The Million-Dollar Heart

Vivienne locked eyes with Astrid.

There was no denying it, Astrid was stunning. She really had inherited all of Cordelia's best features.

Vivienne chuckled softly, "No need to be so formal with me, we're family."

She had uttered those words many times before, but this time, it came from the heart.

This Astrid was the one she should truly call Sister.

Astrid felt a rush of emotion. She had, in fact, used her clearance to dig into Vivienne's past. After all, showing up after years away and causing such a stir in the Brooks family raised suspicions. Yet, she found nothing.

Vivienne was an enigma, the more Astrid delved, the deeper she sank.

So, when they first met, Astrid had her guard up.

Later, after Vivienne's visit to Rivenwood, the Brooks family invited them for a family reunion. It was then Astrid received a classified tip.

Alfred was a spy from a rival organization! Just when she was about to arrest Alfred, Mr. B appeared.

Collaborating with Alfred, Mr. B kidnapped her, and she had been in captivity ever since.

Each day, they injected her with a sedative that kept her unconscious for long periods, obscuring any knowledge of the outside world.

On the rare occasions she was lucid, she found herself tossed in the trunk of a car, unable to discern much else.

Vivienne passed a peeled apple to Astrid, "While you were missing, Mr. B impersonated you around us. But don't worry, he didn't get anywhere near the core of your work, and Alfred didn't manage to steal any intel."

Indeed, Astrid was an agent working on classified national projects, which meant she couldn't spend much time with Cordelia. Every leave request meant paperwork, waiting for notifications, and getting signatures from top to bottom.

that Astrid's superiors were strict, rarely approving family visits. Initially, Alfred had approached

discuss the news with Alfred, let alone work matters, leaving him clueless about the information he sought. Eventually, Mr.

Mr. B get close to Vivienne, while he used the impostor Astrid

Meanwhile, Astrid's organization had been quietly informed of her abduction by

undetected, falling short only in gaining access to the core secrets. Moreover, he didn't care much,

along with Mr. B, pretending to be duped while investigating

not easy to handle. Instead of using GTO's resources, he partnered

had always dealt in shady transactions for profit, but she had never done anything like

not for the fact that Astrid was Vivienne's sister, she wouldn't

transport across

of hiding made it challenging for anyone to readily trace or

no longer had the transportation means to move Astrid, forcing her

general route, and Thomas blocked the

car and not daring to make a scene, they risked endangering Astrid's

Fiona's dramatic exit from the Ellington

work was vital to national security, and it could not fall into enemy hands. During her captivity, she had been worried

the highest medal of honor. Without you, who knows

laughter, "I didn't do it for the country; I just wanted to save you. As for the

highest honor, coveted even among their own

And Vivienne wasn't interested!

seeing them around. In a family, not everyone needs a medal of honor. If Leopold were here, he probably would

one! I

retorted, "Scram!

picking up Percival's

interjected, "What did