The Million-Dollar Heart

Alyssa's arms were etched with scabs and whip marks that Brianna could clearly see, yet she pretended not to notice.

Those were the handiwork of Grandpa George himself, a man who wouldn't stop until he'd drawn blood.

The mention of it left Alyssa in a daze.

Right, she thought, I'm the eldest daughter of the Wright family. Even for the sake of the family name, Arthur shouldn't have treated me this way.

It must be Sasha who's stirring things up.

"Big sis?"

Brianna watched Alyssa zone out, her eyes betraying a hint of disgust.

Winston, accompanied by a servant, came jogging over, his young face full of concern that seemed genuine. He was startled upon seeing Alyssa's injuries, "Big sis, what happened to you?" Alyssa frowned and withdrew her hand.

The last person she wanted to see right now was Winston.

If it hadn't been for him, Grandpa George wouldn't have been so harsh on her.

Brianna saw it all and, hiding her scorn, explained to Winston, "Little bro, someone bullied your big sis. Didn't you notice?"

"Bullied?"

Winston's young brow furrowed, puzzled as he looked at Brianna. "Big sis, who bullied big sis?"

Brianna's face turned cold at being called 'big sis.' "Who else could it be? In the Linklater family, who wields such power? If not Sasha and her daughter Vivienne, then who?" Winston quickly figured it out.

Shaking his head, he spoke clearly, "I trust Auntie; she wouldn't bully anyone. Maybe big sis didn't apologize to Auntie? Grandpa said if you do something wrong, you have to own up to it." Brianna raised an eyebrow but didn't reply.

Alyssa's face darkened.

She knew what she had done and certainly didn't need a five-year-old lecturing her.

"Then I'll apologize to Auntie

who was

"Winston, you'd

nodded firmly. "I told Grandpa, I don't blame big sis. It's my fault for being too weak, it has nothing to

use this opportunity to get into the Linklater

a child's words? Have you forgotten how

family was one thing; if Grandpa George found out she'd taken Winston there, it would be another storm of blood and

stayed longer, a servant

asked, they would be

really wanted to see

of begging Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor?

"But Arthur has lost patience with me... he

estate without Arthur showing his face was proof of Sasha's deep

her, that would remove a significant thorn from

Arthur, powerful as he

knows you two are meant for each other. The matriarch's position at the Linklater estate was always meant to be yours. Sasha

Alyssa silently agreed.

other half. Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her dream of marrying Arthur

idea, "Sasha cares so much about her daughter. If something happened to her, Sasha would be

course, if big sis could win Arthur over by herself, we wouldn't need to resort to this. It's all

Sasha gone,

not Vivienne, who

Brianna. You can go now," Alyssa

Alyssa on the bed. For some reason, she felt there was something

the room, Alyssa received a secretive

number, her heart sank, and she

the other end, a voice altered to a low pitch spoke, "The

usually contacts me directly.

mockery particularly grating over the phone, "With the

soured on you.

Do you really think

hurried to