The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)

Over the weekend, Connor had just arrived when Isaiah received a message to discreetly send Vivienne away.

As Juliette entered the foyer, she spotted a figure standing there, casting a long shadow towards her. Approaching the man, she tugged gently at his sleeve and softly asked, "Mr. Boyd, could you do me a favor?" Connor crouched down, amused by Juliette's rare "warm" approach, a smile playing on his lips. "What do you need?"Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

With her eyes sparkling, Juliette pointed towards the backyard, "I want to give Mommy the flower in the middle of the pond. Can you carry me there? I can't reach it by myself."

Connor glanced at the distance, then back at Juliette. "You wait here; I'll fetch it for you."

"No!"

"The flower has to be picked by me to be meaningful for Mommy."

Juliette blocked his way, her face serious. If he went alone to fetch it, it would ruin her entire plan.

Without another word, Connor bent down, lifted her in his arms, and walked towards the backyard.

Upon reaching the center of the pond, Juliette, now thrilled at the sight of the flower, leaned forward, stretching her tiny fingers towards it. Her other hand sneakily sprinkled some "special powder" around the man's neck. Suddenly, Connor felt something was amiss.

Losing his balance for a moment, Juliette seized the opportunity to tumble towards the water.

Just before breaking free from his grip, she yelled towards Isaiah's direction, "Ah, Mommy, help!"

Hearing her, Vivienne rushed over, followed closely by Arthur and Yorick.

To their shock, they saw a figure in the pond tossing Juliette safely to the shore before plunging into the water himself.

As Connor emerged, dripping wet, his first concern was Juliette. "Did you get hurt anywhere?"

Juliette, taken aback by the man now soaked from head to toe, instinctively shook her head.

It was impossible! Her upgraded itching powder was potent enough to make an elephant scratch incessantly. How did he resist?

Her plan was for him to toss her into the pond, ensuring that her mother witnessed the entire scene, leaving no room for explanations.

Yet, he jumped in himself!

Vivienne was the first to reach them, scooping Juliette up with a frown. "Are you alright?"

Juliette, fearing her plan had been discovered and still shaken from the scare, clung to Vivienne, crying, "Mommy, I was scared. It wasn't on purpose..." Connor took the blame onto himself without hesitation. "It was my fault for not watching her closely."

Vivienne glanced at him, noticing the rash spreading on his arm, "Are you okay?"

Connor looked down at his arm, then at Juliette, playing it down, "Must be an allergy to something in the water. It's nothing serious, I'll just need some medication." "I'll leave you to it; I'll visit another day," Connor said, making his way out.

Yorick intervened upon seeing Connor's condition worsening, "That won't do. If it weren't for you, who knows what might have happened to Juliette."

He then instructed the butler to fetch new clothes and call for a doctor, while Arthur suggested using the family's pharmacy for quicker treatment. Connor hesitated, but after a nod from Vivienne, he agreed to stay for treatment.

Juliette couldn't help but wonder if she had inadvertently given someone a chance to get closer to her mom. That wasn't her intention at all! Inside the house, after changing Juliette into dry clothes, Vivienne prepared to visit the pharmacy.

Juliette, not wanting her mom to have any private interaction with Connor, pleaded, "Mommy, can you not go? I need you..."

Vivienne reassured her, "Isaiah will stay with you. I'll be back soon."

Juliette reluctantly let her go, making one last request, "Can you promise to only get the medicine and not touch Mr. Boyd?" Vivienne paused, her eyes narrowing. Was her daughter implying something more?

Before she could respond, Juliette "volunteered" an explanation, concerned about the contagious nature of Connor's rash, recalling her grandfather Finnian's advice on such illnesses.

Vivienne left, skeptical of Juliette's motives.

Isaiah, now alone with Juliette, couldn't hide his disbelief, "You said it was foolproof."

Juliette was equally puzzled. She had noticed the rash on Connor before he even entered the water, a clear sign her itching powder had worked. Yet, he hadn't exposed her plan.

Determined, she vowed to try again, "This was just one of many inventions. He won't see what's coming next."

Isaiah, though exasperated, cautioned her to be careful not to let their mother find out.

Juliette swallowed hard, thinking back to the way Vivienne had looked at her earlier. She stubbornly insisted, "No way."

No matter what scheme that man was plotting, she wouldn't let him usurp her dad's place.

Dream on if he thinks he can step in as Isaiah's new stepdad!

After picking up some allergy medication from the pharmacy, Vivienne handed it to the butler to deliver to Connor.

It worked immediately after he took it.

He had saved Juliette, and that was a favor Vivienne couldn't just ignore.

Later that evening, at the Linklater family's dinner table...

Yorick casually brought up the events of the day.

"You know, that kid's not half bad. If it weren't for him, Juliette would've been really scared today."

"Indeed!"

Arthur hadn't had a high opinion of Connor initially, but seeing him dive into the water to save Juliette without a second thought made him reassess the young man. And afterwards, Connor had simply taken the medication and left.

He seemed to handle himself with a lot of tact.

Vivienne listened quietly, not offering much in the way of comments.

Juliette, on the other hand, was practically burning to set the record straight with her grandfather and

great-grandfather, but she feared outing herself in the process.

So, frustrated, she just angrily poked at her rice with her fork.

It was all Connor's fault.

How dare he swoop in and steal everyone's affection without even trying?

It just wasn't fair!