The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne locked eyes with Astrid.

There was no denying it, Astrid was stunning. She really had inherited all of Cordelia’s best features.

Vivienne chuckled softly, “No need to be so formal with me, we’re family.”

She had uttered those words many times before, but this time, it came from the heart.

This Astrid was the one she should truly call Sister.

Astrid felt a rush of emotion. She had, in fact, used her clearance to dig into Vivienne’s past. After all, showing up after years away and causing such a stir in the Brooks family raised suspicions.

Yet, she found nothing.

Vivienne was an enigma, the more Astrid delved, the deeper she sank.

So, when they first met, Astrid had her guard up.

Later, after Vivienne’s visit to Rivenwood, the Brooks family invited them for a family reunion. It was then Astrid received a classified tip.

Alfred was a spy from a rival organization! Just when she was about to arrest Alfred, Mr. B appeared.

Collaborating with Alfred, Mr. B kidnapped her, and she had been in captivity ever since.

Each day, they injected her with a sedative that kept her unconscious for long periods, obscuring any knowledge of the outside world.

On the rare occasions she was lucid, she found herself tossed in the trunk of a car, unable to discern much else.

Vivienne passed a peeled apple to Astrid, “While you were missing, Mr. B impersonated you around us. But don’t worry, he didn’t get anywhere near the core of your work, and Alfred didn’t manage to steal any intel.”

Indeed, Astrid was an agent working on classified national projects, which meant she couldn’t spend much time with Cordelia. Every leave request meant paperwork, waiting for notifications, and getting signatures from top to bottom.

However, those details were classified, so Cordelia remained unaware of the specific nature of Astrid’s work. She only knew that Astrid’s superiors were strict, rarely approving family visits.

Alfred had approached Astrid precisely because she was

Astrid kept her work and personal life separate. She wouldn’t even discuss the news with Alfred, let

Mr. B found Alfred, and they struck

Vivienne, while he used the impostor

on their second meeting. Meanwhile, Astrid’s organization had

Moreover, he didn’t care much, his sole objective being to get close to

with Mr. B, pretending to be duped while investigating Astrid’s

not easy to handle. Instead

shady transactions for profit, but she had

fact that Astrid was Vivienne’s sister, she wouldn’t

Group, Fiona had orchestrated Astrid’s transport across various vehicles, following no discernible

of hiding made it challenging for

she no longer had the transportation means to move Astrid, forcing her to

Society figured out the general route, and Thomas blocked the vehicles

not daring to make a scene,

from the Ellington family

could not fall

Luckily, Vivienne was shrewd.

to protecting national secrets. I’ll recommend you for the highest medal of

for the country; I just wanted to save you. As for

the highest honor, coveted even among their own ranks,

And Vivienne wasn’t interested!

care for it. Her mother had plenty, Percival had his

were here, he probably would put

I can’t have

retorted, “Scram! You

grumbled, “You’re picking

interjected, “What did you

backpedaled, “My bad,

to recover and can’t leave the hospital just yet. I’ll explain everything to mom.