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.

his soft voice, "Then

Alyssa, who was lying in bed, were

you'd apologize to the Linklaters

don't blame big sis. It's my fault for being too weak, it has nothing to do with

mind raced, thinking of how she could use this opportunity to get into

suddenly spoke up, "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 also felt

family was one thing; if Grandpa George found out she'd taken Winston there,

Winston stayed longer, a servant began to urge

they

Winston left; he really

seek Arthur's favor? If he's on your side, who cares about Sasha and

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

his face was proof of Sasha's

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

powerful as he may be, is

Rivenwood 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.

Alyssa silently agreed.

appearance not only shattered her

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,

quickly covering for herself, "Of course, if big sis could win Arthur over by herself, we wouldn't need to resort to this.

Sasha gone, not

not Vivienne, who was

can go now," Alyssa said, turning

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

the room, Alyssa received a secretive

her heart sank, and

other end, a voice altered to a low pitch spoke,

contacts me directly. Why

grating over the phone, "With the

soured on

few days? Do you really think he's going

skipped a beat, and she hurried to explain, "I