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.

were strict, rarely approving family visits. Initially, Alfred had approached Astrid precisely because

She wouldn't even discuss the news with Alfred, let alone work matters, leaving him clueless about the information he sought. Eventually, Mr. B found Alfred,

while he used the impostor Astrid to attempt

second meeting. Meanwhile, Astrid's organization

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

along with Mr. B, pretending to

handle. Instead of using GTO's resources,

dealt in shady transactions for profit, but she had

not for the fact that Astrid was

within the Ellington Group, Fiona had orchestrated Astrid's transport across various vehicles, following

challenging for anyone to

Group, she no longer had the transportation

general route, and Thomas

the specific car and not daring to make

Fiona's dramatic exit from the

work was vital to national security, and it could not fall into

medal of honor. Without you, who knows what crisis our nation could have faced," Astrid said with a pale but

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

was taken aback. The medal was a symbol of the highest honor, coveted even among their own ranks, let alone by the general

And Vivienne wasn't interested!

Percival had his share, and she was tired of seeing them around. In a family, not everyone needs a medal of honor. If Leopold were here, he probably

want one! I can't

"Scram!

"You're picking up Percival's

"What did you