The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 149

Percival was stirred awake as the morning light brightly illuminated the room.

The first sight that greeted him was Vivienne. Her eyes were closed, and her lashes were fluttering slightly as she stirred in her sleep. Her eyes were shadowed with fatigue.

It was the first time he had seen Vivienne so up close while she slept. There was a tranquility to her, one that he had never seen before. It was a rare glimpse of the innocence of a 19-year-old girl. She had always struck him as a wildflower who was resilient and untamed. She never seemed to tire or falter.

She seemed invincible.

Yet here she was, exhausted from her endeavors for him, asleep by his side with her defenses down.

He was touched beyond words.

"Vivienne." He whispered, gently rousing her.

Her lashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes at Percival's soft call.

The first thing she did after waking was to reach out and feel his forehead. Only after confirming that his fever had subsided did she let out a small sigh of relief.

"You're no longer poisoned."

Percival wasn't completely unconscious while he was out, especially with Leopold by his side.

That chatterbox was as loud as a flock of ducks, constantly babbling about how Vivienne was out there somewhere, looking for the rare and elusive antidote ingredients.

Even though Percival was no medic, he knew how rare those ingredients were and felt a surge of anxiety while she was away. But he was helpless, trapped in his unconsciousness. This was why he had spiked a fever.

"Do you want to eat something?" Vivienne asked as she got up. "You've slept for a day and a night. I'll go make you some porridge."

"I'll come with you." Percival quickly got up but swayed due to his weakness.

"Don't push yourself." Vivienne steadied him while frowning.

Percival didn't want to admit he was scared of eating her cooking, fearing it might make him ill again. So he made an excuse. "I've been lying down for too long; my back hurts. I need to move around." Seeing his insistence, Vivienne gave in, and they went to the kitchen together. Under Percival's guidance, she managed to cook some decent porridge.

Just as they were about to eat, Leopold showed up with two takeaway breakfast meals. He was surprised to see them. "Wow, I thought no one here could cook. I brought you guys breakfast so you wouldn't starve."

"We can order takeaway ourselves." Percival looked at the takeaway boxes in Leopold's hands coldly.

"Alright, alright. I was just trying to help." Leopold's eyes were flicking between the two bowls of porridge and Percival and Vivienne. They eventually settled on Vivienne. "Who made this? You?"

"Is there a problem?" Vivienne raised an eyebrow.

"You made this?" Leopold looked skeptical and disgusted. "Can this even be eaten?"

He tried to stop Percival from eating it. "No, no, no, Percival, I know you love your fiancée to the moon and back, and you'd eat poison if she gave it to you. But you've just recovered; you shouldn't torture yourself like this. Eat this instead."

As he spoke, Leopold tried to take away Percival's bowl and replace it with the takeaway meal.

"Hands off." Percival held onto his bowl tightly and tapped Leopold's hand away with his spoon.

"You're saying that again?" Vivienne narrowed her eyes. Her cooking skills, under Percival's guidance, had improved significantly. She didn't appreciate Leopold's dismissal.

"Well, if you don't like what I said, I won't say it again." Leopold chuckled, but his meaning was clear.

"What if it's delicious?" Vivienne asked coldly.

"If it's delicious, I'll eat a pound of salt." Leopold said arrogantly.

"Deal." Vivienne smirked and pushed her untouched bowl of porridge towards Leopold.

Leopold raised an eyebrow and carefully tasted the porridge as if it were poison. His eyes lit up in surprise; he hadn't expected Vivienne's cooking to be this good.

But then he remembered his earlier statement, and his face fell.

"One pound of salt. Don't forget." Vivienne said while looking at Leopold's expression. She already knew the outcome.

She left the table in high spirits, heading to the kitchen to get another bowl of porridge.

"Percival..." Leopold turned to Percival for help with a pained look on his face.

"If you think one pound isn't enough, we can add another." Percival wasn't going to help him.

Leopold sighed heavily and slumped in his chair, glaring at the bowl of porridge in front of him. He decided to continue eating, thinking to himself that he wouldn't let the pound of salt go to waste.

In the kitchen, Vivienne had just finished preparing another bowl of porridge when Draven's call came.

She picked up the phone and heard Draven's serious voice. "Brody escaped."

"Escaped?" Vivienne frowned.

When she had administered the poison, she had calculated the dosage. With Brody's skills, he should have been detained in the special prison by the time he detoxified.

Brody was a twisted man, but he was also stubbornly honorable when it came to medical matters. He wouldn't break his promises.

How could he have escaped?

"We were ambushed while transporting him." Draven explained. "The attackers had heavy firepower. They seemed more intent on killing Brody than rescuing him. They fired a rocket launcher, blowing up the prison van. We had several casualties. But Brody survived. Someone saw him escape after the explosion."

"Do we know who's behind this?" Vivienne's frown deepened.

"Not yet." Draven's voice was filled with suppressed anger. "If it weren't for our quick-thinking men who spotted the ambush earlier, we would have suffered more than just injuries."

"Keep digging." Vivienne paused before adding, "Tell Brian about Brody. Tell him if he chases him down, all the reward money is his."

"He's already on it." Draven chuckled.

Knowing that Brody and his bounty had taken off, Brian, who loved money as much as life itself, wasted no time grabbing his gear and setting off in pursuit.

Vivienne sighed. Was the Nine Mystics Society broke or something? Why did her younger colleague seem to have dollar signs in his eyes since childhood?

After disconnecting from Draven, Vivienne pondered for a while. The people escorting Brody weren't just from the Nine Mystics Society. There were also individuals from the special department sent by the higher-ups.

Their actions would surely attract attention from the higher-ups. What was the reason that they would risk exposing themselves just to get Brody?

"Vivienne? What's up?" Percival called out to her, noticing she'd been in the kitchen for a while.

"Nothing much, just checking your pantry to see if you've got enough salt for a pound." Vivienne casually placed the porridge on the table, hiding her deep thoughts.