Novelas y relatos de When Her Heart Turned To Stone

I didn't buy her out of kindness. Sophia Reeves came with a price tag — her father's debt, cleared in full. She became my wife on paper, a calculated move in a game of power and business. Nothing more. I built my empire by keeping emotions out of every equation. I never lose control. I never let anyone close enough to matter. But Sophia refused to follow my rules. She didn't bow to my money. She didn't flinch at my coldness. Every wall I built, she saw straight through — not because she was trying to break me, but because she was simply everything I never knew I was missing. I thought owning her legally meant I had the upper hand. I was wrong. The night she walked out with her head held high and nothing but the clothes on her back, I realized the truth I'd spent months denying: Somewhere between the contracts and the cold silences — she hadn't just taken pieces of my carefully guarded heart. She had taken all of it. And I would burn everything I built to get her back.

I fell in love with a man I should never have touched—my brother-in-law, Lucas Zahn. The first time he came to our home with my sister, Quincy, they looked like the perfect couple. He smiled at me, held out a peace talisman bracelet, and said it would keep me safe. I wore it like it was the most precious thing in the world. When the old injury in my ankle flared up, he would scoop me into his arms and rush me to the hospital without a second thought. When thugs tried to harass me, he made them scatter with a single look, then spoke to me in a voice so gentle it made my heart tremble. I told myself I understood—that everything he did was only because I was Quincy’s younger sister. Even so, I clung to those rare moments when I could be near him. Until the night Lucas was drugged by an enemy, his life teetering on the edge. If no one acted, he would die. So, I acted. On that reckless, desperate night, my sister walked in. The sight struck her like a lightning bolt, and she collapsed, her weak heart seizing on the spot. What came next was madness. In a frenzy of rage and panic, Lucas tied me to an operating table. His hands—those hands I once longed to hold—cut open my chest and tore my heart out for her. “When the avalanche hit, Quincy nearly died saving me. I swore I’d treat her well for the rest of my life. That means loving her family, too. I never thought you’d be so shameless. “This is what you owe her!” He never knew that I was the one who saved him in that avalanche. So, I died in agony, my love carved out of me—literally. When my eyes opened again, I found myself back on the night he was drunk.

My wife, Ruth Quarmby, had a twenty-year-old male apprentice named Craig Smith. He secretly turned off a diver’s scuba tank underwater. This caused an accident. He then posted three posts on his social media feed. The first post said, [I played a little prank underwater by shutting off my instructor’s mother-in-law’s scuba tank. Now, she’s in a coma and heading into surgery. But hey, I’m innocent!] The second post said, [Toast one: from a broke mountain kid to a certified diver. All by myself! Toast two: I confessed my love to someone I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t cross that line. Toast three: here’s to every lonely night I suffered through.] The third post said, [Best instructor ever. Without her, who else would cover for my pranks?] I told my wife to pay for the surgery to save the person quickly. But in front of the operating room door, she told me solemnly to give up on the surgery. “Your mother is old and fragile. Saving her is a waste of resources. Even if she makes it out alive, she’ll be bedridden. She’ll wish she were dead. Just let her go.” She quickly signed the Refusal of Treatment form. Then, she threw the signed form in my face. I kept quiet. The person lying in the operating room was her own mother.

When it's time for us to say our vows during the wedding ceremony, Jessica Fletcher, my wife, leaves the stage just so she can confess her love to her first love, Benedict Olson. "Once upon a time, we had vowed to stay together for the rest of our lives, Benedict. It's unfortunate that we've missed out on the chance to do so in this lifetime. Would you be willing to stay with me in our next life, then?" Touched, Benedict pulls Jessica into his arms. Then, he turns to tell me, "Oliver, I've already given Jess to you in this lifetime, so you must take good care of her for me." Everyone gasps in shock, thinking that they'll soon witness two men fighting over the same woman. But I merely smile at the sight of Benedict and Jessica embracing each other tightly. Then, I take off my ring before passing it to Benedict. "Why wait till your next life to be together? Since you've already made a vow to stay together for eternity, I might as well grant your wish."

