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 Auntie for big sis. Auntie is so nice; she

and Alyssa, who was lying

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

It's my fault for being too weak, it has

she could use this opportunity to

you forgotten how

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

longer, a servant began

they would be held

he really wanted to

for forgiveness, why not seek Arthur's favor?

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

his face was proof of Sasha's deep influence

way to eliminate her, that would remove a significant thorn

you're getting it all wrong. Arthur, powerful as he

Rivenwood knows you two are meant for each other. The matriarch's position at the Linklater estate was

Alyssa silently agreed.

appearance not only shattered her dream of marrying

idea, "Sasha cares so much about her daughter. If something happened to her, Sasha would

if big sis could win Arthur over by herself, we wouldn't need to resort to this. It's all up to you now." Alyssa didn't immediately agree. Brianna's suggestion seemed to support her but was actually using her

Sasha gone, not

Vivienne, who

Brianna. You can go now," Alyssa said,

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

room, Alyssa received a

the number, her heart sank, and

a low pitch spoke, "The boss has

usually contacts me

scoff, his mockery particularly grating

on you. And

days? Do you really think he's going to trust you

heart skipped a beat, and she hurried to explain,