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.

said in his soft voice, "Then I'll apologize to Auntie for big sis. Auntie

and Alyssa, who was lying in

at him, puzzled. "Winston, you'd apologize to the Linklaters

big sis. It's my

thinking of how she could use this opportunity to get

"Big sis, are you out of your mind? Believing a child's words? Have you forgotten how furious Grandpa was last time? He won't let you take Winston out again." Alyssa

George found out she'd taken Winston

a servant began

George asked, they would be held

Winston left; he really

"Instead of begging Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor? If he's on your side, who

Arthur has lost patience with me... he won't

at the Linklater estate without Arthur showing his face was proof of Sasha's

her, that would remove a significant thorn from Alyssa's

wrong. Arthur, powerful as he may be, is still a man. No man dislikes a woman's undying

knows you two are meant for each other. The matriarch's position at the Linklater estate was always meant to be yours. Sasha stole it from you. What's wrong with taking back

Alyssa silently agreed.

had seen herself as Arthur's other half. Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her

out her idea, "Sasha cares so much about her daughter. If something happened to her, Sasha would be too distracted to bother with Arthur. That's your chance, big sis." Alyssa's gaze darkened, "You

need to resort to this. It's

gone, not

Vivienne, who

Brianna. You can go

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

in the room, Alyssa received

heart sank, and she quickly

low pitch spoke,

furrowed, "The boss usually contacts me directly.

let out a scoff, his mockery particularly grating over the

soured on

days? Do you really

skipped a beat, and she hurried