The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 88

Cloudcrest High School was a half-hour drive from Baker Manor.

Percival drove like a bat out of hell. Fortunately, the streets were pretty chill at that time, so they made it in fifteen minutes.

When Vivienne arrived, Clara and Bertha were pacing like caged animals.

As soon as Clara saw Vivienne, she rushed up to her, "Vivienne, you're finally here. You need to go check on her. The family doctor is already upstairs. Faye stopped convulsing, but she's burning up and unconscious."

"Ok, I'll check it out right away," said Vivienne and headed upstairs with the nanny leading the way.

Percival didn't follow. He didn't think it was cool for a dude to barge into a young girl's room.

Bertha watched Vivienne head upstairs, dumbfounded. She hadn't got a chance to react when Clara followed.

She quickly grabbed Clara's hand, "Is she the Ms. Hawthorn you mentioned before?"

Clara nodded, "Yep! That's Vivienne, the Ms. Hawthorn who saved my life. Snap out of it and come upstairs with me!"

Before Bertha could react, she was dragged upstairs by Clara.

It wasn't until they saw Vivienne seriously preparing to treat Faye that they realised they got their wires crossed!

Doreen was shaking like a leaf when she saw Faye. Seeing Vivienne silently focused on her treating, she stuttered, "Ms. Hawthorn?"

Vivienne didn't respond, just kept on working.

Doreen was about to ask why Vivienne was there when Clara pulled her aside, "Don't bug Ms. Hawthorn, she's got mad skills. If you mess her up, Faye is toast." Doreen hesitated but didn't push it.

Although she couldn't wrap her head around why this woman, whom the Hawthorn family considered a country bumpkin, knew medicine, Vivienne seemed to know her stuff.

Once Vivienne finished her treating and fed Faye a pill, she asked coldly, "Did she take any medicine that has conflicting effects?"

Doreen was taken aback, "No, she only took the medicine prescribed by Ms. Hawthorn. Dr. Marcus checked it out and said it was all good."

"Which Ms. Hawthorn?" Vivienne asked, frowning.

"Your sister, Arabella!"

Vivienne was speechless.

In fact, she didn't forget Arabella on purpose, but in her eyes, Arabella was like a stranger to her, and she didn't think about her much.

"Bring me the prescription," Vivienne said nothing more. She had to read the prescription first.

Seeing Faye looking much better, Doreen knew Vivienne was legit and handed over the prescription.

After checking the prescription, Vivienne looked grave, "This is ludicrous!"

Her angry voice startled everyone in the room.

Dr. Marcus, who had been in awe of Vivienne's skills from the get-go, quickly asked, "What's wrong with the prescription?"

He had felt something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it.

Vivienne pointed to two of the ingredients, "These two, separately, are fine. But together, they're poison! They cause vomiting, diarrhea, then a high fever. That's exactly what's happening to Faye. If I arrived a few minutes later, you'd be planning her funeral."

Dr. Marcus had a light bulb moment, "Ah, I see. I knew something was off about this prescription. It's the conflicting effects of these two ingredients. Ms. Hawthorn, you're brilliant."

Her ability to spot the problem showed her superior medical skills. And her technique was even better than the senior doctors at their hospital.

"Oh my god!" Bertha exclaimed, "So dangerous? Doreen, look what you've done, trusting people blindly!"

If Clara hadn't come today, Faye might have...

Doreen regretted her decision, "I didn't know it would turn out like this. At the Hawthorn family banquet, everyone said Arabella cured Isolde, so I thought she could help Faye. How would I know this would happen."

"Doreen."

Waiting downstairs all this while, Percival got worried when Vivienne didn't come back. He went upstairs and heard Doreen's words just as he reached the door.

He stood at the entrance, not going in, and calmly said, "Vivienne cured my sister, not Arabella."

"What?" Doreen's eyes widened in surprise, "Not Arabella?"

But soon, she said angrily, "That's outrageous. She dared to fool me. I won't let her get away with this."

If Arabella had told her that Vivienne cured Isolde, Faye wouldn't have had to suffer so much.

She really hated Arabella!

"Alright, enough of that for now." Bertha shot a glare at Doreen, pissed off that she had treated Faye's life like a game without doing proper investigation. But right now, treating Faye's illness was the top priority.

Bertha approached Vivienne, whispering, "Ms. Hawthorn, how is my granddaughter's condition? Can she be cured?"

"I've done acupuncture to stabilize her heart meridian. The pill I gave her will restore her bodily functions and take her out of danger, but her body has been damaged. If she wants a full recovery, she will need to continue the medication for three days. I can also heal her face, but..."

Vivienne looked at Doreen and said, "I came today at Clara's request, so there's no charge for the acupuncture and pill. But for the medicine and consultation fee for the next three days, you will have to pay. My consultation fee is fifty thousand, each pill costs five hundred thousand, and the special ointment I use to treat Ms. Faye's face costs a million. That's the bottom line, no bargaining."

Vivienne paused, then added, "You can think it over and let me know later. And don't worry, today's treatment have already saved Ms. Faye's life. She can go without the medicine for the next three days, but she might be weak afterwards."

Vivienne was never one for charity. She had helped Clara out of a whim upon running into her, not charging anything in return.

However, she was asked to treat Faye's illness, and naturally, there was a fee to discuss.

She had no ties with the Baker family or the Churchill family.

Outside, Percival heard Vivienne's fees, his deep eyes flickering with a nearly imperceptible light.

A pill worth five hundred thousand could only be found in Veridia's black market.

Life-saving pill!

Judging from its name, it was actually a miracle drug that could save lives as long as there was a breath left, hence the rush to buy it on the black market. Unfortunately, this kind of pill only appeared once every four to five months, making it something money couldn't always buy.

A while ago, the seller of Life-saving pill had sold a small bottle of them. The pills were sold out within ten minutes of the news getting out. He had sent Thomas to grab some, but was unsuccessful.

He heard from Isolde that Vivienne would give the patient a pill first, then perform acupuncture, apply ointment, and finally a medicinal bath.

Was the pill in Vivienne's hand the same as the one on the black market?

Regardless, just adding up the treatment costs came to a rough estimate of three million. So, he owed Vivienne three million, but she hadn't asked for it back.