The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 162

Karen.

Percival's icy gaze tightened at the sound of the name, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

With a comforting look in his eyes, Percival gazed at Vivienne.

"Thank goodness."

"Thank goodness."

Vivienne mirrored his smile, grateful that they were allies instead of enemies.

The question that had been lingering in her mind was finally answered, and Vivienne felt relieved that she didn't have to cross swords with Percival.

The summer morning sun was perfect; a few birds landed on the balcony and chirped merrily.

"Percival, we can call off our engagement now." Vivienne looked at Percival, her face a picture of calm.

Percival's gentle expression instantly froze. The joy he was just feeling was shattered. "Why?"

Did she want to break off their engagement?

He wouldn't allow it.

"I got engaged to you to investigate my mother's necklace." Vivienne explained, her voice devoid of emotion. "I never intended to get married."

"I disagree." Percival grabbed her hand, a hint of anger in his voice.

Vivienne frowned slightly, waiting for him to continue.

"Do you know why your mother wanted to entrust this necklace to me before she died?" Percival went on. "Because it's a token of our engagement. It's proof that your mother entrusted you to me, so I won't agree to calling off our engagement."

"So you're refusing because of my mother's request?" Vivienne's frown deepened.

"No, it's because I like you, and I want to protect you for the rest of my life." Percival took out the necklace and wore it around his neck in front of Vivienne, gently stroking the smooth surface of the pendant. "This is proof that you belong to me."

Vivienne was taken aback, and Percival's face suddenly approached hers. He leaned down for a kiss that was both domineering and tender.

Vivienne was stunned. The kiss had come unexpectedly.

But it seemed like she rather liked the feeling of kissing him.

She wrapped her arms around Percival's neck and kissed him back.

"Then... no takebacks."

Upon receiving her response, Percival deepened the kiss.

The morning sun streamed in, casting their entwined shadows on the light gray tiles of the bedroom. They were inseparable and reluctant to part.

...

The next day, at Cloudcrest High School.

Since the last physical education class for Class Eighteen was scheduled for that afternoon, Percival had accompanied Vivienne to school.

With less than half a month left before the college entrance test, the remaining study plans had been well arranged and wouldn't change much. Apart from supervising studies, Vivienne had no other business in school.

While Percival was in physical education class, she had planned to go to the street outside the school to buy a strawberry cake. However, as she passed by the gymnasium, she heard a scream.

With her keen hearing, she immediately recognized it as Coral's voice, so she stopped and went to take a look.

Coral was sitting on the ground, covering her eyes. There was a basketball lying next to her; clearly, she had been hit hard.

The rest of Class Eighteen were all around her. Faye was checking her injury with concern. "How is it? Did it hurt your eyes?" Coral shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

Faye let out a sigh of relief, but after seeing the large bruise on Coral's left eye, she was still furious.

"Mr. Tristan, you've gone too far!" Charlotte, always quick to anger, had already jumped up, pointing at Tristan, who was not far away. "As a teacher, you deliberately hit her with a basketball!" Vivienne had already found out about Tristan's sudden appointment by the board of directors as a substitute physical education teacher for Class One when she came to school that day.

Lysander was against Tristan teaching, even though he was just a physical education teacher and wouldn't affect students' studies much. But Tristan had openly hit Coral in school just two days ago; such a person was not fit to be a teacher.

There were many people on the board of directors of Cloudcrest High School, all of them of high status. Tristan was the adopted son of the Brooks family, and although the Brooks family was no match for the Ellington family, it was still easy for them to appoint someone as a teacher at Cloudcrest High School.

Even if Lysander didn't want to agree, he had to.

Tristan looked at Charlotte shamelessly. "When did you see me doing it on purpose?"

He casually shook his hand and said, "I just slipped."

"You!" Charlotte, knowing about the conflict between Arabella and Coral two days ago, which led to Coral's transfer to Class Eighteen, was so angry at Tristan's blatant lie that she was speechless. Such a morally corrupt person had the audacity to be a teacher?

She was definitely going to get her family to file a complaint with the school.

"Better take her to the medical room quickly." Tristan sneered. "Next time you see me, take a detour, so I don't accidentally slip and hurt you."

Before he could finish his sentence, two basketballs suddenly flew at him from two directions, hitting him squarely in the face. The impact made him stumble back and see stars. "Sorry, slipped."

"Sorry, slipped."

Two distinctly different voices echoed simultaneously.

"Ms. Vivienne!"

"Mr. Ellington!"

The students of Class Eighteen looked at Percival and Vivienne in surprise and delight.

After seeing Percival, Tristan's face turned red with anger, and he roared, "Percival, you again!"

"What's wrong?" Percival stared coldly at Tristan. "Afraid I'll bully you like you bullied my student, huh?"

Percival had planned to hit the basketball court today. He brought Logan and Oberon Harper to the equipment room to grab a basket full of basketballs. But when he returned, he was met with this situation. "It was an accident, I swear!" Tristan muttered, clutching the spot where the basketball had smacked him as he gritted his teeth in anger. "You guys hit back too!"

His initial impulse was to rush at Percival and let his fists do the talking, but the reminder of Percival's bodyguards, likely lurking nearby, held him back.

Percival stood tall with his hands jammed into his jeans pockets. His handsome face was void of any expression. "Apologize."

"Hmph!" Tristan snorted while casting a hateful glance at Percival. He knew a head-on confrontation would not work, but he wasn't about to back down and apologize either.

"Why don't we settle it like this?" Arabella, who had been spectating, couldn't resist stepping in when she saw the stalemate. "How about Tristan leads our class in a basketball match against Class Eighteen?"

A good number of boys from Class One had been part of the school's basketball team before they had to quit due to exam preparations. They had won numerous prizes at city, provincial, and even national high school basketball championships. Arabella knew their skills were top-notch.

As for Class Eighteen, apart from Logan and Oberon, there weren't many good basketball players. It was clear who had the upper hand.

"If our class loses, then Tristan will apologize to Coral. If we win..." Arabella paused, her meaning clear, but Tristan cut in, pointing at Percival and Vivienne. "If we win, then the two of you will kneel and apologize to me in front of the whole school."

"Heh." Percival chuckled.

When did he ever need to win a game to get someone's apology?

He pulled his hands from his pockets and started walking towards Tristan.

Vivienne quickly intercepted him. "This is a school!"

If this weren't a school, she wouldn't mind teaching Tristan a lesson in her own way.

But, having seen the darker side of life, she didn't want the students to experience too much of it.

Percival met her gaze, and his lips curled into a smirk. "Alright, we'll do it Vivienne's way."

He shifted his gaze to Tristan, his piercing glance and icy tone chilling the air. "If I lose, I'll kneel and apologize to you. If you lose, you kneel to Coral."

"Deal!"