All Chapters of The Heart Never Forgets: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The words blurred as soon as I read them.ASK WHY YOUR MOTHER DIED FOR HIM.My breath caught in my throat. The hallway seemed to tilt. The lights suddenly felt too bright, the air too thin, and the distant echo of footfalls too loud, like a world spinning without me.I read the sentence again. And again. It didn’t change. It never would.My fingers shook as I folded the note, the paper crinkling like brittle bone. A part of me wanted to tear it to pieces, to pretend I’d never seen it. But another part, larger and heavier, knew it was too late.This wasn’t just another threat.This was personal.I slid the note into my pocket and forced myself to breathe. I had to move. If I stood still, panic would root itself so deep inside me that I’d never claw my way free.I left the hallway and stepped into the cold rain outside. The city looked washed out – gray sky, gray pavement, gray breath hanging in the air. Everything felt muted, as if even the weather was bracing for what came next.There

Daniel’s voice cut through the chaos.“Jane,” he said, low and urgent. “Look.”He pointed under the bed.My breath snagged.A small, dark device was taped beneath the wires. Red light blinking slowly. Almost rhythmic.The wires connecting to my father’s machines… weren’t ripped by human hands.They were cut. Clean. Deliberate.Timed.A trap.A cold wave rushed through me so fast my knees nearly buckled.“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Someone meant for this to happen.”Daniel crouched, eyes wide, jaw clenched in fury. “This wasn’t random. This wasn’t an accident. Someone planned this.”Planned to kill my father.Planned it while we were gone.Planned to push me further into fear, confusion, and doubt.“Who would…?” I started, but the words died on my tongue.Becau

The first thing I felt was the rain.Cold. Hard. Unforgiving.It splattered across my cheeks as I pushed through the building’s glass doors, barely able to see straight. One step onto the sidewalk and the downpour swallowed me whole.It felt almost deserved, like the sky was doing what everyone else was doing. Turning against me. Pushing me out.I didn’t care that I was soaked in seconds. I didn’t care that my heels slipped on the wet pavement. I just needed to get away, away from the boardroom, away from the red paint on my office window, away from all the accusing eyes that followed me like ghosts.“Jane!”Daniel’s voice cut through the storm, but I didn’t turn. My lungs were too tight, too full of shattered pieces to form words.“Jane, wait!”His footsteps splashed behind me. I kept walking. Faster. I didn’t know where I was going, only that standing still meant feeling the weight of everything collapsing at once.The rain hit harder, stinging my skin. I wrapped my arms around myse

The door shouldn’t have been locked, not from the outside, not by something metal and mechanized.Panic pressed hard against my ribs, sharp and breathless.I stepped back from the door, my palm sliding off the cold knob. My mind raced with every terrible possibility.Something is wrong. Something is wrong.My throat tightened around the words I couldn’t say aloud.Had Daniel done this?Had someone else gotten inside?Was I trapped on purpose?Was I in danger… again?A tremor ran through me as I whispered, “Daniel?” Nothing answered except the soft hum of the heater across the room.My breath came fast and uneven. I tried the handle again, twisting harder, forcing it down, and shoving my shoulder against the wood.It didn’t budge. It felt like the mechanism on the other side was reinforced, something mechanical holding it in place, not a simple deadbolt.My fingers were shaking so badly that I fumbled with the light switch even though the room was already lit. I paced once, twice, then

The email…“72 hours.”…that was all it said.It glowed on my phone like a countdown strapped to my chest, ticking, pulsing, and waiting to explode. My breath felt sharp, thin, like I was inhaling from a dying balloon.I didn’t sleep after that.Couldn’t.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the first message again: Your organization will fall in 72 hours. Now down to forty-eight. A timer no one else seemed to hear, but one that was screaming inside my skull.By the time morning came, I was dressed, exhausted, and already halfway to the office. The world outside my car window felt distorted – people laughing on sidewalks, couples sipping coffee, a man walking his dog.How could everyone be living normally when my life was collapsing molecule by molecule?When I stepped into the conference room, my board members were already waiting, tight-faced, stiff-backed, and uncomfortable. Daniel stood near the head of the table, and next to him was a woman I’d never seen before. Sharp suit. Sharpe