She's Coming for Her Heart
I stared at the Rose Garden before me, my fingertips clenched white with tension.
Avril Atlante's heart must lie here.
My employees dared not slacken; shovels whipped through the earth, soil clinging to the rose roots as it was flung aside.
Red petals fell upon the mound of earth, stained like congealed blood.
I kicked aside the toppled bushes, my voice harsh with fury: "Keep digging! We'll turn this place upside down to find it!"
When Avril's grandmother was brought here, she was still murmuring to herself.
The old woman wore a thin cotton coat, her hair wild and tangled like dead grass.
I stepped forward, clasped her chin with a grip neither gentle nor harsh: "Tell me, where is Avril's heart?"
Her eyes were vacant, her gaze fixed on the distant rose bushes, endlessly repeating, "Avril, my Avril..."
I sneered coldly, gesturing toward the snow-covered field beyond the garden: "Speak now, or I'll throw you in there."
"Just like your granddaughter, frozen stiff into an ice block."
She trembled slightly but still could not utter a single complete word.
At that moment, Dr. Versta, the hospital president, rushed over, his face paler than the snow.
He grasped my arm, his voice urgent: "Mr. Scott, stop digging... You can't dig any deeper!"
I tore my hand away sharply, my knuckles paling from the strain. "Do you dare stop me?"
Dr. Versta staggered, pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase, and handed them to me with trembling hands: "Mr. Scott, please look... Miss Atlante and her mother have long been gone."
I fixed my gaze on the papers, refusing to accept them, my throat constricting: "What did you say?"
"Avril's mother May Atlante served as Miss Lincoln's drug trial subject last year," Dr. Versta's voice trembled, "The drug reaction was too intense; she suffered for three days and nights and did not survive."
"And what about Avril?" I cut him off; my heart was seized in a crushing grip.
Dr. Versta bowed his head even lower: "Miss Atlante... was dissolved by sulfuric acid six months ago; not a trace of bone remained at the scene."
"The only thing left... was her heart. She had registered as an organ donor beforehand, and now..."
I snatched the papers from him, my fingertips trembling fiercely.
The characters on the paper twisted and writhed like crawling worms; I couldn't decipher a single one.
"Impossible!" I screamed, hurling the papers violently to the ground. "This is Avril's cruel deception!"
"She must be hiding somewhere, watching me with scorn!"
Dr. Versta tried to speak, but the ruthless glare in my eyes silenced him.
I turned back to the Rose Garden, picked up the shovel from the ground, and began digging with my own hands.
Soil splattered across my suit, but I paid it no heed.
Avril Atlante, you cannot fool me.
Your heart is surely here.
I will find it—I will make you come out and face me.
When the phone rang, I was still overturning piles of earth in the Rose Garden.
It was the assistant's call, voice trembling with urgency: "Mr. Scott, Miss Lincoln is having a heart attack! She's being rushed to the hospital; her condition is critical!"
My heart sank sharply; I dropped the shovel and ran straight to the hospital.
Molly Lincoln can't be harmed.
She was the one who saved me eight years ago—the only person in this life I am bound to protect.
When I arrived at the hospital, the emergency room lights still burned bright.
The doctor hurried out, removing his mask. "Mr. Scott, Miss Lincoln urgently needs a heart transplant. We are already searching for a suitable donor, but time may not be on our side."
I seized the doctor's arm, my voice taut. "No matter the cost, no matter the means, we must find the right heart!"
The doctor sighed and handed me a document: "Actually... there is a match, but the donor information..."
I took the document, and when my gaze fell on the "donor" section, it felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen.
It read: Avril Atlante.
I thought I had misread it. I rubbed my eyes and looked again—still Avril.
"How could it be her?" My voice was hoarse. "She hadn't already..."
"This is the organ donation record Avril registered before her death," the nurse added beside me, "She specifically requested that if any direct relatives needed it, they should have priority."
Direct relative? What kind of direct relative is Molly?
My mind was a chaotic mess as I turned and walked toward the office.
