The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)

Ending the call, Vivienne's lips curled into a subtle smile.

Percival stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her waist, and glanced at the recent call on Vivienne's phone. His voice was calm, "The kids are grown now, some things, they should handle on their own." Vivienne looked up into his deep eyes and smiled, "Then let's keep playing it cool!"

Meanwhile.

Isaiah got home and dialed Leopold's number, "Godfather! Can you check on Floyd for me?"

Leopold paused, "Check on Floyd? Is there a problem?"

Floyd had grown up under Vivienne and Percival's care, almost like Leopold had watched him grow, and the kid had always been sensible and well-behaved. He hadn't noticed anything amiss! Isaiah pursed his lips, "Just a little something, check it out for me."

Leopold's expression turned serious, "Alright, I'll have someone on it right away!"

But he trusted Isaiah more than Floyd.

After all, Isaiah had proven himself capable of standing on his own two feet over the years.

Although he had always been holding back his true potential.

"No! You do it personally!" Isaiah insisted gravely.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Leopold nodded, "Okay, I got it."

On the other side.

The masked man detected someone was trying to track Floyd and even digging into his international whereabouts immediately.

He intercepted the attempt and threw them off with a bogus lead.

"You've been compromised. Someone's investigating you."

Floyd read the message without a word, personally setting up the last bomb and leaving a traceable device on it.

"This is my final gift to you, whether you find it depends on how much you doubt me." Having arranged everything, Floyd shook off any tails and returned to his starting point. "Did you see the message?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Floyd responded indifferently, fully aware and even reactivating his tracking device, "Now it's time for us to continue playing our roles."

The masked man nodded, took off his mask, and walked outside.

He escorted Floyd to the door, "Thank you for your help, Dr. Chen. Without you, we wouldn't know how to deal with this crisis."

"It's nothing. If there are any more issues, feel free to contact me anytime." Floyd shook his hand, "Though I might not be available the day after tomorrow."

"It's my adopted siblings' birthday, and I'd rather not be distracted by all this then."

"Oh my, I didn't know you had siblings!" the other exclaimed as they slowly released each other's hands.

"They're not blood-related, but

they're family to me. I'd prefer not to

be disturbed by these matters on

such occasions. If possible, we could reschedule. Everything! taught you can be applied. I hope your experiment succeeds soon."

"Thank you, Dr. Chen. And happy early birthday to your siblings,"

After finishing their conversation, Floyd turned to leave, unsurprisingly, every word of theirs had been overheard by someone in a nearby white sedan.

Floyd didn't glance their way as he left, focused on driving away.

Only after Floyd was out of sight did Isaiah roll down his window, looking towards the unassuming lab Floyd. had exited. It wasn't large or particularly busy, but what Floyd had said made him wonder how much of it was genuine. This time, even Isaiah felt tangled in Floyd's web.

Through the rearview mirror, Floyd saw the stationary car and smirked, everything proceeding as planned. His mission, awaited for over a decade, was nearing its moment.

With a press on the gas pedal, Floyd returned before Isaiah did, walking in just as Vivienne was waking from her nap.

"Did you nap this afternoon?" Floyd asked, placing a fresh strawberry cheesecake on the table, "Perfect for a post-nap treat?"

Vivienne instinctively moved

towards it, but Percival, still

harboring doubts about Floyd, pulled her back, "Knowing you'd be hungry,

I already prepared something else. Let's save this for the kids.

Vivienne assumed Percival was just being jealous, "Seems like I'm not destined to enjoy this cake. You have it."

Nodding, Vivienne followed Percival to the kitchen to grab some food.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Watching them leave, Floyd chuckled, "Percival always thinks ahead."

He seemed unfazed, casually leaving the cake on the table before turning to other matters.

Juliette descended from the upstairs shortly after Vivienne left, her eyes immediately landing on the strawberry cheesecake by Floyd.

"Since when did you start liking these? Influenced by my mom?" Juliette asked curiously, sitting beside Floyd.

"Not really, just thought it looked nice when I saw it on my way here. Want to try some?"