The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 684

Hearing that, Ronald chuckled—a chuckle laced with arrogance and confidence.

"Protégé? He's not even in my league!" Ronald's eyes danced with mockery.

Vivienne nodded in agreement. "True. Compared to you, his tactics are lacking."

Ronald's brow arched, the smirk on his face growing more profound. "It seems you're quite familiar with my affairs."

"Only bits and pieces." Vivienne's voice was soft, devoid of excess emotion. "A man who aims to dethrone F-Poison and become the new power behind the GTO certainly plays a different game from someone like Scott, who only knows how to obey."

Since she had walked in, Vivienne had maintained a cool and aloof demeanor, leaving one to wonder what was really on her mind.

"So, what brings you here today? Coming to capture me?" Ronald asked with a smile, utterly composed and not showing the slightest sign of panic.

"What makes you think you can catch me? Having taken Scott's place, I won't make the same inept mistakes he did."

Vivienne lifted her gaze to Ronald, her smile deepening. Then, she patted Kala on the shoulder. "Kala, we need to talk. Why don't you head upstairs?"

"I..." Kala didn't want to leave.

The Brooks family had seen one mishap after another, and just when things had settled, trouble found Ronald again.

She didn't want to face it anymore! But judging by Vivienne's demeanor, she wouldn't leave until this issue was resolved.

Kala pressed her lips together, not uttering another word, and turned to go upstairs.

Once Kala was gone, Vivienne turned back to Ronald. She took a sip of her drink and said evenly, "I'm not here to nab you."

Ronald paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Not here to nab me?"

He followed with a scoff. "That doesn't sound like you."

Vivienne just smiled. "What do you think my style is?"

"You," Ronald ventured, "would typically have the Brooks Mansion surrounded, tight as a drum, ready to catch me and force me to reveal where F-Poison is hiding."

Vivienne tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "And if I asked, would you tell me?"

"I would!" Ronald declared without a moment's hesitation. "In fact, by now, Percival should already be leading a team to find F-Poison, right?"

Vivienne raised an eyebrow. "You are definitely smarter than Scott."

"I tend to agree!" Ronald boasted.

Vivienne laughed lightly, leaning back on the couch, her words casual. "But sometimes, being too smart can be your downfall."

Ronald's eyes narrowed slightly, but he remained silent.

Vivienne also stayed quiet, her gaze lowered. Ronald could not fathom her thoughts.

The room fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the wind rattling the windows from outside. Neither spoke for a long time.

Finally, Vivienne spoke up, "The androids have all been destroyed, I presume. Starting tomorrow, I don't want to see another one."

With that, she stood up and walked towards the door.

Vivienne looked at him deeply. Hate is the most terrifying thing in the world; it can make a person unrecognizable.

No one knew that Ronald had a deeply cherished girl, and her name was Lauren Piper.

Lauren's grandmother had been one of the unfortunate souls to fall by Judith's hand.

The Piper family in Rivenwood could hardly be called aristocratic; at best, they were a minor family on the fringes of society. Back in the day, the Pipers were nothing more than average working folks. Lauren's grandmother had been thick as thieves with Percival's grandmother back then.

When Percival's grandmother was murdered, Lauren's grandmother became an unintended victim of the tragedy.

Yet, at that time, Lauren's father was still a bachelor, and Lauren herself had no memories of her grandmother, nor did she know the violent circumstances of her death. There was no seed of vengeance in Lauren's heart, but Ronald, who dearly loved Lauren, had learned at a tender age that Judith was a murderer, and one of her victims had been Lauren's grandmother.

That knowledge had sowed the seeds of hatred within him towards Judith.

To Vivienne, Ronald's grudge seemed utterly illogical.

However, she could understand his hatred for Scott.

Scott had uncovered Lauren's discovery of his dirty secrets and had snatched her up for his virus experiments at the clandestine GTO labs.

Ronald had been a powerless witness to it all. After Lauren was taken, Ronald never saw her again, only later receiving the devastating news of her death.

So, he hated Scott, and he despised F-Poison.

Vivienne cast a cool, indifferent glance at him and said calmly, "You never really understood Lauren."