The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 146

Arabella lay motionless on the hospital bed with her eyes wide open. The steady stream of tears from her eyes told a tale of sheer terror.

Thankfully, Vivienne was masked at the moment because if Arabella let Vivienne see the fear reflected in her own eyes, she might have wished for death right there. Vivienne squinted slightly at Brody, silently questioning his intentions.

"Two miniature bombs have been forcefully lodged into her body, one on either side of her abdomen."

Upon seeing Vivienne's eyes harden, a smug smile appeared on Brody's face. "Relax. At most, she'd be the only one to blow up; we'd be safe. I value my life, after all."

Vivienne's eyes turned frostier.

This damn psychopath!

"We compete on who performs the surgery faster and more precisely. Whoever can extract the bomb first with an endoscope wins. By the way, I've set the bombs to detonate in one minute. Be careful; a slight mishap could trigger an early explosion."

"Right here?" Vivienne surveyed the hall with a furrowed brow.

"Don't worry, a sterilized operating room and sanitized equipment have all been prepared." Brody responded while gesturing for Vivienne to proceed.

Upon Brody's signal, the chubby man grasped Arabella's bed and wheeled her into an operating room.

Two endoscope apparatuses were ready in the operating room.

This was a mental institution. They wouldn't normally have such surgical equipment. This was clearly Brody's doing.

Once Arabella was wheeled into the operating room, the chubby man, following Brody's instructions, used the straps typically used to restrain patients to secure Arabella to the operating table. He gave her a kind smile. "Darling, you need to be good. Listen to what Brody says."

After saying that, he exited the room under Arabella's hateful stare.

Just as he left, Vivienne and Brody, now fully sterilized, entered.

Brody's eyes, hidden behind his glasses, brimmed with malicious intent. He looked at Arabella, who was lying on the operating table, and spoke in a soft tone, "Although the drug I gave you has rendered you immobile, you can still feel pain. So, we'll try to be gentle during the procedure to minimize your discomfort."

After hearing this, Arabella's eyes widened in fear. Yet she couldn't move her mouth to curse or beg. All she could do was cry silently.

Vivienne spared Arabella a glance, with no reaction to what Brody had just said. She had no sympathy for Arabella, who had brought this upon herself.

Moreover, Dorian was still bedridden in the hospital. Recalling his torment in the detention center and the twenty-three needles extracted from his body, Vivienne felt Arabella's current suffering was far from enough.

So, she had no intention of administering an anesthetic.

"Let's begin." Vivienne said coldly.

Brody pulled out a switch, smiled at Vivienne, and gently pressed it. "The bombs are activated."

Vivienne shot him a cold glance, moved to Arabella's left side, uncovered her abdomen, and quickly started the operation with the surgical tools.

Both Vivienne and Brody were geniuses in the medical field. A simple endoscopic surgery was not a challenge for them. The real challenge was extracting the bombs without triggering them or causing harm to Arabella.

As soon as the two endoscopes entered Arabella's abdomen, her face turned deathly pale from the pain.

She was fully aware of the two small incisions made in her abdomen and the objects inserted into her. The pain was unbearable; she wished she could pass out.

However, all her instincts were screaming for her not to faint since she knew that bombs were inside her body.

Ever since she entered the N&S Psychiatric Hospital, she had witnessed the depths of Brody's insanity.

He seemed to rule the patients in the hospital. Everyone followed his orders, and he had access to all kinds of tools.

Since he said there were bombs inside her, there must be bombs.

So, she couldn't faint; she was afraid that if she did, Vivienne and Brody might accidentally trigger the bombs, and she wouldn't even know how she died.

Vivienne didn't care about Arabella's thoughts or her pain.

As a doctor, she didn't intentionally enlarge the incisions or harm Arabella's organs with the endoscopic tools.

She located the bomb on the left side accurately on the screen, and in less than thirty seconds, she successfully extracted the bomb before Brody did and stopped the countdown.

"You've lost again." Vivienne said to Brody while holding the bomb. "I've already won two rounds. I don't think there's a need for a third."

"Damn!" Brody grabbed the scalpel and made a rough incision in Arabella's abdomen, then quickly extracted the bomb he had spotted earlier with the endoscope.

Arabella's pain was so intense that her eyes rolled into the back of her head. If she could move, she might have bitten her tongue off from the pain.

Brody didn't even bother to suture her wound; he just tossed the bomb aside. "I never knew you performed major surgeries. How did you do it so quickly and accurately?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Vivienne didn't pay attention to Arabella, who was bleeding due to Brody's rough treatment. She just extended her hand towards Brody. "The Seven-Poison Flower." "No!" Brody started to act out. "One last round, then I'll give it to you!"

"You set the rule of best two out of three." Vivienne replied calmly.

"As long as you compete with me one more time, win or lose, I'll give you the Seven-Poison Flower." Brody insisted stubbornly.

"Hand me the Seven-Poison Flower first, then we'll duel." Vivienne stated coolly.

A duel was fine, but only after she secured what she desired.

"Alright." Brody seemed to agree, yet a hint of suspicion was present in his tone. "You're not planning to take the Seven-Poison Flower and run off, are you?"

"I always keep my word." Vivienne retorted, feeling somewhat exasperated.

After she agreed, Brody promptly pulled out the Seven-Poison Flower and tossed it to Vivienne.

Vivienne caught the flower, inspecting it thoroughly to ensure its authenticity before stowing it away.

She folded her arms and declared her intent. "In the first two rounds, you posed the challenge. This final round, I call the shots."

"Fine by me." Brody smirked nonchalantly. As long as he got to match his skills against Vivienne's, he didn't care about the details.

"I wonder if you'll be able to evade my capture tonight or if you'll slip through my fingers." Vivienne laughed.