After a month-long business trip, I finished my work early and drove home through the night. I was eager to surprise my husband and son. However, I heard suggestive noises drifting from the master bedroom the moment I stepped inside my home. I was fuming. I stormed toward the door and was ready to catch them in the act. However, when I threw the door open, all I saw were two mini pigs on the bed. Their lower bodies were inextricably locked together. I moved closer to inspect this absurdity, but my son stopped me. “Mom, don’t go near them. I brought those pigs back. They’re covered in parasites.” I sighed in relief. I was about to laugh at my own paranoia when a glowing text suddenly flickered across my vision like a livestream comment. [That was close! Lily almost caught them. Luckily, David was smart enough to turn Sarah and himself into mini pigs!] [Toby is such a good boy. Lily won’t suspect a thing with him covering for them.] [Once David gets his hands on Lily’s million-dollar inheritance, he’ll divorce her and marry Sarah! Toby will love his new mom!] That was how I realized the pigs were my husband and his mistress. My own son was fully aware of the truth. Yet he was helping them lie to me. My anger turned into a laugh as I watched the two pigs continue their grotesque display. I pulled out my phone and called the hotel. “I have two mini pigs here. I want them spit-roasted!”

Three days after my death, Dominic Sharp receives a phone call asking him to identify my body. He has an arm wrapped around a woman's waist as he says indifferently, "I couldn't care less if she's dead. Call me once she's been cremated." My body is sent to the crematorium. After putting the ashes into an urn, an employee calls Dominic again. He clucks his tongue impatiently. "Alright, alright. I'll be there soon."

I've followed an Instagram account. While unremarkable, it showcases some pretty sweet and romantic content. The account details the daily life of the owner and her Alpha. When it's raining cats and dogs outside, they share a hot beverage in a cafe. After they leave the place, he tilts the umbrella slightly toward her. Also, when they look up at the moon while sitting side by side, the sight of their fingers grazing each other strums my heartstrings. The Alpha in the photos has never revealed his face, yet he gives off a familiar feeling to me. On the night before my and Xavier Lupine's mating ceremony takes place, the account has a new update. "This marks the end of our eight-year entanglement. From now onward, he's her fated Alpha. I'm just her best friend. "This account will go silent from here on. I wish my 'best friend' and the Alpha, who's rightfully mine, eternal happiness." The latest photo shows Xavier and me. But the thing is, I've never shown anyone that photo before.

When I see someone asking for help in an assignment related to the entrepreneur course on the college forum, I join the group chat using a student account. I even help refine several financial models and market strategies because of my job's nature. Everyone in the group chat is excited, to say the least. Every day, they keep calling me a genius while urging me to improve the details of the whole assignment. Two months later, the assignment's quality is very close to perfection. But the group chat suddenly goes silent. I scroll through the chat history out of curiosity, only to find out that the students have already created another group chat. "That senior isn't an official teammate of ours. Let's not tell her about us using this assignment for an upcoming competition." "Precisely! Our names are the only ones on the list! She'd better not steal the credit during tomorrow's finals!" "With one less person involved, we each get an additional tens of thousands of dollars' worth of rewards!" As I look at the screen, I just let out a soft chuckle. It appears that this isn't an assignment at all. But unfortunately for these students, I happen to be one of the judges sitting at the judging station tomorrow.

I'm seven months pregnant when my husband's close female friend, Suzy Ruffalo, invited us to a beach party. The sun is blazing, so I stay tucked under a parasol, quietly scrolling through my phone. Suddenly, Suzy wanders over and swings herself onto my husband's lap. "Hurry up and put the sunscreen on me! Don't just put it on my chest this time. I don't want to wake up tomorrow with my boobs two shades lighter." For a moment, I wonder if I've heard her wrong. My husband, Ted Cohen, casually picks up the sunscreen and starts rubbing it on her chest without hesitation. "Your boobs are tiny to begin with. I'm helping you to make it fairer so that it looks bigger." Suzy slaps his shoulder in annoyance. "How's that your business? You said my bikini area was darker the previous time." The rest of the guys started whistling. When Ted rubs the sunscreen just below her navel, he subconsciously glances at me. However, Suzy grabs his hand and shoves it lower. "Don't worry, Nina. He's touched this area so many times he's immune by now. It's just sunscreen. There's no need to get jealous over this, yeah?" I snort and look away to book a time for the divorce agreement. I will not be jealous, but they're both going to be on the receiving end of my slaps.

This is the seventh year of my arranged marriage to Frank Jackson, yet he is constantly seeing other women. Because of that, I become known in our circle as the ever-tolerant wife. Everyone is watching and waiting to see when a mistress will finally replace me. But when I unexpectedly get pregnant, I hear a furious voice screaming at me from my belly in my mind. "Mommy, are you some holy saint? In your past life, you kept tolerating everything. That was exactly why my scumbag dad's mistress drove you out and left you for dead on the streets! "That vile woman is practically trampling all over you. How can you not fight back? Slap her! While you're at it, give my fool of a dad a good slap, too! The more you tolerate, the more people push their luck. You need to stand up for yourself and divorce that scumbag!" I swallow nervously, but my hand is already itching to act. Maybe I should try doing what the baby says...