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.

in his soft voice, "Then

Alyssa, who was

him, puzzled. "Winston, you'd apologize

It's my fault for being too weak, it has nothing

she could use this opportunity to

of your mind? Believing a child's words? Have you forgotten how furious

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

longer, a servant began to urge him to

they would

really wanted to see

of begging Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor? If he's on your side, who cares about Sasha and her

has lost patience with

Linklater estate without Arthur showing his face was proof of

that would remove a significant thorn from Alyssa's

laughed, "Big sis, you're getting it all wrong. Arthur, powerful as he

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 what's rightfully

Alyssa silently agreed.

not only shattered her dream of marrying Arthur but also turned her decade-long wait into

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

we wouldn't need to resort to this. It's all up to

gone,

Vivienne, who

tired, Brianna. You can go

to leave, she cast a covert glance at Alyssa on the bed. For some reason, she felt there was something about her big sister she couldn't

in the room, Alyssa received a secretive

heart sank, and she quickly

other end, a voice altered to a low pitch spoke, "The boss has a job for

usually contacts me directly. Why go through

grating over

on

act these past few days? Do you

she hurried to explain, "I haven't betrayed him, I