The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 234

"What?" The old man grumbled as he took the pack of cigarettes Anna tossed to him, skillfully slipping it into his jeans pocket. "People are always rummaging around here, as if there's something worth replaceing among all this junk. It's truly preposterous."

"Has anyone else been here recently?" Anna asked, her face showing signs of concern.

"Yeah. Some weirdos in black suits were here a few days ago and were tossing things around. I asked them who they were and got nothing but bad attitude in return." The old man retorted, clearly irked by the disrespect he was given by those men.

"You're okay, right?" Anna asked, her anxiety mounting.

"I'm fine. I threatened to call the cops, and they ran off." The old man puffed out his chest with pride.

Anna let out a sigh of relief. She and her friends, Percival and Vivienne, exchanged looks.

"Let's get what we came for." Anna led the way to the basement.

Percival and Vivienne followed. As Vivienne looked back, she locked eyes with the old man, who snorted before walking away with his head held high, making Vivienne frown.

Inside the basement.

This used to be Karen's main lab. Upon entering, Vivienne noticed an abandoned 3D bio-printer.

She blinked in surprise, while Percival looked around the lab as a softness crept onto his normally stern face.

When he first visited this lab, he was just a child. At that time, he was completely awestruck by the wonders inside.

Later, when he understood that many of the beneficial medical advancements in the world came from here, he felt a swell of pride for his mentor.

Unfortunately, the visionary behind all this was no longer with them.

Anna, oblivious to their thoughts, headed straight to a hole in the corner. It was the entrance to a rat's nest.

She bent down and gently tapped on the entrance.

Two small, white heads popped out. They were lab rats.

Recognizing Anna, they squeaked and retreated back into their hole, only to return shortly with a small glass vial filled with a green liquid.

"Did you train these rats?" Vivienne asked as Anna picked up the vial and rewarded the rats with some cookies and candy.

Anna bought the cookies and candy from a 24-hour convenience store earlier, along with the cigarettes for the old man.

Vivienne thought Anna was hungry, not realizing it was for the rats.

"No. They're probably descendants of the lab rats used here before." Anna replied while shaking her head.

"When I first came here, they were bold enough to ask for food. I found them to be quite intelligent and unafraid of me, so I decided to hide the drug here." Who would have thought she'd hide something so important in a random rat hole?

"Here you go." Anna handed the potion to Vivienne.

Vivienne accepted it without a word.

"Let's get going." Percival suggested.

Anna patted the rats, which were still squeaking around her feet, and followed Vivienne and Percival out of the basement.

When they emerged, the old man was gone.

"Goodbye!" Anna called out to the empty air.

"Hmph," came a response from a hidden corner.

As Percival drove them away, he asked Anna, "What are your plans?"

"I haven't thought about it." Anna was still in a slightly dazed state. For years, she had been running and hiding, fearful of being discovered by GTO members.

"You're exposed now." Percival pointed out calmly. "You have two choices. You can come with me and work for me, or you can go with Vivienne, who can also protect you." Anna stayed silent.

"Take your time." Percival said as he drove. "You still need to go to university. But don't do anything reckless again. We might not always be there to help."

"I understand." Anna replied.

As they reached the city, the sunlight was beginning to peak through the clouds.

Percival glanced at the time. It was 6:15 a.m., so peak morning traffic was about to begin.

"Let's go to my place." Percival suggested to Vivienne. "My grandfather wants to meet you."

"Sure." Vivienne agreed. She sent a text to Draven, asking him to bring the gifts she had prepared for the Ellington family.

As soon as she hit 'send,' Percival slammed on the brakes, causing the car to lurch.

She steadied herself by pressing her foot against the seat.

After looking up, she saw seven or eight cars surrounding them.

They were in Rivenwood now. Could GTO be bold enough to confront them in broad daylight?

Her face hardened, but as she looked at the man stepping out of one of the cars, her expression changed.

Scott!?

Percival got out of the car, not letting his disheveled appearance reduce his aura of aristocratic coldness.

He stood in front of Scott as his gaze swept over the cars surrounding them. His tone was cold and challenging as he asked, "Scott, what is the meaning of this?" "Percival, I mean no harm. I'm here to take Vivienne home." Scott's gaze moved past Percival to where Vivienne sat in the car.

The young girl's gaze was sprinkled with a nonchalant air. She lazily locked eyes with him, not shying away. She even radiated subtle mockery at him.

He knew why Vivienne was mocking him.

She was poking fun at how they had been played by Beatrice and Arabella, bringing home a counterfeit treasure and causing chaos in their household.

She was mocking him for not being able to recognize his own daughter.

But who said he couldn't recognize her?

From the moment he laid eyes on Vivienne at the family reunion banquet, he had suspicions. The girl was too much like Karen, except that Karen always exuded a warm aura, while Vivienne was extremely cold. It was so cold that it was hard to get close.

But this coldness might just be because of the hardships she endured in her early years, causing her to armor herself with coldness to keep everyone at bay.

Thinking of this, guilt flooded Scott's heart. He turned to Percival and loudly proclaimed, "Vivienne is my biological daughter."