When the heart contracts, that papillary muscle keeps the chordae tendineae taut; and both of these help to prevent regurgitation of blood back into the atrium, allowing it to only flow out the next valve.
And each cusp looks kind of like a parachute, because it has tiny little strings, called chordae tendineae, coming off of it that tether the cusps to a small muscle called the papillary muscle.