Heart Tales Novels & Stories

Andy’ POV With every step I took, the pain in my heart grew. It was like a fire, burning and consuming me from the inside out. It made my chest ache and made it hard to breathe. The tears that had been pooling in my eyes began to spill over, running down my cheeks. I couldn't stop them; I couldn't even try. I was beyond caring, beyond feeling. I just wanted the pain to end; it seemed like I was swallowed up by the darkness that surrounded me.

Stella was rushing toward me, a half-eaten sandwich in her hand, confusion and panic etched all over her face. “What happened?” she asked, eyes darting between me and the chaos inside. “He’s…he’s having another heart attack,” I managed, my voice barely a whisper. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around me, grounding me just enough to stop the shaking. I leaned into her, needing that hug more than I realized Minutes felt like hours. I could barely keep my cool, watching how hard the nurses and doctors were trying to keep him alive. Finally, the beeping slowed, Nate's heartbeat returned to normal. The flurry of movement also calmed down. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing from

“I’m going to need more than that, Harry.” He leaned in. “Hester posted these pictures to humiliate you. But what if we spin it? What if we turn it into a tragic love story?” I stared at him, my mind struggling to keep up. “A love story?” “Think about it,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “A woman, madly in love, so overwhelmed with emotion before her wedding that she collapses from exhaustion. But does she give up? No. She fights through it—because her love is stronger than any hardship.”

**** The Core Lab The heart of the fortress pulsed with energy. Blue lights flickered across metal walls. Glass capsules lined one side, and inside them were floated failed experiments. Twisted versions of Rose, Sophie, and others whose names Elena didn't even know but whose faces mirrored fragments of the child she had borne. Twisted limbs. Empty, vacant eyes. Mouths frozen mid-scream. One tapped faintly against the glass, as if it still hoped to be saved. Elena fought a wave of nausea as she staggered forward.

I looked over and saw Dorothy, the untouchable woman everyone admired, now slumped helplessly in a chair. She was covered in blood, tightly bound with Rob. Her eyes were red as she tried to scream at me and Savannah, but no words came out. That was when I noticed the two tongues lying at their feet. In Dorothy's eyes, I read utter despair, crushing regret, and a desperate plea for mercy. Huge tears rolled down her pale cheeks. She was begging me.

" I laughed. Of course they had no empathy until it happened to them. Just as the bodyguards were about to strike again, Scarlett pulled a sharp hairpin from her hair and held it to her own throat. "Let him go." Ursula was furious. "Stop this nonsense!" James' face went pale. He knew his daughter's personality. He looked at Seth on the ground, unable to swallow his anger. "How dare you lay hands on a member of the Hayes family!" Scarlett pressed the hairpin closer to her throat. Ursula panicked. "Scarlett!"

In the cold air, the heart wrapped in a sterile bag rolled out, tumbled twice, and stopped after hitting the base of a trash can. “No!” I screamed as I lunged toward it. My knees struck the floor, and my vision darkened. I ignored everything else. I held the heart in my hands as its temperature rose quickly. The preservation fluid leaked from the torn sterile bag. “It cannot be exposed to the air,” I whispered. I shivered and hugged the heart to my chest, wrapping it with my clothes as tears streamed down my face. Ariana stood nearby, clapped her hands, and shrugged. “You all saw that, right? What could she be hiding that is so important?”

"Are you actually okay? Not the version you're about to tell Damien so he doesn't worry more than he already is. The actual truth." I considered lying, the way I might have months earlier, before this family had taught me that honesty mattered more than convenient reassurance. "I was terrified," I admitted. "Not just of him being there. Of watching him fall apart in front of me and not knowing whether the person underneath all that unraveling was actually dangerous, or just drowning." "Both, probably," Sofia said. "Sometimes at the same time. I've watched grief and threat live in the same body more times than I'd like, working for this family."

"Lisa, please... it's not what you think. I need to see you. I need to explain. Please, baby, talk to me... I can't breathe without you." I ended the call and dialed again. And again. The same result. My jaw clenched as I paced my room, each second stretching out like a lifetime. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. My chest hurt. My hands still bled from earlier, the skin split open and raw, but I didn’t give a damn. Pain was all I had right now. And I welcomed it. I stormed out of the room, yanking the door open so violently it slammed against the wall. Every maid I passed jumped out of the way, their eyes wide with terror. I didn’t stop.