Of Harrowed Hearts Novels & Stories

It lingered in the darkness but seemed to be getting worse with each step I took. Then I heard it. It was like death themselves was waiting to impale my heart with their scythe. When I saw them in the room through the ajar door, it felt like death's scythe ripped through my heart and pulled it out of my throat. The sight of Ash with her….

“Everything is coercion if you choose to see it that way.” My stomach turns, but something steadies in me too, a quiet rage, clean and bright. “I’m not choosing,” I say. “I’m describing.” Then, I play one of the recordings. Everett’s own voice fills the beige room. Smooth, warning, intimate in a way that makes my skin crawl: You’re not untouchable. The silence after is thick as cement. Everett’s expression falters. Not guilt, calculation. Ms. Hargrove exhales slowly. “Dr. Shaw, you understand how that could be perceived as threatening.”

"Madam, why did you not tell the Princess about Crown Prince Hyacinth?" Daniel asked. The moment he finished his sentence, Harriet looked into her mirror and saw herself wearing her silver armor. The breastplate was engraved with the image of a wolf on a rose-gold plate. The long-sleeved tunic was decorated with a red ribbon embroidered alongside Almandine jewels. 36 hours after the portal opened on that beach, Heinrich's Ravens fell from the sky. That unknowingly gave Harriet a heart attack, and she almost collapsed.

Soft gasps of horror and sharp intakes of breath followed the announcement I reached out numbly with bloody hands and closed Maggie's eyes that were still open even without the pupils showing And that was it; She was dead **** Harvey's POV "You're too late" The red-haired woman hissed and my breath caught in my throat when I realized she was holding a heart in her bloody hand No No way It couldn't be I turned to Greyson, watching while frozen with shock and horror as he was coughing up blood while clutching his chest; his chest that now had a gaping hole where his heart used to be

And the dream where I was bitten… I looked at the mirror and ran a hand on my collarbone. Isn’t it a warning? A premonition? While my thoughts ran in marathons, a knock on my door pulled me back to reality. I should get myself together. “Come in.” Harvey walked into my room wearing the maroon suit we bought a while ago. The black sleeves he wore underneath were barely buttoned up, revealing his bulky chest and the gold jewelry. He walked towards my vanity where I sat and handed a black box as small as the invitation card. “I didn’t have the chance to give you this when we separated. I know it took years, but I still want you to have this.”

Harlow had thrown a cushion at the wall so hard that it exploded into feathers. Rafael had rubbed his temples as he'd just discovered a betrayal in a telenovela. And Harlow, voice trembling with fury and disappointment, practically wailed with the pain of a man robbed of joy: "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I MISSED CAMILLA STABBING SOMEONE? THE ONE TIME - THE ONE SINGLE TIME - I COULD HAVE CHEERED FOR A CRIME???" He had paced the living room with the ferocity of a man on the verge of filing an emotional damage lawsuit.

I feel like I’m drowning, with no escape from this nightmare. The hallway is stifling, the low hum of hospital machines fills the air. I lean against the wall, running a hand through my disheveled hair, trying to pull myself together. My mind is a chaotic swirl of regret and sorrow. The image of Harper, lying so still, flashes endlessly in my thoughts.

Everything we had has been a lie, a whole load of lies. More tears welled up in my eyes, as I stared down at my feet. I clenched my fists, quickly drawing in breaths, hoping the feeling would pass. I felt a sudden ache in my chest and slowly rubbed my chest, trying to ease the ache in my heart and gulped in air once again. It was so hard for me to breathe. I tried to clear my throat but the twisted lump remained drawing my voice together.

The marble floor gleamed spotlessly, every trace of blood meticulously erased as if the earlier violence had never occurred. As the music in the hall began to play, a slight sense of unease crept into my heart. Mervin stood beside me, tears glistening in his eyes. "I never imagined I would live to see the day my son got married. With this, the Hoyle family legacy is finally secure." I couldn't help but laugh, my nervousness beginning to melt away. Suddenly, the double doors in front of us swung open.

Each sentence scraped something raw, vulnerable, unhealed. My throat locked. My breath wavered. I turned my face toward the window so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering. But one escaped. Then another. Quiet, hot, humiliating. I wiped them quickly, but my chest was already trembling. The air became thin as the pain bloomed like a bruise inside me. And finally, Finally— Something inside me snapped. “Stop the car,” I whispered. Damien didn’t answer. Didn’t slow down. “I said stop the car, Mr Hayes”, I repeated, louder, breath shaking.