The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 269

Calista watched Tristan's expression with a slight frown on her face. She had a rare softness in her voice as she comforted him. "You shouldn't linger on past events. None of it was your fault. It's Arabella who should be blamed for deceiving and using you, right?

"Besides, you've already paid the price for your poor judgement. It wasn't your fault. Vivienne should forgive you if she's reasonable enough."

"Really?" Tristan gazed blankly at Calista, replaceing his heart fluttering no matter how he looked at her.

"Absolutely." Calista replied with a faint smile, her voice laced with charm. "I believe Vivienne will forgive you. After all, she is your savior's daughter, and your savior was such a good person, wasn't she?" With that, she left Tristan's hospital room with her iPad, leaving him alone to contemplate.

Calista had seen Vivienne's temper and knew she wouldn't easily forgive Tristan. So, she planted a seed in Tristan's mind early on, aiming to create a larger rift between the two of them in the future.

Although Tristan was now practically disabled, he still had some worth. If he treated Vivienne like he did Arabella, allowing Vivienne to manipulate him, Calista wouldn't be happy.

After leaving Tristan's room, Calista didn't return to her office. Instead, she went to Paula's room.

Inside, Mila was peeling an apple while trying to reason with Paula. "I think you should stop being stubborn. Your husband, Mark Miller, has taken his illegitimate son, Aaron Miller, back home. How can you still stay in the hospital?"

"That bastard! I can't believe he actually did it!" Paula gritted her teeth in anger.

Aaron was the child of Mark and his ex-fiancée, Jasmine, whose relationship Paula had forcibly ended.

The story of Aaron's birth was a bit complicated.

After Jasmine left Mark in anger and moved abroad, she discovered she was pregnant. She couldn't bear to abort the child and gave birth to a daughter, Fleur Miller.

But fate was never kind to her. When Fleur was seven years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant. Jasmine had no choice but to ask Mark for help.

Mark did more than just get tested himself. He also had Eddy and other members of the Miller family tested, but none matched Fleur's marrow type.

Despite knowing her actions were unethical, Jasmine begged Mark to give her another child. If the child's blood matched, she could save Fleur. Thus, Aaron was born.

Unfortunately, although Aaron's blood matched Fleur's, she passed away due to a severe rejection reaction after the operation.

In the following years, Jasmine developed severe depression due to the death of her daughter and committed suicide when Aaron was ten years old.

Mark brought Aaron back from abroad. Due to Paula's strong objections, he was raised outside the family and was not recognized as a Miller.

But this time, due to the embarrassment caused by Eddy's live stream, Mark took the opportunity to bring Aaron back to the Miller family and announce him as a potential successor.

This infuriated Paula, and despite her dramatic reactions, she ended up faking illness and being hospitalized.

Three days into her hospital stay, only her son Eddy had visited her. Nobody else from the Miller family came, reportedly because Mark ordered them not to. Naturally, Mark himself didn't visit.

To add insult to injury, Mark let Aaron move into the Miller Mansion while she was away. He even cleared out the best room for him.

Paula's plan to fake an illness had backfired spectacularly. But she couldn't just stop halfway and slink home.

"It's all because of your newly recognized niece." Mila sympathetically handed Paula the peeled apple slices. "If it weren't for her insisting on Eddy fulfilling his bet, Mark wouldn't have had an excuse." "It's all that damned Vivienne's fault!" Paula seethed at the mention of this.

Eddy had always been mediocre. He was not favored by the Miller family elders or the company's board of directors. But because everyone thought Mark only had him as a son and he had the backing of the Brooks family, they reluctantly supported him.

This led to Eddy becoming arrogant, thinking he was some kind of prodigy. He always liked to compete with others and dabbled in obscure interests, like gemstone gambling.

If it weren't for him winning 300 million for the family with his gemstone, he might not have gotten over the live stream incident.

However, his inappropriate behavior and the fact that his live stream video was secretly recorded and circulated privately made it hard for people to accept him as the next head of the Miller family. This gave Mark the excuse to make Aaron, his illegitimate son, a candidate for succession.

All of this was Vivienne's fault!

Fortunately, Aaron was even less dedicated to his work than Eddy. While Eddy may have earned the Miller family 300 million casually through gemstone gambling, Aaron was completely devoted to E-Sports. He became a professional player at fifteen and didn't even finish college.

This was the only thing that comforted Paula.

"Word around town is that the Brooks family is throwing a big party for their newly found daughter in a couple of days." Mila's eyes twinkled as she turned to Paula. "But I heard a rumor that when the invitation was sent to the Miller family, it specifically said you weren't invited. What's up with that?"

"I have no idea what the old man is thinking!" Paula's face darkened noticeably. "I've been his daughter for over forty years, and now he's shutting me out of the family for some girl he's just acknowledged. I'm not even allowed to attend this party?! I mean, I'm Vivienne's aunt for crying out loud!"

"I'm guessing it wasn't Baron's idea, but probably Vivienne's." Calista said while stepping into the hospital room.

"After all, she knows exactly how horrible she's been to Eddy. I'm guessing she thinks you might cause a scene at the party to get back at her."

Calista chuckled lightly. "She's really underestimating you, Paula. You're far too classy for such antics."

Paula's gaze flickered, but she stayed silent.

"Dr. Pendleton."

At that moment, someone called out to Calista from the doorway of the hospital room. She turned to see a young man with a bruised face.