Vivienne simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Vivienne, if I can make you feel better, can I ask you a favor?" Percival smiled.

"A favor?" Vivienne raised an eyebrow in question.

"Don't worry, it's nothing outrageous." Percival assured her.

"What are you thinking?" Vivienne was genuinely curious about his intentions.

"Just wait and see." Percival said with a mysterious grin.

"I'm waiting." Vivienne said with a smile.

She had intended to take matters into her own hands, but since Percival offered to step in, she was happy to sit back and watch.

Arabella, being young, recovered quickly despite the beating. Beatrice, however, being an elderly woman, had a harder time. She had to stay in the hospital.

Despite Elijah paying off the Hawthorn family's debts, they still couldn't afford a caretaker. The rest of the Hawthorn family had been sent to the countryside when they went bankrupt. So, it was up to Michael and Joseph to take turns caring for Beatrice.

Upon learning that Dorian was also in the same hospital, Michael and Joseph avoided Vivienne and Cordelia like the plague, fearing retribution.

Fortunately, Cordelia was too focused on caring for Dorian to bother with them.

As for Vivienne, she merely glanced at them with cold eyes and ignored them.

The Hawthorns were now destitute. Beatrice couldn't afford a private room. The other patients in the ward, aware of Beatrice and Arabella's scandal, were extremely cold towards them. Even the doctors and nurses often couldn't help but roll their eyes at them.

In their words, they were professionals and usually didn't behave this way. However, they just couldn't help it this time.

One night, during their shift change at 9 p.m., Joseph couldn't help but complain to Beatrice.

"Arabella is getting out of hand! She doesn't help take care of you when you're sick; she doesn't even bring food. She shows up for a moment, then disappears!"

"Yeah, we're the ones doing all the hard work, and she doesn't lift a finger." Michael added grumpily. "It's because of her that you're in here, isn't it? She has the audacity to stroll around like nothing happened!" "You don't understand." Beatrice scolded them. "Arabella is trying to contact those people. We did what we were supposed to do. It's not our fault it didn't work. I've thrown away my dignity for this, and any semblance of a relationship with Dorian is gone. They need to fulfill their promise!"

"You believe her?!" Michael retorted. "The schemers have all fled, leaving only Elijah in detention awaiting sentencing. How can Arabella replace anyone? We've been used and discarded!" Beatrice was livid. Before framing Dorian, the mysterious man had promised a significant amount of money to help the Hawthorn family recover. But they were tricked.

"From now on, don't listen to Arabella's nonsense." Michael continued. "If it weren't for her stirring up trouble everywhere, would we be in this mess? Every day we're in this hospital, we are at risk of Vivienne sending Percival after us."

Joseph scoffed. "Instead of banking on her, you'd be better off trying to connect with the relatives in Rivenwood. After all, we share some blood; they might be willing to lend us a hand."

The relatives in Rivenwood...

Beatrice's gaze flickered.

The Hawthorn family in Havenwood was a branch that had splintered off from the Brooks family in Rivenwood. She had once harbored grand ambitions of surpassing them.

But now, those ambitions were futile. She felt like a beaten dog that was begging for scraps.

Thinking about this made Beatrice feel a sharp pain in her chest. She had been diagnosed with high blood pressure and warned to avoid stress, lest she risk a stroke.

"Forget it; we'll discuss this after mom is discharged." After noticing Beatrice's state, Joseph quickly gave Michael a knowing look. "I'm leaving first."

Michael nodded, watching as a weary Joseph left.

He chatted with Beatrice for a while. Once she fell asleep, he lay down on his own cot.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Beatrice's phone rang.

After picking it up, he saw it was Arabella. He immediately hung up and turned off the phone.

He was full of resentment towards Arabella. If not for her slandering Vivienne on Twitter, he would still be the successful man everyone wanted to associate with, not someone who couldn't even afford a caretaker.

The more he thought about it, the more he saw Arabella as a nuisance. Almost all the conflicts with Vivienne were stirred up by her.

He didn't understand why Beatrice was so enamored with her.

As he was lost in thought, his own phone lit up. It was Arabella again.

He scoffed, hung up, and turned off his phone.

It was late at night, so she probably didn't bring any good news. They had enough problems already. Whatever mess she got herself into, she could handle it herself.

In Dorian's private hospital room, even though Vivienne had hired two caretakers to look after him around the clock, Cordelia remained. Worry was etched all over her face.

So she had sent Thaddeus to Percival's apartment for Vivienne to look after him while she stayed here.

As she was checking Dorian's IV drip, one of the nurses suddenly said, "Madam, Mr. Hawthorn's phone just lit up."