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 Astrid precisely because she was a national agent, aiming

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

while he used the impostor Astrid to attempt to

through Mr. B on their second meeting. Meanwhile, Astrid's organization

to the core secrets. Moreover, he didn't care much, his sole objective being to get close to Vivienne and bring her to a lab

with Mr. B, pretending to be duped

handle. Instead

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

fact that Astrid was Vivienne's sister, she wouldn't have

Ellington Group, Fiona had orchestrated Astrid's transport across various vehicles, following no discernible pattern, making it

it challenging for anyone to readily trace

had the transportation means to

out the general route, and Thomas

and not daring to make a scene, they risked

dramatic exit from the Ellington

a sigh of relief. Her work was vital to national security, and it could not fall into enemy hands. During her captivity, she had been worried about

for your contribution to protecting national secrets. I'll recommend you for the highest medal of honor. Without you, who knows what crisis

"I didn't do it for the country; I just wanted to

medal was a symbol of the highest honor, coveted even among their

And Vivienne wasn't interested!

tired of seeing them around. In a family,

one! I

retorted, "Scram! You

picking up Percival's bad

"What did