The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)

When Vivienne showed up at Percival's apartment in Bay Estates, it was Leopold who opened the

door.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Vivienne hauling a suitcase. "What are you up to?"

Vivienne ignored him and just wheeled her suitcase inside. She spotted Percival lounging on the

couch, with Thomas tending to him.

Isolde was sitting on the side, covering her mouth and giggling as she watched his hand.

Vivienne had heard Isolde crying her eyes out earlier, so she assumed Percival must have been stung

by a wasp pretty badly. But now she saw it was nothing more than a swollen right hand.

"What on earth possessed you to get stung by a wasp?" She asked Percival, chuckling as she waited

for his explanation.

Why on earth had he gotten stung today of all days?

Was he stalking her? Why didn't the wasp just kill him?

"Bad luck." Percival answered, avoiding her gaze.

He hadn't actually planned on stalking Vivienne. It was his surveillance team that stumbled upon her

while tailing Elijah.

Though she was masked, he knew her too well. He recognized her instantly from the photo they sent

him.

Somehow, he just found himself following her.

Looking back, he was probably too impulsive. Vivienne might have noticed him and might have been

angry. He wasn't sure how to smooth things over.

He glanced at Vivienne's suitcase. Vivienne shrugged, inspecting his hand that looked like a swollen

pig's trotter, and said boldly, "You're injured. I figured you might need help, so I'm moving in to take care

of you."

Percival was taken aback. Had he mentioned that it was just his hand when he hinted for Isolde to call

Vivienne?

"Not up for it?" Vivienne angled her head to ask.

"As if! It'd be fantastic if you were willing to take care of me." Percival said with a slight smile.

Suddenly, getting stung by a wasp didn't seem so bad. Although he suspected Vivienne had ulterior

motives for moving into his apartment.

She was probably investigating the pendant around his neck. He also wondered if tonight's incident

played a part in it.

He didn't mind though.

"Alright, enough with the teasing. Do you think because Thomas and I are single, you can just make

fun of us?" Leopold couldn't take it anymore and gestured at Percival's right hand. "Just treat him

ASAP. I don’t want his hand to become useless."

Vivienne set down her suitcase and sat next to Percival. The wound wasn't big. The problem was that

the wasp was too venomous and caused severe swelling.

She picked up the ointment she prepared in advance and started applying it on him.

"Percy's hand looks even more like a pig's trotter after applying the ointment." Isolde couldn't help but

laugh as she looked at Percival's greasy-looking hand. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"I'll have Thomas take you to Mom's place." Percival coldly shot back at her.

"I won't go!" Isolde immediately rejected that idea, hugging Vivienne's thigh. "If Vivienne is staying here,

I want to stay here too."

Percival just stared at his bratty sister, wondering why she couldn't understand the need for him and

Vivienne to have some privacy.

Vivienne watched the siblings bicker and finished applying medicine to Percival’s hand. To prevent him

from smearing the ointment when moving, she carefully bandaged it with gauze.

Percival was fixated on her lowered eyes, realizing that this girl looked beautiful from any angle. Her

long eyelashes fluttered and tickled his heart.

Leopold watched the two, feeling like they were basking in pink bliss. He felt like he, Thomas, and

Isolde were third wheels.

With a straight face, he asked Thomas, "Can you smell the love in the air?"

Thomas rolled his eyes, ignoring him.

"Never mind, Mr. Ellington has his fiancée to take care of him. I'll just look after myself." Leopold lazily

pulled out his phone, about to order some takeout.

Suddenly, he turned to Vivienne with a sly grin. "Vivienne, since you're going to take care of Mr.

Ellington, you must know how to cook, right?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Vivienne glanced at him while cutting off the medical tape in her hand.

"So, it's getting late, and we're all pretty hungry. Why don't you cook dinner for us and let us taste your

culinary skills?" Leopold suggested with a smile.

"No problem." Vivienne packed up the medicine and gauze, then asked Percival, "Do you have

ingredients in the kitchen?"

"Yes, everything's there. I've checked." Leopold answered on behalf of Percival.

Vivienne nodded. "So, I'll make you guys some pasta. Any dietary restrictions?"

The three men all said they weren't picky.

"As long as Vivienne makes it, I’ll love it." Isolde also raised her hand.

Satisfied with their responses, Vivienne went into the kitchen to start cooking.

Leopold, being the curious cat, snuck over to the kitchen doorway with Isolde to sneak a peek.

They saw Vivienne cooking pasta and adding shrimp for flavor. It was clear she knew what she was

doing.

He immediately sidled up to Percival, nudging him with his elbow. "Your fiancée is a catch, man. She

can heal and cook, plus she's the youngest double-degree holder ever in our country. You're one lucky

dude."

"Leopold, that's stating the obvious. Of course my Vivienne can do everything." Isolde snorted in

disdain at Leopold.

Percival never imagined that one day Vivienne would be cooking for him. He always thought this girl

seemed a bit aloof. He thought she was someone who needed a lot of pampering in certain ways.

But now, watching Vivienne bustle about in the kitchen, a sense of peace washed over him.

He suddenly realized that if there was someone by his side who would take care of him when he was

sick and cook for him when he was hungry, then he would have a pretty sweet life.

Fifteen minutes later.

Thomas helped Vivienne dish out five plates of pasta onto the table. The pasta were white and

sprinkled with chopped parsley. They were also topped with large shrimp and were steaming hot. The

look of it alone made people's mouths water.

Leopold, without any hesitation, was the first one to dig in. Thomas also picked up his utensils, and

Isolde started eating too.

Percival, unable to use his right hand, smiled at Vivienne and said, "Vivienne, I'm having trouble with

my hand. Could you feed me?"

Almost all the pasta were in his mouth when Leopold couldn't resist rolling his eyes at Percival first.

The others might not know, but he was well aware that Percival's left hand was quite dexterous. He just

watched Percival's performance without saying a word.

Vivienne didn't refuse. She took the utensils, picked up a forkful of pasta, put it into a spoon, and fed it

to Percival.

Percival had just happily tasted a mouthful when his face instantly changed.

Leopold, who was sitting next to him, was so shocked that he spat out the pasta in his mouth. Thomas

was also speechless, and Isolde's face had turned pale. She really didn't expect that the pasta cooked

by the seemingly omnipotent Vivienne were so "special."

"Vivienne, how much salt did you add?" Leopold complained while looking for water to drink.

"What's wrong? Doesn't it taste good?" Vivienne frowned as her gaze fell on Percival. She thought it

looked pretty tasty.

Percival, with difficulty, swallowed the overly salty pasta in his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Why don't you taste it yourself?" Leopold thought he had never eaten anything so terrible in his life

and suddenly started to feel sorry for Percival's future.