The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 23

Inside the VIP ward.

Vivienne took out the pre-prepared ointment and asked Eartha, "Are you sure she hasn't eaten or drank anything since yesterday?"

"Nope," Eartha replied. "She has been very obedient. Even when she's starving, she's determined not to eat a thing."

Vivienne nodded, then turned to Isolde, her tone as gentle as she could muster. "I'm about to start applying the ointment now. You need to hang in there. If the pain gets unbearable, you can bite me." Isolde seemed pretty nervous, but she gritted her teeth and said, "Don't worry, Vivienne, I'll hang in there."

Without saying anything more, Vivienne had Isolde undress and began applying the medicine. Starting from her face, Vivienne covered her entire body with the ointment. At first, the cool sensation of the ointment made Isolde feel quite comfortable. She gave Vivienne a sweet smile. "Vivienne, are you trying to scare me? This ointment feels so comfortable on my skin... Ah!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Isolde suddenly let out a scream. But as if realizing something, she quickly shut her mouth. Her body was completely covered in ointment, making it impossible to see her expression. Her body was shaking, and more and more moisture appeared on her skin, soaking the ointment.

Isolde was in so much pain she couldn't even speak. She didn't dare to scream, and could only bite on a pillow to endure it.

Eartha looked on with deep concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine... it's just... a bit painful!" Just saying that seemed to drain all her strength. She was in extreme pain, it felt like thousands of bugs were biting her. She wanted to endure it, but she was barely holding

on.

Seeing her state deteriorating, Eartha quickly asked Vivienne, "Ms. Hawthorn, she's not in trouble, is she? She seems really uncomfortable, and her breathing is difficult." She was worried. If anything happened to Isolde, how would she explain it to Mr. Percival? Should she call him?

Vivienne took a look at Isolde's condition, and asked softly, "Can you hang in there?"

"Vivienne, I can't... Ah!" Isolde could no longer bear the pain. She couldn't hold on any longer. The pain had her rolling on the floor, filling the room with her screams. Luckily, this ward wasn't in the general ward area, there were no other patients, and it was soundproofed.

After checking the ointment, Vivienne said to Isolde, "Can you hang on for just one more minute?"

Eartha was about to send a message to Percival when she heard Vivienne's words, so she put away her phone.

Isolde felt like she was about to pass out, but for some reason, hearing Vivienne's voice made her feel somewhat reassured. Even though the pain was unbearable, she gritted her teeth, trying not to make a sound.

Vivienne had asked not to let others know she was treating herself. So she couldn't attract attention because of her.

A minute later, Isolde finally stopped feeling pain, and she let out a long sigh of relief. After the pain subsided, she felt extremely comfortable, like she was soaking in warm water. She cracked a smile. "Vivienne, did I do okay?"

Her face was still covered in ointment, and when she smiled, only her white teeth were visible.

Vivienne gently patted Isolde's head, laughing heartily. "You did great! Most people can't tolerate this ointment."

She'd treated similar poisons for others before, all requiring this ointment, and even grown adults in their thirties and forties found it hard to endure. So, she often had to change treatment plans. Though various methods can detoxify, using this ointment gives the best results.

Vivienne stood up and said to Isolde, "Let's go, I'll take you to bathe."

Isolde obediently followed her into the bathroom.

Vivienne had Isolde sit in the tub, then took out the medicine she'd prepared and dripped it into the bath.

Confused, Isolde asked, "Vivienne, don't I need to shower first?" Wouldn't the water get really dirty with all the ointment on her body?

"No need," Vivienne answered softly. "The ointment needs to combine with my medicine for the cure to be complete."

Isolde nodded and obediently sat in the tub. As the water temperature gradually increased, Isolde slowly fell asleep. She didn't know how long she'd slept, only that she felt like she was in a hot spring, and it was very comfortable.

"Isolde? Wake up!" Vivienne gently woke her.

Suddenly, she heard a soft voice next to her ear. Isolde slowly opened her eyes, looking at Vivienne in a daze. "Did I fall asleep?"

Vivienne smiled, her voice still soft. "Go look in the mirror."

Confused, but still obedient, Isolde went to the mirror. When she saw herself in the mirror, her eyes widened, and she suddenly screamed, "Ah!!!"

The loud scream scared Eartha, who was outside the bathroom, her heart pounding as she rushed into the room. But when she saw what was happening in the room, her mouth dropped open. "Your face, your body..."

Eartha was so surprised that she was speechless. She could hardly believe her eyes. Was this still the extremely ugly Isolde that people despised?

Could this be someone else? But the bathroom was only so big, and the ward was on the fifteenth floor. How could a five-year-old child come to the fifteenth floor to replace Isolde?

Eartha looked at Isolde, then at Vivienne. Then she carefully walked over to the window and peeked out. She wanted to see if there was a child who had fallen to their death below. But there was nothing. Eartha was momentarily stunned. She went back to Isolde, and cautiously asked, "Isolde? Is that you?"

Snapping out of her shock, Isolde grabbed Eartha's hand, excitedly shouting, "Eartha, it's me. I'm cured. I'm really cured!"

Isolde jumped up excitedly. "Did you see? The person in the mirror is me. I'm beautiful, aren't I?"

Saying that, Isolde suddenly started crying, "I'm not ugly. Everyone said I was ugly. I..."

Eartha was also teary-eyed, hugging Isolde tightly. "Yes, you are not ugly. You are the most beautiful child in the world."

Vivienne watched them happily, didn't interrupt, packed up, and left straight away. It was only when Vivienne had left that Isolde asked, "Where's Vivienne?"

Eartha suddenly realized, smacking her forehead, and said, "Oh shoot, Ms. Hawthorn already left."

"Eartha, go replace her quickly, I haven't thanked her yet," Isolde urged.

Eartha nodded and immediately went out to replace Vivienne. But as soon as she opened the door of the ward, she saw Percival, Leopold, and Thomas coming in.

"Eartha, why are you in such a hurry, did something happen to Isolde?" Leopold asked.

Leopold looked into the ward, and only saw a beautiful little girl, but didn't see Isolde. He rushed in immediately, and asked, "What's going on? Where's Isolde? Where did she go?" Eartha was just about to speak when Leopold grabbed her arm and asked in a low voice, "Spit it out, what happened to Isolde?"

"Leopold, I'm here!" Isolde said with a sweet smile.

Leopold was startled, looking at Isolde. "That's Isolde's voice? Where is she? Why can't I see her?"