The Contracted Hearts Novels & Stories

--- He throws himself on the leather couch on the left side of the room. "She's too normal by our standards, you'd think I was just looking for a woman who looked like Leticia."--- I sit back in my chair, opening my notebook. I put in a very important contract for the company. It has already been reviewed by my lawyers, but I like to read any contract. Many people have tried to cheat me, to make an overpriced contract that would hurt me, but it didn't happen because I always had this habit and always caught it.

and a lemon juice for herself. "'Heartbeat 141' is supposedly the owner's special cocktail. They say your heart rate reaches 141 when you're in passionate love. Try it," Zia clinked glasses with me and continued, "But for someone like me with congenital heart disease, I can never drink alcohol in this lifetime. Maybe I'm not suited for intense love either. What does being drunk feel like? I'm quite envious that you can live so freely." "Did you study medicine because of your heart condition?" I took a sip of the Heartbeat 141. It was strong, with a tropical fruit aroma, but quickly followed by a bitter taste.

The consent forms required two signatures. Sophia signed first. Her hand didn't shake, She had promised herself it wouldn't. Dr. Reyes was the pediatric cardiac surgeon. forties, deliberate, with the particular economy of movement that came from spending decades in operating rooms. She had arrived at 2 AM with a folder and a manner that left no space for softening what was inside it. Dilated cardiomyopathy. Progressive weakening of the heart muscle. Not congenital, not from a single cause, a slow deterioration that had been developing, Dr. Reyes explained, for some time. Long enough that there had been a window to catch it earlier. The window had passed.

she whispered silently. She never imagined being pregnant and being married to Felix Walton after what happened that night. Alright, Olivia thought to herself, "I will. After all, it’s a contract marriage, and I have no expectations. All I need is money to save my family and be free from my dad." "I will sign the contract," she said to Felix, her expression still heavy. She took the papers, hesitated for a while, and then signed the contract before she started thinking otherwise. Felix promised to send his driver to pick her up by 6 p.m. the following day after they both signed their contracts and confirmed their destinations. ********

But as the scent of her hair hit me—something soft, like vanilla and old books—I felt a jolt of something that wasn't in the contract. The "Cold Heart" was starting to thaw, and that was the most dangerous betrayal of all.

Damien asked, his own composure carefully maintained despite what I recognised, watching him closely, as genuine underlying tension. "There's a structural anomaly in your heart's left ventricle that wasn't present in your original scans, before your cardiac event," the doctor explained. "It's not necessarily concerning on its own, but combined with certain other markers, I want to rule out a specific genetic condition that can sometimes manifest following significant cardiac stress." The additional testing required nearly two weeks to complete, an agonising period of uncertain waiting that tested both of our considerable resilience, built across decades of navigating this family's various co

Maybe because she was watching him like he was a stock she hadn't decided to buy yet. He picked up the contract and skimmed. The basics hit him first: One-year marriage. Public appearances. No romantic entanglements outside the agreement. A $500,000 payout upon successful completion. He whistled low. "You really weren't kidding." "I don't have time to kid," she said, standing and walking to the window. Her heels clicked with that same lethal rhythm. "I have thirty days before the board forces me to hand over my company to a man who thinks women should fetch coffee, not run empires."

"We lost the Switzerland and America project." Jacob's response hit him like a ton of bricks, making his eyes widen in shock, and he struggled to catch his breath. "That's not possible!" He bellowed, his voice echoing through the office. His lips trembled with rage and disappointment. The project had been his ticket to millions, and he'd invested everything to secure it. Losing it would be a devastating blow; potentially bankrupting him. "Which company won the contract?" Archie ground out. "Azel Organization." Jacob replied, his voice somber.

“This concerns more than your shop, or even your personal life. It’s about… someone you care for, and a situation you might not be equipped to handle alone.” My stomach churned. Who was he talking about? I didn’t recognize him, and yet, there was something in his voice that made my heart pound faster — not fear, exactly, but a peculiar mix of apprehension and curiosity. He stepped closer and handed me a thick envelope. The embossed gold lettering on the cover read: “Contractual Agreement – Immediate Response Required.” I blinked at it. “I… I don’t understand,” I stammered. “Read it,” he said. “And decide quickly. You don’t have much time.”

The chaos wasn’t his to control anymore. He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. His chest still hurt a dull, familiar ache that pulsed under his ribs. The doctor had called it “stress-induced arrhythmia,” but Jayden knew it was more than that. It wasn’t just his heart that was failing, it was everything that had once made him who he was and plus the STD he had contracted from Only God knows.