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.

Alyssa was about to send him away, Winston said in his soft voice, "Then I'll apologize to Auntie for big sis. Auntie is so nice; she won't blame

who was

him, puzzled. "Winston, you'd

sis. It's my fault

raced, thinking of how she could use

words? Have you forgotten how furious Grandpa was last time? He

George

a servant began to urge him to

Grandpa George asked, they

left; he really wanted to see

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

pondered, "But Arthur has lost patience with me... he won't even see

estate without Arthur showing his face

was a way to eliminate her, that would remove a significant

he may be,

matriarch's position at the Linklater estate was always meant to be yours.

Alyssa silently agreed.

half. Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her dream

the moment, Brianna threw 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,

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

gone, not anyone

Vivienne, who

tired, Brianna. You can go now," Alyssa said,

on the bed. For some reason, she felt there was something about her big sister

room, Alyssa received a secretive

her heart sank, and she

voice altered to a low pitch

contacts me directly. Why go through

out a scoff, his mockery particularly grating over the phone,

on you.

few days? Do you really

beat, and she hurried to explain,