The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 18

Inside the old Hawthorn family manor.

Arabella rushed back to the house, barely steady on her feet. She blurted out, "Granny, Dad has rented a house, and it's in Tranquil Estates!" "What?!"

Beatrice, Michael, and Joseph all shot up from their seats, their faces showing utter disbelief as they stared at Arabella.

Beatrice was the first to recover, barely keeping her surprise under control. "Are you sure? Tranquil Estates doesn't usually rent to outsiders."

Arabella looked serious. "I asked the security staff in the residential area. They did rent it, and the rent is ridiculously low. It's practically a giveaway."

Beatrice stayed silent, her eyebrows furrowed. After a while, she said, "Michael, look into who the landlord of that house is. No matter what it takes, we need to drive them out. The engagement deadline the Ellington family gave us is approaching fast. We can't afford any mistakes."

Michael responded, "I'm on it."

Arabella frowned slightly. After a pause, she said, "Grandma, I have an idea, but....."

"What idea? Let's hear it," Beatrice asked quickly.

Arabella leaned in to whisper in Beatrice's ear. A smile spread across Beatrice's face. "Good, that's a good idea. Let's do that."

"But isn't this a bit unfair to Vivienne?" Arabella hesitated.

"Who cares what she thinks? She's just a nobody to me. If this marriage falls through, what does Vivienne have to do with the Hawthorn family?" A cold glint flashed in Beatrice's eyes.

"I'll follow your lead then." Arabella lowered her head, a sly smile flickering in her eyes. But no one saw it.

Vivienne got up early to go jogging. It was something she'd been doing for ten years. Just as she got to the entrance of the residential area, she ran into Arabella and her two classmates, who were invited over to someone's house.

Upon seeing Vivienne, Arabella immediately walked up to her. "Vivienne? What are you doing here?"

Vivienne gave her a nonchalant glance. "What's up?"

What was this girl up to now? Didn't she already know they lived here?

"No, nothing." Arabella feigned fear of Vivienne, whispering, "I thought you guys were staying at a motel? How did you end up here?"

"Oh, I live here." Vivienne replied, amused. She decided to play along with Arabella's game.

"What?" Arabella was taken aback by Vivienne's cooperation, but she quickly recovered. "You mean, you're living here? Vivienne, do you know what place this is?"

Vivienne raised an eyebrow. "Tranquil Estates?"

"Do you know that outsiders aren't allowed in Tranquil Estates?" Arabella chuckled. "Vivienne, I know you just moved to the city and everything is new to you, but this is not the place for you. You better leave before someone loses something valuable and you get blamed."

Vivienne smirked, "So where do you want me to go?"

"Aren't you guys staying at a motel? You should just go back there," Arabella suggested casually.

Before Vivienne could respond, one of the girls next to Arabella blurted out, "Arabella, who is she?"

The girl who spoke was Coral, the daughter of the Lockwood family. Though the Lockwoods weren't as prominent as the Hawthorns in Havenwood, they still held a significant status, and Coral's two brothers were both politicians.

Arabella didn't like Coral, but she couldn't ignore the Lockwood family. "She's my sister." Arabella replied.

"So, she's the country girl." Coral laughed, covering her mouth. "Look at her clothes. They probably cost less than fifty bucks total. Arabella, you're like night and day compared to her."

Arabella lowered her gaze and whispered, "Coral, don't talk like that. She's still my sister, and I'm just an adopted daughter of the Hawthorn family."

"What's wrong with being adopted?" Coral retorted immediately. "Even if you're adopted, the Hawthorns prefer you. You're so outstanding, why wouldn't they? And what if she's the daughter of your family? She's still been driven out, hasn't she?"

The other girl chimed in, "Yeah, you're famously talented in Havenwood. How could you be compared to a country girl?"

Vivienne shoved her hands into her pockets, slanting her eyes at them with a smirk. Were these people here to stir up trouble on purpose?

"But didn't your adoptive father get kicked out of the Hawthorn family? How did she get into the residential area?" Coral demanded.

Arabella sighed and defended Vivienne. "Maybe she saw how luxurious the neighborhood was and wanted to look around."

She then turned to Vivienne and advised, "Vivienne, once you finish sightseeing, please leave. This is not a place everyone can just enter. If someone loses something, it'll be hard to explain." Vivienne stood there, hands in her pockets, watching her with amusement.

Arabella felt a bit jittery under her gaze. It was as if she could see right through her. Could she have figured out why she was here? No way! Vivienne was just a girl who grew up in the Emerald Monastery. She'd supposedly been living there for the past decade. There was no way she could read her like a book.

"You snuck in here?" Coral snapped. "That's not cool! I need to check if anything's missing from my house."

With that said, she whipped out her phone and dialed a number.

"Coral, don't overreact. There's probably a misunderstanding. Vivienne's not like that. If you get the security involved and she ends up at the police station, her reputation is toast!" Arabella protested, but her eyes were twinkling with mirth.

Vivienne glanced at her, a hint of ice in her gaze. So that was the game she wanted to play?

"Arabella, you can't be too naive!" Coral shook off her hand, raising her voice. "She's a thief, and she didn't steal something trivial. She stole something worth tens of thousands of dollars. That's a one-way ticket to jail."

Arabella opened her mouth, but then fell silent. They were standing not far from the main entrance, and two security guards rushed over after hearing the commotion.

"Ms. Lockwood, what seems to be the problem?" One of them asked.

They both recognized Coral. In fact, they knew all the homeowners here.

Coral huffed, "Is your security system that bad? How can you just let anyone waltz in here?"

She pointed at Vivienne. "She stole my mom's bracelet."

The security guards turned to look at Vivienne, doing a double-take, "Ms. Hawthorn?"

They hadn't noticed Vivienne since she had been standing behind Coral. Now that they noticed her, their voices wavered a bit.