All Chapters of Hearing Her Heart Drove Him Mad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Elena tugged lightly on Luca’s sleeve, her voice soft enough to melt steel.“It’s fine… Let’s just go check the security room. It won’t take long.”At that moment, I actually believed seeing the cameras would clear my name.I was naïve.The guard in charge of the surveillance room didn’t even look up when he said,“Sorry, kids. Cameras on that hallway were down since this morning.”My mind blanked.Luca exhaled sharply, lifting one shoulder in a lazy shrug as if to say See? I knew it.He leaned casually against the railing in the crowded hallway, a smirk tugging at his lips.“Sofia Colombo, you really went all out to make Rossi look bad, didn’t you?”“Afraid she might somehow threaten your place in my eyes?”I hadn’t done anything—and yet, shame and helplessness washed over me in a sudden, suffocating wave.My nose burned.Tears blurred my vision.I hadn’t touched Elena’s keynote draft.I hadn’t even been near her desk.Yet humiliation wrapped around me like barbed wire.Luca and I had

Maybe seeing me hurt sparked a flicker of guilt in Luca.And then Luca dragged Elena away.Outside the academy gates, a familiar black car waited.The door opened.My mother stepped out—impeccably dressed, the signature presence of the Colombo Family’s Donna.“Sweetheart,” she said, reaching for me.“I’ve been working non-stop for months. It’s time I spent a day with my daughter.”The moment her arms wrapped around me, something inside me collapsed.“Mom,” I whispered, voice cracking, “I missed you.”She stroked my back gently.“Tell me, what happened? Who hurt you?”I straightened, my decision suddenly crystal clear.“Mom… after graduation, I don’t want to go to the U.S. with Luca anymore. I want to go to the U.K. Alone.”Her brows shot up.“You and Luca had a fight?”“If I told you he can’t tell right from wrong… would you believe me?”My mother didn’t hesitate.“Yes,” she said simply. “I trust you.”I threw my arms around her, overwhelmed, and told her everything.Every word.I file

I wanted to hit harder—make his face drag across the floor metaphorically—so I lifted my chin, leveled my gaze at him, and said, each syllable clean and deliberate:“If you’ve got no shame and your brain’s been damaged beyond repair, go sit in a corner. Stop acting cheap in public.”“I don’t want to see you. You exhaust me. Understand?”The moment those words left my mouth, the entire class looked at Luca Valenti differently.His face went tight, and he snapped, frustrated and embarrassed,“How was I supposed to know Elena was that kind of person? I was trying to be decent—help the ‘disadvantaged.’ What exactly did I do wrong?”“You really have to be this petty? Can’t you let anything go?”My brows lifted a fraction. My voice dropped to ice.“Can you stop barking here?”He was so furious he couldn’t speak.The past few days had been good for me—especially today.My parents had just returned to celebrate my eighteenth birthday.At home.My mom said it felt warmer than any place outside.