The Million-Dollar Heart novel Chapter 622

In Rivenwood, in the depths of an off-the-grid prison unlike any other, the inmates were not your garden-variety criminals. Not even the hardened murderers found solace within these walls.

At present, this prison housed a mere trio of prisoners.

Flynn, Scott, and Fiona Ellington.

Fiona, though her body was a patchwork of decay, possessed sensory faculties that rivaled a healthy man in his prime. However, this heightened perception meant she also endured agonies far beyond the ken of ordinary humans.

Flynn, too, lived each day in excruciating pain, a modern-day Prometheus, his vitals ravaged daily, only to regenerate each dawn anew. This was Vivienne's brand of retribution.

Scott, in contrast, seemed almost content. Free from the physical torment, his punishment was a Sisyphean task of endless paperwork. He accepted his fate with a disarming calmness, even pointing out errors for correction by his wardens from the Vanguard Agency.

Many said Scott was the quietest of the three.

Vivienne and Karen arrived to find Soren and Anna waiting at the gate.

"Ms. Vivienne, Ms. Karen," Anna greeted as she adorned their wrists with security bands.

Back then, Vivienne was Percival's wife, and Percival was the deputy. Thus, she had never needed such measures before, but times had changed.

Soren collected all their communication devices, casting curious glances at Karen. She gave him a playful warning, "Hotshot, any more staring, and you'll be crossing a line."

"My apologies, Captain," Soren blurted a tad too quickly.

His curiosity stemmed from wondering why Percival respected Karen so much to call her master.

"Don't call me Captain; I have no plans of returning to the Vanguard Agency," Karen said with a smirk before stepping through the threshold.

Vivienne followed, knowing all too well Karen's discomfort with the Agency's rigid structure and protocol. Freedom was what Karen thrived on, and the Agency was anything but.

"Mom, this way," Vivienne gestured toward a cell on the right.

But Karen's eyes were drawn to the left, to a cell secured with a state-of-the-art lock.

"That's Flynn's cell, the former head boss of CK, known as White Tiger," Vivienne explained.

Karen merely nodded, but something about that cell made her skin crawl—a reluctance mingled with an unavoidable pull.

Vivienne sensed Karen's unease and offered, "Mom, do you want to take a look?"

Karen snapped back to reality. "No, let's move on."

They arrived at Scott's cell to find him making the most of his confinement by exercising in a meticulously clean hundred-square-foot space.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Karen remarked dryly.

If only things were different and Scott had not been the second-in-command of GTO and had not been Belle's stand-in, he and Karen might have been good friends, like she was with Micah. They shared an unspoken understanding that came from a place of genuine kinship.

Upon hearing her voice, Scott froze, his body tensing up. Without turning, he knew—it was her. But he could not bring himself to look, fearing the disappointment if he had misheard.

Vivienne exited without saying a word. She could tell just how strong Scott’s feelings toward Karen were, or he would not have gone easy on her so many times.