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.

as Alyssa was about to send him away, Winston said in his soft voice, "Then

Alyssa, who was lying in

him, puzzled. "Winston, you'd apologize to

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

of how she could use this opportunity to

Believing a child's words? Have you forgotten how furious Grandpa was last time? He won't let

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

Winston stayed longer, a servant began to urge him to

Grandpa George asked, they

left; he really wanted to see his

Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's

lost patience with me...

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

was a way to eliminate her, that

"Big sis, you're getting it all wrong. Arthur, powerful as he may be, is still a man. No

Linklater estate was always meant to be yours. Sasha stole it from you. What's wrong with taking

Alyssa silently agreed.

Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered

"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

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

Sasha gone,

not Vivienne, who

You can go now," Alyssa said,

stood to leave, she cast a covert glance at Alyssa on the bed. For

room, Alyssa

number, her heart sank,

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

brows furrowed, "The boss usually contacts

let out a scoff, his mockery particularly grating over the phone, "With the lab trashed, the

soured on

act these past few days? Do you really think he's going to

heart skipped a beat, and she hurried to explain, "I haven't betrayed him, I