The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 213

The next day at the Jade Garden Residences.

When Detective Jaylan Lockwood arrived with his officers, Vivienne had just woken up.

She came downstairs to replace several police officers sitting on her living room couch, and Percival sitting opposite them with an indifferent look on his face. The air was thick with tension.

Cordelia had already told Vivienne what had happened.

Beatrice had been attacked in Jewel Park, near the Jade Garden Residences. She was now in the hospital in a severely injured and unconscious state. And at the place where Beatrice had fallen, a name had been written in her own blood. "Vivienne."

This seemed to point directly to Vivienne as the perpetrator.

Jaylan was just about to speak when Percival interrupted him.

"We've already given you all the security footage from the residential area. It proves that Vivienne didn't leave the house last night after she returned with me."

"Ms. Hawthorn." Jaylan addressed Vivienne respectfully. "Mr. Ellington's surveillance footage does indeed prove your innocence. However, due to the complexity of the situation, we still need you to come to the station for a statement."

Despite the accusations, he didn't believe Vivienne was guilty.

Vivienne was a member of the prestigious Nine Mystics Society, so if she wanted to harm an old lady, she would certainly do it without leaving a trace.

But procedures had to be followed, especially since the news had already hit the headlines early in the morning.

The passerby who discovered the crime scene had taken a close-up photo of the bloody word "Vivienne" and posted it online. It caused quite a stir.

The Hawthorn family was well-known in Havenwood, and their grudges and grievances were known to the town's gossip-loving populace.

So, many people believed that Beatrice's assault was a revenge act perpetrated by Vivienne.

Why else would Beatrice write "Vivienne" in her blood?

Opinions online were divided.

Some said Vivienne was justified, considering what Beatrice had done in the past.

Others condemned Vivienne, saying she was worse than a beast for harming her own grandmother.

Given the public attention on this case, Detective Jaylan had no choice but to take Vivienne to the police station. Otherwise, there would be suspicions of corruption. People might even accuse Percival of pulling strings.

"It's okay." Vivienne smiled. "I'm quite curious as to why the old lady hates me so much that she'd rather frame me than point to the real culprit."

"Beatrice is still unconscious." Jaylan sighed. "The doctors say her condition is critical, and they don't know when she'll wake up. Plus, her head injury is severe, so she may not be able to speak normally even when she wakes up."

"Really?" Vivienne raised an eyebrow as a playful smile appeared on her face. "Maybe I can help her wake up."

Back at the Hawthorn Mansion, Ashley, who was having coffee with Melissa, glanced at Arabella, who was sitting across from her.

Arabella had been restless since this morning, like she had something on her mind. Her gaze was unfocused, and she often zoned out when people were talking to her.

Ashley thought about the news she just learned and smiled to herself.

Arabella must have found out that Paul had spent the night with three women, didn't she?

Arabella didn't notice Ashley's look. She was too preoccupied with the news she had seen that morning.

The police had issued a statement saying they had taken Vivienne in for questioning as a suspect.

However, Arabella didn't expect Beatrice, despite being on the brink of death, to be so damn lucky. Some passerby had found her and taken her to the hospital right after Arabella had left. Beatrice was unconscious now, but who knew when she would wake up?

What if Beatrice woke up and said something that implicated her or used this situation to extort her? What would she do?

She didn't want to be controlled by the Hawthorn family for the rest of her life.

Why didn't she just kill Beatrice when she had the chance last night?!

Just as Arabella was worrying about Beatrice waking up, a news alert popped up on her phone. The headline read, "Doctors Confirm Beatrice Could Wake Up in the Next Few Days." Startled, Arabella dropped her phone.

Everyone in the living room turned to look at her.

"Arabella, what's wrong?" Judith asked, frowning. "You've been out of it all morning."

"Nothing." Arabella quickly picked up her phone and spoke with a voice choked with emotion. "Grandma, I want to go to the hospital to see Beatrice. After all, she raised me." Despite her hatred for Beatrice, she wasn't completely heartless.

After the news of Beatrice's accident came out, her two sons immediately sought their help, so they were the ones paying for Beatrice's medical bills.

Judith had thought Arabella would have gone to the hospital first thing in the morning. She nodded. "You should go. If you need anything, let the servants know in advance."

"Thank you, Grandma." Arabella's eyes flashed with determination.

There was still hope. As long as Beatrice never woke up, everything would be fine.

As for the police, she knew she was untouchable once the victim was dead.

After all, to avoid Judith and her folks from tracing her call records and to make them believe that she hardly had contact with Beatrice, she and Beatrice were communicating via burner phones, including last night.

She had already destroyed that phone.

On the contrary, once Beatrice was gone, what good would it do for Vivienne if the police found evidence to prove her innocence?

The fact that she had forced Beatrice to write "Vivienne" with her own hand was enough to make the world doubt Vivienne for a lifetime, pinning Vivienne to the pillar of shame for murdering her own grandmother.

She was truly clever.

At the city hospital.

Arabella was quite the actress this time. As soon as she arrived at Beatrice's ward, she started weeping as if the world had ended. She even hired three shifts of caregivers at her own expense to let Michael and Joseph have a rest.

Having stayed up all night by Beatrice's side, the brothers were more than eager to get away from the hospital bed.

After praising Arabella, they went home to rest.

Then Arabella continued her crying act by Beatrice's bed for most of the day until she suddenly complained of stomach pain.

Suspecting it was abortion, she was immediately admitted to the maternity ward.

In the middle of the night.

The caregiver responsible for Beatrice's night shift was a single mother with a three-year-old boy. Under normal circumstances, no one would hire her.

But when Arabella saw her today, she hired her on the spot, citing sympathy for the difficulty of raising a child alone.

She said that the night shift was easier and her son could sleep in the ward. It would be more convenient for her to take care of both.

However, her three-year-old son was full of energy. Someone gave him a can of coffee, and he was still awake and running around the hospital in the middle of the night.

The caregiver was worried about her son's safety and feared that he would disturb others and get her fired.

After hesitating for a moment and making sure that Beatrice's catheter bag was empty, she went out to look for her son.

The door to the ward was gently pushed open after the caregiver left, and a slender figure slipped in.