All Chapters of His Artificial Heart Beats With Mine: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The treadmill went from a slow walk to a sprint in three seconds. Two security guards grabbed me by the arms and pinned me down against the handrails. The spots on my chest where they'd just ripped off the monitoring pads still burned."Turn it up," Mandy Sutherland said.She stood outside the glass wall, her arms crossed as she watched us.A nurse was beside her. Her face went pale, and she said, "Ms. Sutherland, she can't do intense exercise—""The Ziegler family spends nine figures a year to keep that heart beating. I want to see how precious it really is," Mandy said nonchalantly.The speed jumped to ten. My knees smashed against the edge of the belt, and my vision went black around the edges.The alarms blared. [Abnormal heart rate detected. Primary frequency unstable. Remote sync risk rising.]I grabbed hold of the handrails so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My words came out in chopped bursts between ragged breaths."Don't… don't shut down… the sync line…"Mandy

Chapter 2

The regular observation room was on the third floor of the rehab center. There were no soundproof walls or temperature control.I curled up on the hospital bed. My fingers dug into the sheets, my chest feeling so tight that I couldn't make a sound.The door flew open. Quentin Stark rushed in, his white coat hanging open, every button undone. He was Aiden's attending physician and the only person in the entire center who knew the whole truth.The moment he saw the empty patches on my chest where the monitoring pads were supposed to be, his face went completely white. He spat, "Who said you could rip off her monitoring pads?"Mandy was sitting on the couch, flipping through my chart. She didn't even look up."Dr. Stark, I'm the acting director of this center." She pushed a board authorization letter onto the table. "While Aiden is away, this facility answers to me."Quentin didn't spare it a glance. He came straight toward me, saying, "Geraldine can't stay here."He reached out to

Chapter 3

By the time I was wheeled into the exam room, my fingers were shaking uncontrollably. The electrode pads were ice-cold against my skin; the sharp chill reached my bones. The lines on the monitor were still a mess.Quentin was restrained out in the hallway. His white coat was smeared with dust, and his gaze was fixed on me. "Geraldine, hang in there."I tried to force a smile but couldn't manage it. It felt like a thousand thin wires were cinched around my chest, tightening ring by ring.The rehab center's director rushed in, his hair completely rumpled. He shoved a tablet in front of Mandy. On the screen were two sets of data. One was my own heart-rate waveform, and the other was the remote output from Aiden's artificial heart. The timestamps, the peaks, the instability pattern—every last detail was a perfect match. He said shakily, "From the moment you removed Geraldine's monitoring pads, Mr. Ziegler's readings started going haywire. When you cut off the backup server, that's whe

Chapter 4

By the time Mandy convened a hearing, I could no longer stand. I was brought into the rehab center's first-floor conference hall in a wheelchair.Every seat was filled. Board representatives, legal counsel, the head nurse, the head of security, and even a compliance consultant they'd rushed in at the last minute were present. Their eyes were filled with pity, scrutiny, and disgust as they landed on me.Mandy stood in front of the main screen, looking perfectly made up and without a single wrinkle in her dress. Meanwhile, my hospital gown was soaked with cold sweat. The skin beneath my collarbone was raw and inflamed from the monitoring pads being ripped off and reapplied over and over.She turned on the screen."Thank you all for coming. We're here today to deal with an ugly scandal that's been festering in this rehab center for years," she said. So-called rebate agreements and offshore transfer records flashed onto the display.Her voice was clear and steady. "Geraldine Lane,

Chapter 5

The conference room fell deathly silent. Mandy looked down at Aiden collapsed at her feet, the color draining from her face."Aiden?" She crouched down and reached out to him.However, the moment her fingers brushed his shoulder, Sam, who'd just rushed over, shoved her away. "Don't touch Mr. Ziegler!"Sam was still in his flight jacket, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he'd sprinted all the way from the airport.Several doctors charged into the room and lifted Aiden onto a mobile crash cart. The moment they hooked him up to the cardiac monitor, the screen's alarms started blaring.[Artificial heart calibration failed. Primary frequency source lost. Shutdown risk: 97%.]Mandy shrieked, "Save him! What are you standing around for? None of you are walking out of here alive if anything happens to Aiden!"Quentin finally tore away from security and rushed to my side. Blood was still seeping from the incision beneath my collarbone. The synchronization chip that had been imp

