The Seventh Heartbeat

“If it weren’t for her cruelty, how would I have ever met you, my little angel?

“That $300,000 bag that you had your eye on? I’ll buy it for you. Next time, pick an expensive one. I can afford it.”

Watching them, the pain from the pins and needles in my wrist seemed to pierce straight through my heart. The pain stifled me until I could not breathe.

I wrenched my hand free from Bryan’s unyielding grip.

I no longer wished to serve as a reference point for their love.

Just as I turned to leave, Jade deliberately stuck out her foot and tripped me.

“Oh my, Ms. Lewis, how clumsy of you!”

I fell to my knees, and the medical report scattered at Bryan’s feet.

Seeing me fall, Bryan’s face tightened, and he instinctively reached out to help me up.

Jade grabbed his hand and gasped, “What’s this?”

Bryan’s gaze was drawn to the report on the floor.

He picked it up and scanned it.

“Artificial heart replacement…”

A flash of anger shone on Bryan’s face.

He flung the medical report at me.

“Aria Lewis, I never imagined you’d stoop to such despicable tricks for money!

“You’re exactly the same as you were seven years ago. Everything revolves around money for you. Nothing matters to you except money!”

I stood up and stared at Bryan’s healthy physique.

I smiled softly as I silently picked up the report.

“Since you know I love money, Mr. Abbott, why don’t you lend me some?”

Jade was overcome with emotion, and tears streamed down her face. She sobbed as she grabbed the man’s sturdy arm.

Yet, her gaze toward me was filled with resentment and malice.

“Dear, maybe it’s true?

“Besides, it was Ms. Lewis who left you first, which was why you received that heart donated by a kind soul!

“Shouldn’t we help her?”

Her words seemed to remind Bryan of the fact that I had once abandoned him for money.

Bryan froze. Anger and hesitation shone on his face.

“A kind person’s heart shouldn’t go to someone so cruel and ungrateful. She doesn’t deserve this kindness!”

Bryan pulled Jade away and turned to leave. Jade continued to plead with him.

But when she glanced back at me, she smirked at me with venom in her eyes.

I picked up the medical file, which was covered in Bryan’s footprints.

The mechanical heart suddenly shuddered with a tremor that did not belong to it.

My pupils dilated as their receding figures blurred into the distance.

Much later, I wiped the blood trickling from my lips and stared at the words “Artificial Heart Replacement.”

My fingers traced the scar that had marked my chest for seven years.

Bryan still did not know that the heart beating within his chest was mine.

Seven years ago, we were unable to find a suitable heart in time, and Bryan’s body grew weaker day by day.

The technology for Artificial Heart Replacement was not fully developed. In theory, it could only sustain basic life functions.

There were still too many unknown risks to it.

After finding out that we were a perfect match, I donated my heart to him.

As for me, I received an artificial heart with a theoretical lifespan of seven years.

It was the cheapest model available.

Ever since, I felt sharp pains in my chest from time to time.

Coughing up blood and sudden waves of weakness had become a part of everyday life.

Money was tight, so the surgery to replace the artificial heart with a newer model kept getting delayed.

Thus, seven years had passed.

The artificial heart within my chest delivered its seventh wave of agony.

I knew it had long since been pushed to its limit.

…

After leaving the hospital, I returned to my rental apartment.

The room was not very large. It was damp and humid, and the winter months were especially cold.

In summer, it was unbearably hot. But at least it was cheap.

Bryan and I had rented this place together, where we once dreamed of our future.

After learning that my heart was a match, I pretended to be all about money and status and pulled out the divorce papers to end things with Bryan.