I need some quiet.
In the office drawer, Avril's diary still lay.
I had accidentally brought it back when I packed up her things earlier.
I never dared open it, always feeling it was a tool she used to deceive me.
Yet now, compelled by some inexplicable force, I pulled the diary out.
The first page revealed her familiar handwriting, delicate and neat: "Today, Alvin gave me a fountain pen. He said he hopes I write more, so that in the future, it can be kept for our child to read."
My heart tightened as I continued flipping through.
Halfway through, a photograph slipped out.
It was a photo of Avril with an unfamiliar man; the two stood close, appearing intimate.
This was the evidence of infidelity Molly had shown me back then.
But the diary read, "Helped my cousin move to new house today. He insisted on taking a photo with me, saying it was to show our aunt. If Alvin saw it, he would surely get jealous again."
The photo slipped from my hand and fell to the floor.
So, that was her cousin.
I flipped further and saw a tear-stained page that said: "Alvin didn't believe me. He said the child I carried was illegitimate and demanded I abort it. I knelt on the ground begging him, but he called me disgusting. Molly stood beside him, looking at me with a smile."
"The child is gone, and it feels as though my heart has vanished with it. Alvin, when will you finally see who truly loves you?"
I clasped my chest, the pain stealing my breath.
The child I had cruelly aborted... was it mine?
At that moment, the office door swung open.
A wizard stepped in, named himself Tommy, clutching a compass, his face somber.
"Mr. Scott," he said in a low tone, "the heartbeat inside you is not your own."
I raised my eyes to him, my gaze heavy with doubt.
"Eight years ago, you were gravely injured in a car crash and needed a heart transplant," Tommy said slowly. "The one who saved you was not Molly Lincoln, but Avril Atlante."
"She possesses a Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart, capable of regeneration. Back then, she sacrificed her first heart to save you. Unfortunately, Molly assumed the identity of the lifesaving benefactor."
"What did you say?" I sprang to my feet, the chair clattering to the floor.
"The heart beating within you now is Avril's first heart," Tommy continued, "while her second heart, still unformed, was slain by Molly."
He withdrew a USB drive from his bag and handed it to me: "This contains footage of Molly torturing and murdering Avril and her mother."
With trembling hands, I took the USB drive and plugged it into the computer.
The image on the screen sent a chill coursing through my entire body.
Molly, clutching the sulfuric acid, stepped toward Avril with a cruel smile.
Avril's agonized scream pierced my eardrums.
And Avril's mother May, lying on the hospital bed, convulsing violently, with Molly standing beside her, smiling as she said, "Take it easy, your daughter will soon come to keep you company."
I shut off the computer, my stomach churning wildly, and rushed to the bathroom to vomit.
So it was true—the one I had been protecting all along was a monster.
I realized that I destroyed the one I loved most and our child with my own hands.
In that instant, my entire world shattered into ruin.
Clutching the videotape, I stormed into the ward.
Molly had just emerged from surgery, lying on the bed, her face pale and exquisitely fragile.
When she saw me enter, she offered a faint smile: "Alvin, you're here."
I stepped to her bedside and gripped her neck with such brutal force I nearly crushed it.
"It's you!" I screamed, my eyes bloodshot. "You killed Avril! You killed her mother!"
Molly's face flushed deep red as she gripped my arms, trying to push me away.
"Alvin... have you lost your mind?" She said with difficulty, "I didn't... it was Avril herself..."
"You still dare lie to me!" I tightened my grip. "I saw the footage! You dissolved her in sulfuric acid! You used her mother as a test subject!"
At that moment, the ward door was pushed open.
My father Baron Scott rushed in and grabbed me, "Alvin! What are you doing?"
"Dad!" I gazed at him, my eyes burning with fury, "Look at her! She's a demon! She killed Avril!"
But Baron stood protectively before Molly and said to me, "I won't let you hurt Molly!"
I froze, a dreadful premonition swelling in my chest.