Chapter 6

Aiden and I were rushed into the ER on the top floor at the same time. The two operation rooms were only separated by a pane of glass. I was on the left, and he was on the right.Quentin stopped my bleeding, cleaned the wound, and tried to reconnect the synchronization chip that had been violently ripped out of me. However, the chip interface was already damaged, and the primary frequency signal kept cutting in and out.My heart rate was like a torn thread. No matter what they did, it wouldn't return to its former steady rhythm. On the other side, the artificial heart in Aiden's chest set off alarms over and over. The doctors kept adjusting its parameters, but they still couldn't stabilize it.Helena stood outside the glass wall, her face whiter than the ceiling lights. Her voice was low and heavy when she spoke. "Quentin, how exactly are Aiden and Geraldine linked?"Quentin's hands never stopped moving. His forehead was slick with sweat. He knew that at this point, there was no wa

Chapter 7

Early the next morning, the rehab center's driveway was jammed with cars.Gregory Sutherland walked into the conference room with his lawyer, several board members, and a few regulatory representatives in tow. He was Mandy's father, chairman of Sutherland Healthcare, and a longtime partner of the Ziegler family.The moment he stepped inside, he saw Mandy, who was being watched by security. Her eyes were swollen and red, and she looked at him like he was her only hope. "Dad…"Gregory didn't answer her. Instead, he turned to Helena and said, "Mrs. Ziegler Senior, I heard about Aiden being in critical condition."His tone carried appropriate grief, but his demeanor made it clear he was there to cause trouble. "The Sutherland and Ziegler families are about to be joined in marriage. I can't just sit back and ignore this."Helena sat in the seat of honor. She hadn't slept all night, and her face was ashen. "What are you trying to say?"Gregory set a file down on the table. "I want the

Chapter 8

Gregory finally started to panic once all the exits of the rehab center were sealed. He spat, "Aiden, what do you mean by this?"Aiden leaned back in his seat. He was still deathly pale, but his fingers were steady as he played the first surveillance clip.On the screen, Mandy ripped the monitoring patches off my chest and shoved me onto the treadmill. On the right side of the screen, the data from Aiden's artificial heart appeared in real time. The moment my heart rate first went out of control was the first time his artificial heart set off an alarm."Strike one," Aiden said coolly.The color drained from Mandy's lips.The second clip started to play. Mandy ordered someone to cut off the backup server on the top floor. On the right side of the screen, Aiden suddenly collapsed in a conference room in Iropa."Strike two."In the third clip, Mandy personally administered the stimulant to me. On the right side of the screen, the medical equipment in the emergency bay on the privat

Chapter 9

I slept for three whole days. When I woke up, the monitoring room on the top floor was so quiet that it felt forgotten by the world. The temperature control was back on, and the curtains were half drawn. The sunlight filtering through had softened into a pale gold.I flexed my fingers. A sharp sting pricked the back of my hand where the IV went in. The spot beneath my collarbone hurt even more, like someone had gouged out a piece of flesh rather than just making an incision.I turned my head slightly to see Aiden sitting by the bed. The dark circles under his eyes were heavy, and he didn't look much better than I did. Under the front of his dress shirt, I could still faintly see the marks left by the defibrillator pads.When he realized I was awake, he was dazed for a second. Then, he reached out and pressed the call button."Does it hurt?" His voice was hoarse and raw.I wanted to say it didn't, but the moment I opened my mouth, the pull along my collarbone sent a wave of tinglin

Chapter 10

Aiden called off all plans for a marriage alliance between the Ziegler and Sutherland families.The day the news was announced, Ziegler Group's stock price showed a brief fluctuation. One of the board members was displeased, saying that it was irrational of Aiden to destroy a long-term strategic partnership over a woman.This was said during a video conference with Aiden in it. After listening to the board member's passionate statement, he merely looked up and asked, "If not for Geraldine, do you think you'd be attending this conference now or my funeral?"The conference room instantly fell silent. The very next day, that board member wisely submitted his resignation.The rehab center went through a total overhaul. The top floor was no longer a sealed, suffocating monitoring cage. Aiden had half the walls torn down and replaced with floor-to-ceiling windows.For the first time, I watched a full sunrise from the top floor of the rehab center. Golden light poured through the glass a

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