The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 148

Brody ground his teeth, shooting a sarcastic smile at Brian. "Why don't we do more jobs together, make some big bucks, and split the rewards fifty-fifty?" "Hell yeah!"

Brian's eyes lit up. He jumped to his feet and started to calculate. "Each time I catch you, I get a bounty of thirty million from the boss. Split in half, that's fifteen million each. A few more jobs, and we could buy a mansion in Rivenwood."

"Shut up!"Draven saw Vivienne's displeased face, walked over, and gave Brian a swift kick in the ass. While leading him away, he politely apologized to Brody. "Sorry for the interruption; our big man here was a notorious bed-wetter as a kid. He probably messed up his brain."

Brody snorted and ignored him, turning his gaze to Vivienne. "Specter Healer, I'll come looking for you if I survive."

Vivienne's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. She ordered her men to bind Brody immediately.

As he watched them approach with handcuffs and shackles, a shadowy glint flickered in Brody's eyes. As they drew near, he suddenly spat out several silver needles aimed at their faces.

Vivienne was already prepared for his move. Her eyes turned icy cold as she swiftly moved forward. Her right hand snatched at that air and effortlessly captured the needles between her fingers, blocking the attack.

"Taste your own poison." She retorted, flicking the needles back at Brody. He grunted in pain as his eyes filled with rage, but he was powerless to retaliate.

Brody was a tricky one. Nobody knew how many poisons he had concealed on him. So, Vivienne took it upon herself to shackle him.

Even so, she felt that he was still extremely dangerous. Percival was waiting for her at home to cure his poisoning. She couldn't personally escort Brody.

Thinking it over, she decided to propose a challenge to Brody. "How about another contest?"

"What kind of contest?" Brody's eyes suddenly brightened.

"You're not allowed to escape until you've neutralized all the new poisons I've developed." Vivienne stated. She grabbed Brody's chin and, without any hesitation, shoved a handful of medicinal herbs into his mouth.

After administering the poison, she sprinkled a pile of toxic powder over him and stabbed him with several needles.

Brody, however, didn't seem to mind. He cheerfully let Vivienne do her thing.

Onlookers watched in awe as the two interacted. They couldn't decide who was more terrifying. Brody or the emotionless Vivienne, who had just administered a series of poisons. "Heh! Don't worry; I'll neutralize these petty poisons before they even get me to the police station." Brody confidently exclaimed, "And when I do, I will come looking for you!"

Vivienne gave him a captivating smile. "Really? Let's see how long it will take you to replace me."

Despite the agreement with Brody, everyone else remained on high alert.

The cuffs and shackles weren't enough. They suited him up in a hazmat suit, even covering his mouth, before leading him to the prison van.

It hardly looked like they were arresting a man. It seemed more like they were capturing a dangerous, wild beast.

Once the prison van carrying Brody was gone, Draven brought out a stretcher. "Boss, what do we do with this one?"

Lying on the stretcher was Arabella, unconscious due to excessive blood loss. Her hand was pressed against her abdomen. Although the bleeding had stopped, her face was deathly pale. "Leave her to the police." Vivienne coldly said before walking away. "You guys clean up the rest.”

Draven watched her hurried figure. He couldn't help but sigh too. The boss sure had a lot on her plate.

Bay Estates.

When Vivienne arrived, Leopold was in a state of panic. Percival's fever had suddenly spiked, and the doctor Leopold had brought couldn't do anything about it.

After seeing Vivienne, he heaved a sigh of relief, quickly leading her to the bedroom. "Please check on him. His temperature has risen to 39°C. If it goes any further, I fear he might have brain damage."

In the bedroom, Percival was lying on an expensive leather bed. His entire body was slightly reddened due to the fever, and his face showed a faint hint of a bluish-gray tint.

Vivienne furrowed her brows, quickly moving to Percival's side to check him. As she suspected, it was a high fever caused by residual poisoning.

She took out the recently acquired Seven-Poison Flower and the Star Grass that arrived earlier in the day, combined them to make an antidote, and administered it to Percival. She then began to use acupuncture to assist in detoxification.

Soon, Percival's body temperature began to drop.

The doctor brought by Leopold, Uriah, was a medical scholar who had studied abroad. Being one of their own, he had heard of Vivienne's exceptional medical skills.

When Vivienne was treating Percival, he stood by and watched attentively without missing a beat.

After watching Vivienne effortlessly handle the illness that had him stumped, Uriah approached her with admiration. "Ms. Hawthorn, what was the remedy you used on Mr. Ellington?"

Just as Vivienne was about to answer, Percival gave an uncomfortable groan.

"Don't bother her!" Leopold quickly pulled Uriah up and dragged him out of the room. "You can ask your questions later.”

Uriah was crestfallen. He had no idea when he would get another chance to see Vivienne.

Percival was extremely possessive. Other than Thomas and Leopold, he was reluctant to let Vivienne interact with anyone else. After sending Uriah away, Leopold returned to Percival's bedroom, only to replace Vivienne had fallen asleep on the bed.

After last night's high-speed chase and the exhausting events at N&S Psychiatric Hospital, Vivienne was completely drained.

Leopold gazed at her retreating figure as a hint of surprise flickered in his eyes. Truth be told, he'd always believed that in the dance of attraction between Percival and Vivienne, it was Percival who was smitten.

Anyone could see that Percival was head over heels for Vivienne.

And Vivienne? Well, she'd always played it cool.

Sure, she might treat Percival a touch differently than others, but just barely.

So, there was a tiny part of him that felt a twinge of injustice for his brother.

But now he felt at peace.

Star Grass and Seven-Poison Flower were as rare as hen's teeth. It was not something one could just pick up at the local apothecary.

When he found out that Percival needed these two ingredients to counteract a poison, he moved heaven and earth, using every contact to no avail.

He didn't know how Vivienne had managed to obtain them, but he knew she must've paid a hefty price.

Perhaps Vivienne was also smitten with Percival; she just wasn't good at showing it, or maybe she hadn't even realized it herself.

With a light touch, he draped a throw blanket over Vivienne before quietly slipping out of the room.