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.

details were classified, so Cordelia remained unaware of the specific nature of Astrid's work. She only knew that Astrid's superiors were strict, rarely approving family visits. Initially, Alfred had approached Astrid precisely because

let alone work matters, leaving him

close to Vivienne, while he used the impostor Astrid to attempt to

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

short only in gaining access 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 for GTO

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

to handle. Instead of using GTO's

profit, but she had never

that Astrid was Vivienne's sister,

across various vehicles, following no discernible pattern, making it difficult

method of hiding made it challenging for anyone to readily trace or uncover

no longer had

Society figured out the general route, and Thomas blocked

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

from the Ellington family was

to national security, and it could not fall into enemy hands. During her captivity, she

the highest medal of honor. Without you,

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

The medal was a symbol of the highest honor,

And Vivienne wasn't interested!

mother had plenty, 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 would

want one! I can't

retorted, "Scram! You

"You're picking up

interjected, "What did