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.

had approached Astrid precisely because she was a national agent, aiming to steal state

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

Mr. B found Alfred, and they

Vivienne, while he used the impostor Astrid to attempt to access classified

their second meeting. Meanwhile, Astrid’s organization had

access to the core secrets. Moreover, he didn’t care much, his sole objective being to get close to Vivienne and bring her to

played along with Mr. B, pretending to be duped

not easy to handle. Instead of using GTO’s

for profit, but she had never done anything like

fact that Astrid was Vivienne’s

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

hiding made it challenging for anyone to readily trace or uncover

from the Ellington Group, she no longer had

route, and Thomas blocked

not daring to make a scene,

dramatic exit from the Ellington family was

sigh of relief. Her work was vital to national security, and it could not fall

Luckily, Vivienne was shrewd.

highest medal of honor. Without you, who knows what crisis our nation could have

burst into laughter, “I didn’t do it for the country; I just wanted to save you. As for the medal,

highest honor, coveted even among their own ranks, let

And Vivienne wasn’t interested!

plenty, Percival had his share, and she was tired of seeing them around. In a family, not everyone needs a medal of

would put on

one! I

retorted, “Scram!

“You’re picking up

“What did

backpedaled, “My

“You need time to recover and can’t leave the hospital just yet. I’ll