The Million-Dollar Heart novel Chapter 776

Leopold and Matthew had just finished loading the Abernathy family into the van, including Cormac, when the stench inside hit them like a wave, almost driving them back out the door. But seeing Vivienne and the others frozen by the bedside, Leopold steeled himself and stepped inside.

The woman on the bed was a shadow of her former self, her hair tangled and matted like weeds upon the pillow. Her face was streaked with dirt, and it looked like the Abernathys hadn't bothered to clean her in ages. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, Leopold might have mistaken her for a corpse.

Wait a minute!

Those features...

How come she looked a bit like Percival?

Realizing this, Leopold's pupils dilated, his finger pointing shakily at the woman on the bed.

Then he glanced at Percival, whose stony face was unreadable, and noticed the air around him growing colder and heavier. Leopold took a step back, feeling as if his throat had been seized. He couldn't manage to utter a complete sentence.

Finally, it was Vivienne who broke the silence. "Mr. Wolf, let's get her out of here first."

She was genuinely shocked. They had only come to fetch a witness back to Rivenwood, and here they were, stumbling upon the very person Percival had spent years searching for.

Mr. Wolf's aunt, the Ellington heiress—Holly Ellington!

"Gavin Abernathy!"

The torrential rain outside devoured any trace of light, leaving their car in the darkness, save for the occasional flash of headlights that flickered before Vivienne's eyes.

Percival, with lips pressed together and eyes as cold as ice, stared into the abyss beyond the window.

Time seemed to crawl by.

At last, the man spoke. His voice was hoarse, almost eerie in the pitch-black setting, yet Vivienne heaved a sigh of relief as she said, "Mr. Wolf, trust me, I will heal your aunt."

Percival's grim expression softened slightly. He shifted, leaning his head against Vivienne's shoulder. "Vivienne, I do trust you. It's just... I can't control..."

He couldn't control the hatred bubbling up inside him toward Gavin and the entire Abernathy family.

He had assumed that even if Gavin didn't care for his aunt, out of respect for her status as the Ellington heiress, she would be placed in an unknown hospital with professional care to at least keep her alive.

But the reality was starkly different! In this remote village, there were only a few, including Cormac!

The moment Percival had pulled back the covers, even he couldn't suppress the rising bile in his throat.

He now understood where that foul stench lingering around the Abernathy property came from!

Beneath that soiled and stained blanket was Holly's withered body, wounds festering and crawling with maggots!

At that moment, Percival felt a murderous rage!

The last shred of his sanity reminded him that those people were still useful. But the agony he felt for Holly and the hatred for the Abernathys set his heart ablaze with fury!

Percival allowed himself to bury his head deeper into Vivienne's stomach, his clenched eyes hiding the torrent of hatred.

Feeling the warmth through the thin fabric, Vivienne swallowed hard, her hand gently caressing his hair as a chill flashed in her eyes. "Mr. Wolf, the dead do not deserve our hatred."

Matthew glanced up through the rear-view mirror at Vivienne and pursed his lips.