The Million-Dollar Heart

Just then.
The door to their room swung open, pushed by Gavin from the outside. The sudden noise startled the middle-aged man inside,
whose gaze darted toward the sound. Harrison, with blood at the corner of his mouth and reddened eyes, caused his expression
to drastically change.
Madeline let out a scream, snapping Gavin back to reality. He hurriedly instructed someone to help Harrison up. "Victoria, have
you lost your mind? Are you trying to murder your own husband?!" Victoria stared blankly at her hands, her pupils dilated in
shock. It didn't make sense to her. From what she had observed of Harrison recently, his seemingly weak demeanor had to be
an act. She might have been a bit too reactive, a little too rough, but surely it wasn't enough to make someone cough up blood.
She opened her mouth, her gaze sweeping over Harrison's pitiful, semi-conscious state, her eyes tightening. "Who knew he was
so fragile? It was just a joke."
Her nonchalant chuckle and carefree demeanor only infuriated Gavin further. He raised his hand to strike, but Sophie, who had
followed him into the room, lit up with schadenfreude, barely able to hide her glee.
Only Madeline, her pupils contracting, stepped forward to intercept.
Smack!
The expected pain didn't explode on Victoria's face. To her surprise, a slim figure had blocked Gavin's blow.
Victoria raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over Harrison, who was being helped up, and Sophie at the door, finally resting
on Gavin's shocked face. Then, she glanced at the person who had shielded her, reluctantly coming to a conclusion. Madeline!
Interesting.
She wondered how Madeline planned to betray her this time.
"Mom!"
The room fell into a deathly silence for a full two minutes after the slap, only broken by Sophie's panicked scream, "Mom, what
are you doing?!"
Gavin, too, snapped out of it, pushing his daughter aside to embrace Madeline, who was now teary-eyed and holding her face. "I
was disciplining my child. Why did you suddenly jump in? Let me see, why are you so impulsive?"

Madeline's face was twisted in pain, her lips split, yet she clenched her teeth, maintaining a pitiful demeanor. "I'm fine. As long as
Victoria is okay, that's what matters. Gavin, you're being too impulsive." "Even if Victoria is wrong, she's grown up; you can't hit
her. If Richard finds out, he'll definitely come after us."
Hearing this, Harrison's downcast eyes flickered. His lips curled into a subtle smile, silently sharing a look with Victoria. The
message was clear: see, even if you disagree with me, Gavin will still push you to meet the Ellington family, ensuring everything
proceeds as he wishes.
Victoria kept silent, but Gavin immediately sensed the hidden meaning in Madeline's words. He waved his hand, dismissing the
servants to tend to Harrison's wounds, then turned and shut the door, leaving the four of them in their complicated relationship
alone in the spacious room.
Gavin glanced at the laptop still streaming the trial, then asked, "What do you think of this trial?"
The room went silent.
Victoria, sitting on the bed, showed no intention of getting up. She met Gavin's gaze with indifference, looked around in surprise,
then pointed to herself, "Are you asking me?" Gavin took a deep breath. "Who else would I be talking to?"
Victoria shrugged nonchalantly, "What opinion could I possibly have? Kipling is definitely done for. Dad, you might as well cut ties
with the Abernasy family to avoid any backlash."
Sophie stomped her foot, pointing at Victoria, "How could you say that? He's my uncle. Mom just helped you, and you can't even
show some gratitude?"
"You're hilarious," Victoria said, looking at Sophie as if she were foolish. "What does your mom helping me have to do with your
uncle? Did I ask for her help?"
Sophie turned red and white with frustration, tugging at Gavin's sleeve to complain, "Our family and the Abernasy family are
united. We can't just separate because we want to. You obviously don't want to help."
Hearing this, Gavin's expression darkened, and he turned his cold gaze towards Victoria.
Victoria massaged her temples, suggesting calmly, "Just close the bank account used for receiving the money. No matter how
skilled they are, they won't be able to trace it back to us."

She shifted, appearing to give serious advice, "Dad, this is so simple to resolve. Why bother taking the risk of alerting them by
protecting Kipling?"
"If you're really after the money, just use a different bank account and find another informant, right?"
However, Gavin dismissed her ideas without a second thought. "Nonsense! The connections we've built aren't something you
can just pull back whenever you want!"
"After the trial, I'll arrange for you to meet Richard."
Gavin refused to entertain any more of Victoria's objections, decisively ending the conversation, "Seize the opportunity to plead
with Richard, hoping he'll pressure Vivienne to let Kipling go." "At the very least, they mustn't be allowed to follow the money trail
back to us through Kipling."
Victoria nearly laughed in frustration,
"Dad, do you hear yourself? Kipling is
that jerk's brother. Do you think
Richard would go easy on his
sister's enemy for a niece he's
never
met? And what can Vivienne actually do? The only ones who can check
Kipling's financial records are the officials."
"No matter if she can investigate or not, today, Kipling is not getting locked up!"
Gavin's voice was frosty, carrying an unmistakable force of command.
Normally, Victoria would have conceded right away. But, without batting an eyelid, she glanced at the tablet where Kipling was
still making his case vehemently.
She decided to play for time, waiting

for Vivienne's cue, "Then, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.. Once the verdict is out, it won't matter what I say, Kipling is
going to prison, no doubt about it!"
She tapped on the laptop resting on the bed, pointing at Kipling and said word by word: "Just the involvement in the underworld
and the charges of indecency towards a minor are enough to land him behind barst for good ten to twenty years. You can't even
pull him out, and you expect me to do something? Dad,
you've got to be kidding me."