The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 279

Mila's face had darkened with shame. The confident look on her face was shattered.

She couldn't keep up with Vivienne?!

How could that be possible?

Meanwhile, down in the audience, the people who had been engrossed in Vivienne's performance all simultaneously furrowed their brows.

They looked at Mila with very annoyed, even sort of disgusted, expressions.

"What the heck is Mila playing?! Couldn't she even get the first note right?"

"She's a renowned pianist, and she can't even outshine Vivienne, a country girl? What's the point of her playing at all? She should just go home, get married, and become a housewife!"

"Hurry up and get off the stage! We want to hear Vivienne!"

Everyone chattered as Mila's face slowly turned a ghastly pale.

No! She couldn't lose to Vivienne!

If she lost, how could she ever become the matriarch of the Brooks family?

How could she handle Vivienne?

She took a deep breath, tried to regain her composure, and lifted her hand to catch up with Vivienne's rhythm.

However, although she managed to keep up with the first note, she struggled a lot with everything else.

Vivienne seemed to be pressing her down, and she felt weaker and weaker as she played. She even made another mistake in the middle of the piece.

When the piece ended, Mila felt as if she were soaked in sweat.

She didn't even have a bit of strength left.

Vivienne stood up and looked down at her from a superior position. "Mila, your piano skills need more practice. As for becoming the matriarch, you might as well forget that. You'd need to practice for a hundred years just to be considered."

Mila felt even more shame now.

Although everyone knew she wanted to marry Scott, no one had ever spoken about it openly.

Vivienne not only brought it up in public but also used her piano skills to make her lose dignity. Was she telling her not to dream of becoming the matriarch of the Brooks family?

Ridiculous!

Who was she to decide that she could not become Scott's wife?

Vivienne had no right to even speak on this!

The audience gasped in shock.

They had already seen that Vivienne was not to be messed with.

Now, they realized that not only was Vivienne intimidating, but she also had a bad temper.

She was someone who could shame you in public without a hint of remorse.

Just because she didn't want Mila to be her stepmother, she openly shamed Mila in front of all the prestigious guests.

Mila probably wanted to crawl into a hole and die right now.

As for the Brooks family, Baron and Scott watched the scene as their thoughts raced.

Scott naturally never thought of marrying Mila, but he never expected Vivienne to have such a strong reaction to the matter of Mila wanting to marry him. "Humph!" Carl suddenly snorted coldly. "She's just a nobody who's trying to act important. A newly found daughter wanting to control her own father's love life?" He had been brooding over the fact that he had been tricked by Vivienne into bidding 12 million dollars for a worthless gemstone.

Vivienne was just as annoying as Arabella, especially in his eyes.

Moreover, he hoped that his uncle, Scott, could replace a wife and start his life anew.

In terms of talent and appearance, he thought Mila was perfectly suitable.

Most importantly, Calista was excellent.

He liked to interact with excellent people, not with barbaric creatures like Vivienne.

While everyone's thoughts were drifting, Vivienne turned her head and looked at all the guests at her banquet.

"Today is my family reunion banquet. To thank the Brooks family, I plan to play a solo." She declared.

Without giving anyone a chance to refuse, she sat down again and started playing.

Mila had no dignity to stay seated and quickly stood up.

She walked over to Calista and glared at Vivienne on stage with a blazing fury.

Vivienne was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. So, in truth, she looked a bit out of place while sitting in front of the piano.

But as she began playing the piano, everyone's emotions were stirred, and they were drawn into her dream-like piano world.

Her melody was initially gentle and clear. It created a fairyland, leading everyone into a beautiful picture.

Suddenly, her tempo gradually became aggressive, as if a storm were rising. they couldn't help but scream as numerous emotions bombarded their hearts.

dream-like scenery shifted, as if everyone in the fairyland had been dragged into hell. They were helpless and terrified, and

Soon, they felt like something was tightly choking their necks, making it hard for them to breathe. It was like death had arrived and was standing right before them, leaving them completely terrified.

They wanted to break free but found that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't escape death's grip. Despair!

Everyone fell into unprecedented despair.

Tears of regret streamed down everyone's face.

Percival, from the audience, looked at Vivienne on stage as a flash of surprise crossed his deep and alluring eyes.

This was the world-renowned piece called "One Step to Heaven, One Step to Hell."

The sounds of the piano struck his heart, suddenly squeezing it with a tight grip.

What had she experienced all these years to be able to play such a mournful and harrowing melody?

He abruptly stepped forward and walked towards Vivienne.

He wanted to play with her and soothe her sadness.

At this moment, Debra, who had been in the resting room, suddenly rushed out and looked at Vivienne in disbelief.

She was playing the piano again.

He hadn't heard her play for a long time.

He suddenly felt inspired.

He quickly rushed towards Vivienne, and before Percival could, he sat next to her as his fingers began dancing on the piano keys. Percival stopped. His deep eyes narrowed, and a chilling frost appeared on his austere face.

How dare he sit next to his Vivienne?

He was about to step forward and pull Debra off when Debra's playing suddenly began, seamlessly blending with Vivienne's.

After Debra's relatively soft melody joined her sorrowful and desperate sound, the style of the song slowly changed. It began to feel like a slowly flowing stream. Percival was upset, but in the end, he didn't step forward.

With Debra joining in, everyone felt as if they had been pulled back from despair. They now found themselves back in the dream-like fairyland.

When the piece ended, it took a long time for everyone to slowly come back to their senses.

Everyone looked at Vivienne, seemingly forgetting how to speak.

Mila, Calista, and the others were completely dumbfounded.

They never thought that Vivienne could be this talented at playing the piano.

At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Moonlight! She's Master Moonlight!"

"Absolutely! It's Moonlight! This piece is Moonlight's 'One Step to Heaven, One Step to Hell.' It tells the story of her blissful past when her mother was still with her and her despair during the dark times after she passed. My God! Moonlight hasn't released any new music in years; I didn't expect to hear this today."

"Moonlight's piano pieces are truly extraordinary. I felt as if I were right there experiencing her despair."

"Who said that Ms. Vivienne is a country bumpkin who doesn't understand anything? This is Moonlight's music, for heaven's sake! Her compositions are out of this world! How can you say she doesn't understand anything?"

There might be people here who don't understand the piano, but there was absolutely no one who hadn't heard of Moonlight.

She was a legend in the world of music, and every one of her compositions had won international acclaim.

Unfortunately, Moonlight kept a low profile and didn't attend any events, so no one knew what she looked like.

Those who previously looked down on Vivienne, were completely taken aback.

No one would have guessed that Vivienne was none other than the masterful Moonlight.

Especially Carl. He was utterly dumbfounded.

Scott looked at Vivienne like he was in a daze. So many things were running through his mind.