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 I'll apologize to

who was lying in

"Winston, you'd apologize to the Linklaters for

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

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

words? Have you forgotten how furious Grandpa was last time? He won't let you take Winston

could even get into the Linklater family was one thing; if Grandpa George found out

Winston stayed longer, a servant began to urge him to

asked, they

left; he really

Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor? If he's

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

his face was proof of Sasha's deep influence on

eliminate her, that would remove a

wrong. Arthur, powerful as he may be, is

Linklater estate was

Alyssa silently agreed.

other half. Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her dream of marrying Arthur

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

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

gone,

not Vivienne, who was

tired, Brianna. You can go now," Alyssa

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

room, Alyssa received a

her heart sank, and she

low pitch spoke, "The

usually contacts me directly. Why

particularly grating over the phone, "With the lab trashed, the boss

on you. And

Do you really think he's going to trust you like

beat, and she hurried to explain,