The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 24

Percival whipped his head around, and his gaze landed on the little girl beside Eartha. His fingers clenched around the edge of his wheelchair, and to his surprise, he found himself standing up. His eyes fixated on her, his throat felt tight, and it took him a moment before he stuttered, "Isolde?" He was usually in control of his emotions, but right now, he could barely get his words out.

Isolde walked over to Percival, smiling sweetly at him. "Percival, it's me. I'm Isolde."

Leopold and Thomas' eyes bulged out of their heads, disbelief written all over their faces as they looked at Isolde. The air seemed to tighten in an instant. After a while, Leopold finally snapped back to reality. He gave Isolde a once-over, barely containing his excitement. "Are you really Isolde? You're not pulling our leg, are you?"

Isolde laughed at his shocked expression. "Leopold, it's really me. I didn't trick you guys! I'm all better now, and even prettier. Are you happy for me?"

Leopold was at a loss for words for a moment.

Happy! Of course, he was happy for Isolde. How much effort had they put into treating Isolde's illness over the years?

Percival even blamed himself every day. But now, Isolde was suddenly all better. How could he not be overjoyed? How could he not be excited? He was so excited that he couldn't even speak. Percival crouched down, pulling Isolde into his arms, and gently stroking her head, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. After a while, he sat back down in his wheelchair, his gaze shifting to Eartha. "What's the story here?"

Eartha knew she couldn't keep it from Percival any longer. "Miss Hawthorn was the one who cured Miss Isolde."

"Miss Hawthorn?" Leopold asked, confused. "Arabella?"

Eartha didn't know Vivienne's real name. Hearing Leopold say it, she could only explain. "When Miss Hawthorn saved Miss Isolde at the mall entrance, she came to visit her once. She said she could cure Miss Isolde, but we had to keep it a secret from everyone, including her family."

Eartha lowered her head, speaking softly. "Miss Isolde trusted Miss Hawthorn. She begged me to keep it a secret. I also wanted Miss Isolde to get better, so I helped Miss Hawthorn keep it from you. Every morning, after you left the hospital, Miss Isolde would text Miss Hawthorn, and she would come to treat her."

After finishing, Eartha quickly added, "Sir, I was wrong to keep this from you. Please don't fire me. I've cared for Miss Isolde like my own child these past few years. I"..."

Eartha started to cry, afraid that Percival would be angry and fire her. Others might not have understood Percival, but she did. In the Ellington family, Percival was the decision maker. People thought he was useless because of his disability, but he wasn't. No one knew that the Ellington family's current status in Rivenwood was actually supported by Percival in the shadows. Only Richard and Eartha knew about this.

Percival's gaze drilled into her face. He paused for a moment before slowly saying, "Eartha, you were handpicked by me. You should know what you should and shouldn't do!"

This time they were lucky, that girl was just trying to cure Isolde. If it were someone with ulterior motives, he didn't dare to imagine the consequences.

Eartha quivered, quickly apologizing. "I'm sorry."

Seeing his mood shift, Isolde grabbed Percival's hand, her voice soft. "Percival, don't blame Eartha. I was the one who kept crying and begging her. I was mocked for being ugly, and I was upset. Eartha didn't want me to be sad, so she agreed to keep Ms. Hawthorn's secret."

Isolde pouted, saying earnestly, "And Ms. Hawthorn is not a bad person. She's very nice and very gentle. She wouldn't hurt me. So, can you forgive Eartha?"

Looking at Isolde's delicate and beautiful face, Percival pursed his lips and finally sighed. "Fine, I won't pursue it this time, but there can't be a next time."

Eartha sighed in relief. "There won't be a next time."

Percival diverted his gaze, then ordered in a low voice, "Thomas, call Bruce over. Have him check Isolde!" Even if Isolde had regained her looks, he still had to ensure her physical health.

Soon, Bruce arrived. He conducted a full body check on Isolde, growing more and more shocked as the examination went on. After he had finished the check, Bruce excitedly said, "The poison is completely gone, and her organs have recovered. Mr. Ellington, when did you replace this doctor? How come I didn't know?"

Before Percival could respond, Bruce continued, his eyes sparkling, "Introduce me to them. This person is really amazing. In just a few days, they were able to cure such a severe poison."

Hearing that the poison was completely gone, Leopold's mouth dropped open, and he couldn't close it for a long time. While Bruce was doing the check, he was thinking that even though Isolde's appearance had recovered, the poison could have still been there. If it was easy to cure the poison, Bruce wouldn't have spent years without any solutions.

But now, Isolde's poison was really gone. This was truly shocking.

"Arabella's medical skills are really amazing, aren't they?" Leopold couldn't help but exclaim. "I hate to admit it, but it seems like she's even better than Mystic Mistress."

Percival leaned back into his wheelchair, his slender fingers tapping on the edge of the wheelchair. His dark eyes slightly narrowed, but he didn't say anything.

Leopold thought for a second, then blurted out, "But what's the deal with this Arabella chick? If she could cure Isolde, why did she do it all hush-hush? The word on the street is, that Isolde is your grandpa's darling granddaughter. If she healed her, she'd be in for a big payday, but Arabella didn't say squat."

Suddenly, Leopold seemed to have a light bulb moment. "Could it be she didn't want to get engaged to you, so she did it that way?"

The more he thought about it, the more he thought he was onto something. "That's it, I bet my bottom dollar. Arabella didn't want to marry you and was worried that if she cured Isolde, you'd see how awesome she is and wouldn't let her slip away. But being Dr. William's apprentice, she couldn't bear to see a patient suffer, so she secretly treated Isolde."

"Oh man!" Leopold exclaimed, "Mr. Ellington, you've got a pretty lousy rep. Look how you've scared this girl. She'd rather give up the hefty reward than marry you."

Percival gave him a cold glance, and Leopold quickly zipped it. Now he'd done it! Percival was pissed!

Percival turned his gaze away, then ordered, "Get the gifts ready, we're going to pay a visit to the Hawthorn family."

Hearing this, Isolde quickly approached, "Brother, are you going to thank Ms. Hawthorn? Can I come too? I want to thank Vivienne in person, I didn't get a chance to thank her just now."

Percival fell silent for a moment, then said, "You rest first, I'll take you to see Ms. Hawthorn in a few days."

Isolde looked a bit disappointed, but obediently nodded. "Okay, I'll listen to you."