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.

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

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

how she could use this opportunity

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

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

servant began to

Grandpa George asked, they would be held

really wanted

of begging Sasha for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor?

patience with me... he won't even see

Linklater estate without Arthur showing his face was proof of Sasha's deep influence on

her, that would remove a significant thorn from Alyssa's

as he may be, is still a man. No man dislikes

for each other. The matriarch's position at the Linklater estate was always meant

Alyssa silently agreed.

Sasha's sudden appearance not only shattered her dream of marrying Arthur but also turned her

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

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

wanted Sasha gone, not

not Vivienne,

tired, Brianna. You can go now,"

at Alyssa on the bed. For some reason, she

room, Alyssa

the number, her heart sank, and she quickly

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

usually contacts

scoff, his mockery particularly grating over the phone, "With

soured on you. And

vanishing act these past few days? Do you

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