"Why?" I asked, my voice shaking, "Dad, why are you standing up for her?"
Baron remained silent, his face darkening.
Tommy followed close behind, holding a peachwood sword, making several gestures into the air.
"Avril," Tommy said, "come out and let them witness the truth."
A cold wind swept in through the window, causing the ward's temperature to plummet.
I saw a vague silhouette slowly materialize beside the hospital bed.
It was Avril.
She wore a white dress; her face was pale, her eyes heavy with sorrow.
"Alvin," her voice was soft yet pierced my heart like a dagger, "do you know who Molly is?"
I looked at her, speechless.
"She was your father's lover," Avril continued, "They knew each other long before you did."
I suddenly looked at Baron; his head bowed in silent assent.
"Last year, I accidentally saw the chat records between your father and Molly and uncovered the secret," Avril's voice trembled with tears, "They feared I would reveal the truth, so they tried to silence me permanently."
"Molly said she wouldn't just kill me, but also steal your heart, so you would remember her forever."
"I was carrying your child. I wanted to tell you, but you didn't believe me. You even personally aborted our child..."
Avril's figure began to fade into transparency.
"Alvin, you not only killed me but were also involved with your father's lover..."
I couldn't catch the words that came after.
I felt the world spin wildly; a relentless buzzing filled my ears.
I destroyed my true love and stood alongside my father to guard the same woman.
I staggered backward and crashed into the wall.
My stomach churned violently, and I threw up a flood of bitter acid.
My spirit felt tethered by a fragile thread, ready to snap at any moment.
I gazed at Baron, at Molly, and at Avril's gradually vanishing form.
I feel like a joke.
A complete and utter joke.
I was transferred to another ward.
Not because I was ill, but because I had gone mad.
Every day, I see Avril's silhouette; she stands by the bedside, watching me in silence.
I try to grasp her, but every time I reach out, I only grasp at air.
Tommy came to see me, holding a piece of paper, which he placed on my headboard.
"Mr. Scott," he said, "Avril's second heart was slain before it could fully form."
"This caused both her hearts to begin to rot."
"Including the one inside your body."
I lowered my head and lifted my shirt.
On my chest was a dark red mark, already festering and emitting a foul stench.
The doctor came to see it, shaking his head, saying they could find no cause and could only helplessly watch the wound spread.
"This is Avril's curse," Tommy continued, "She said on her deathbed that she would make you witness your own flesh rotting before your eyes."
I touched the wound on my chest; the pain pierced to the bone.
But I did not feel pain—only overwhelming guilt.
It was I who betrayed Avril.
It was I who destroyed everything she held dear with my own hands.
I must atone.
That very night, while the nurse looked away, I stole a fruit knife.
I lay in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Avril's apparition appeared again; she stood by the window, watching me.
"Avril," I whispered, my voice hoarse, "I know I was wrong."
"I should never have doubted you, never have terminated our child, never have shielded that monster, Molly."
"I know that no matter what I do, I can never make amends."
"But I want to return your heart to you."
I grasped a knife, aiming it at the wound in my chest.
Drawing a deep breath, I thrust it sharply inward.
Blood poured out instantly, staining the sheets crimson.
I could feel that heart beating, right there in my palm.
It still beat, weakly, persistently.
"Avril," I lifted the heart toward her fading form, "I give it back to you..."
Avril's figure began to weep; she reached out as if to touch me.
I smiled faintly as my consciousness slipped away.
"I'm sorry... Avril..."
"If there is a next life... I will love you truly then..."
I collapsed onto the sickbed, blood pouring from my chest, spilling onto the floor like a river of crimson.
Voices echoed from outside—nurses screaming, doctors shouting.
But I no longer cared.
I saw Avril's silhouette gradually approach, bending to press a gentle kiss upon my forehead.
"Alvin," she whispered softly, "In the next life, I don't want to meet you."
My eyes slowly closed.
The last thing I saw was the Rose Garden outside the window.
The entire garden's roses were withering.
Withering like me, fading within this bloodstained world.
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