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

and Alyssa, who was

"Winston, you'd apologize to

my fault for being too weak, it has nothing to

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

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

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

a servant began to urge

asked, they

he really wanted to

Arthur's favor? If

has lost patience with me...

Arthur showing his

a way to eliminate her, that would remove a

wrong. Arthur, powerful as he may be,

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

Alyssa silently agreed.

as Arthur's other half. Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her dream of marrying Arthur but also turned her decade-long wait

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

herself, we wouldn't need to resort to

gone,

not Vivienne, who was

tired, Brianna. You can go

a covert glance at Alyssa on the bed. For

in the room, Alyssa received

heart

to a low pitch spoke, "The boss

usually contacts me

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

on you.

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

a beat, and she hurried to explain, "I haven't