The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel Chapter 1132

Isaiah quickly picked up on the teacher's confusion and took the initiative to speak up as Vivienne and Percival approached, “Dad, Mom.”

Vivienne ruffled Isaiah’s hair, “Have you been waiting long?”

Isaiah shook his head, his grip firm on Juliette’s hand, making sure she stayed.

Vivienne glanced at Juliette, then approached the teacher, “Sorry for holding you up.”

“It’s okay,” the teacher said, waving it off before adding, “But as their teacher, I must emphasize, no matter how busy work gets, make time for your kids. It’s too late for regrets if something happens.”

“We slipped up today, won’t happen again. Sorry for the trouble,” Vivienne said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

The teacher was taken aback.

She had braced for a difficult conversation, not expecting such a warm response.

After a moment's pause, the teacher smiled, “No worries, it’s part of our job. Since you’re here, I’ll head back.”

After saying goodbye to the kids, the teacher left. Vivienne lifted her daughter, Percival following suit with his son.

“Juliette, Isaiah, I’m sorry. This was my mistake,” Vivienne said earnestly.

Isaiah and Juliette exchanged incredulous looks. Did they just hallucinate?

Mom apologizing?

To them?

Both kids saw disbelief and a hint of doubt that they might be dreaming in each other’s eyes.

Seeing their silence, Percival said, “My fault. Got caught up with your mom and forgot. How about we hit that kid-friendly diner we missed last time?”

The kids remained silent.

How could he admit to forgetting them so nonchalantly?

So, it’s all about mom and dad’s love, and we’re just...extras?

Isaiah sighed, looking at Juliette, “You wanna go?”

Juliette nodded after a moment.

The family of four headed to the diner, with Percival trying to engage Juliette in conversation. However, she wasn’t having any of it and led the way into the diner.

Once inside, Isaiah turned to his parents, “Where did you book?”

After getting the room number from Percival, he ran after Juliette, “We’ll head there first, hurry up!”

Watching their kids disappear, Percival took Vivienne's hand, “How do we make it up to her?”

“You promised to pick them up, forgot?”

“Yeah.”

“We barely spend time with them as is. Your sudden appearance at school, seen by their classmates, doesn’t help. Leopold tells me they miss us, and some kids even tease them.” Vivienne’s voice was tinged with guilt.

Percival’s expression fell, and Vivienne patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry, just start picking them up from school. Juliette will get over it eventually.”

“Alright.”

“It’s not your brother’s fault,” Vivienne said, sharing the peeled shrimp with both kids.

Juliette set her chopsticks down, pouting at Percival, “Sorry, Dad, for ignoring you earlier.”

Percival lifted her into a hug, “It was my mistake for forgetting.”

Vivienne couldn’t help but notice Juliette’s cunning smile. She shook her head, knowing who was really in charge.

After dinner, the family returned home, with Vivienne taking the kids to their room, planning to tuck them in early as usual.

But it seemed like she had forgotten one crucial detail - Juliette's energy levels were beyond her wildest predictions.

Watching Juliette still bouncing off the walls nearly two hours after they had returned, she leaned against the doorframe in defeat. "Whose child is this, anyway? How can she still be so full of beans after playing for so long?"

Vivienne did the mental math; from the time they left the diner, it had been three hours. Three hours of play and still hyper?

Percival emerged from his home office just in time to catch Vivienne's soft grumbling. He chuckled lightly, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Well, she must take after you. Always full of energy, it's good for a little girl to be spirited."

Despite her reluctance to admit it, Vivienne knew Percival was right.

"Looks like looking after kids is quite the workout. I wonder how Leopold manages it all," she mused, reaching for her phone to give Leopold a call.

Leopold had been enjoying a rare couple of days off. With Mr. and Mrs. back, he and Griffin had finally gotten some uninterrupted couple time.

Yet the sight of Vivienne's call made him tremble with apprehension. Was it too inhumane to call him to soothe the child at this hour?

Vivienne's retort was swift: Do I really need to be humane with you?

Griffin, puzzled by the flashing phone screen, asked, "Why aren't you picking up?"