The Heart That Loved Me Was Never His

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### Chapter 1

Miss Quinn, we made a mistake The man who received your fianc's heart isn't Elliot Farley, the CEO of the Farley Group.

The doctor's words, heavy with apology, nearly took my legs out from under me.

Two days ago, I'd gotten our third-anniversary family portrait, and tucked inside it was a photo of my husband, Elliot Farley, naked in bed with another woman.

I cried the whole night through. But I told myself that the heart beating in his chest belonged to the man I loved. As long as he was alive, I could swallow any humiliation and go on loving him.

Now the doctor was telling me the heart wasn't his at all. The absurdity of it swallowed me whole, and everything inside me shattered.

I went straight up to the top floor of the Farley building with the divorce papers. The door to the CEO's office stood ajar, and from inside came the endless sounds of two bodies tangled together.

I drew a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Elliot instantly, reflexively, pulled the woman beneath him into his arms, then turned and roared at me,

What are you doing here? Get out!

The old me would have dropped to my knees and begged him to send that woman away, sobbing, pleading with him not to leave me.

But today, I only looked at the jagged scar over his heart, and something in my mind drifted.

Then I held out the divorce papers.

Sign them.

Four years ago, my fianc, Zachary Hughes, died in a car crash saving me. Before he passed, he told me he would donate his heart.

Serena, think of it as me still alive, still loving you somewhere else.

So I spent an entire year tracking down the donee, clung to Elliot Farley until I wore him down into marrying me, and then spent three years fawning over him like a dog.

Since that's the case, I should leave too.

Elliot came down off the sofa, pulling his pants on without any hurry, and only then glanced at the paper in my hand.

Divorce papers? He sneered. Serena Quinn, what game are you playing this time?

Before I could say anything, the woman on the sofa came over wearing his shirt, melting boneless against his chest, and looked me up and down with contempt.

Dressed like some old nun. No wonder Mr. Farley got sick of you. In bed you're probably no different from a dead fish, right?

She had a sweet, seductive face, and the teardrop mole below her right eye looked so much like Vivien Galloway, Elliot's one great love.

No wonder a man who was always so careful had, for once in his life, let himself be photographed like that with her, and even brought her into his office.

But Elliot's brows knit, and he flung her off.

Shut up. Since when do you get to speak here?

The woman was stunned. Mr. Farley

Go to my secretary, take a million, and disappear.

That familiar cruelty rose in his eyes. The woman shuddered all over and, forgetting even to change her clothes, bolted out.

Only then did Elliot pull the divorce papers from my hand, and without so much as a glance, tore them to shreds.

He looked back at me the way you'd look at a pet throwing a tantrum.

Go on, what do you want this time? My patience isn't unlimited.

My voice was low, but clear.

Elliot Farley, I just want a divorce.

Impatience flickered in his eyes. I've told you, what I want is an obedient little bird in a cage. Don't go dreaming about things that aren't yours.

I'm not

He cut me off with a cold laugh, pulled a cigarette from the drawer, and lit it.

Talk tough all you want. Let's see how long you can keep defying me.

He'd had heart surgery; his body was fragile. Smoking was out of the question, and I even kept strict control over his three meals a day.

But today, whether he was tangled up with another woman or blowing smoke right in front of me, none of it moved me.

Before, I'd done all of it so the heart of the man I loved could stay with me a little longer.

Now, none of it mattered.

On the way home, rain came down in torrents.

The air in the car was heavy, and neither of us said a word.

Halfway there, Elliot suddenly turned his head. I know you're jealous that I slept with another woman. Five days from now, I'll throw you a makeup party for our third anniversary.

I froze. There's no need

The phone at his waist buzzed. He answered, and a frantic voice came through. Mr. Farley, Miss Galloway's husband beat her, and threw her out of the house!

Elliot slammed on the brakes.

Caught off guard, I was nearly choked by the seatbelt. Before I could recover, his voice came in my ear, hard and final. Get out.

I stared at him, disbelieving. It's pouring out there!

The next second, he simply threw the door open and shoved me out.

I stumbled and fell to the ground, and he hit the gas and sped off.

The car had knocked me down. The downpour soaked me through in an instant, and I was so cold my bones were shaking.

The place was remote and desolate, and I walked for half an hour before I flagged down a car.

By the time I climbed in, I'd been frozen numb all over.

In my daze, my love's worried face swam before my eyes, and the tears I'd held back so long finally slid free.

I was born in the slums, lost my mother at three, and grew up under my father's fists.

At ten, I met Zachary Hughes, an orphan. He helped me flee that animal of a father, protected me as I grew, and said that when I was grown, he'd marry me.

But on the very day we went to get our marriage license, he wrapped his body around mine in the crash. I lost the love of my whole life forever.

I'd heard that the person who received a heart might carry traces of the donor's feelings.

To be a little closer to that heart, I fought through every hardship to get near Elliot Farley.

Back then, his one great love, Vivien Galloway, had married someone else, and he drank himself sick and raced cars day and night, until the accident that gave him a new heart.

I chased him shamelessly, and finally, under his parents' pressure to marry, he gave an impatient nod.

But he warned me, You'll want for nothing, luxury cars, jewelry. But the only one I love is Vivien.

I agreed without a second thought.

Over these years, when his heart condition flared, I drove through the night, over a thousand miles, to get his medicine, and stayed up sleepless to brew it and feed it to him.

When he made enemies, I went alone to face them down, kneeling a whole night to smooth things over for him.

At his important business dinners, I stood beside him for four hours in shoes that didn't fit, my heels rubbed raw and bloody, and I closed billions in deals for him.

I thought that if I gave everything to guard that heart, one day I could finally thaw him.

And now, I wiped the rain from my face and picked up my phone to call a friend who worked at an airline.

Book me a ticket to Los Angeles, five days from now.

### Chapter 2

"But he won't agree to a divorce. With the Farley family's power, there's no way you can get away, is there?"

My friend was worried, and she pushed me on it.

I'd already thought that far ahead. My voice stayed calm. "Five days from now, I'll leave in a way he'll never forget. For good."

At home I ran a hot shower, and my frozen body finally thawed out.

I'd barely stepped out of the bathroom when the trending topics online blew up.

Elliot Farley had hired the top legal team in the country to strip Vivien Galloway's ex-husband of everything he had.

And the smear stories that ex-husband had planted against her, before I could even tap them open, they vanished. Wiped clean in a second.

All of it was his doing.

He'd spared nothing to keep Vivien Galloway safe.

But back when I closed a multibillion-dollar deal for him, when some old man made it clear he wanted me to "spend the night," Elliot had been sitting right there, watching it happen without lifting a finger.

I handled it myself, and what I got in return wasn't sympathy. It was a line:

"You eat and drink well living at my side. I've been good enough to you. If you can't even handle something this small, then don't call yourself one of my people."

Right. I was never the person he held close to his heart. How could I dare hope he'd cradle me carefully in his palm the way he did her?

I laughed at myself, and started packing the things that mattered most.

When I first married in, I'd meant to guard this heart for the rest of my life, so I'd brought everything connected to Zachary Hughes with me.

After I packed those things and shipped them off to Los Angeles, I dragged my heavy, burning body into bed and collapsed.

In the middle of the night, someone seemed to slip a pill between my lips and feed me water, then pulled me into his arms.

I opened my eyes in a daze, and when I saw that face clearly, I pushed him away on instinct.

Elliot Farley, rejected for the first time, went still. "Didn't you say you couldn't sleep without listening to my heartbeat?"

After we married, every night I leaned against his chest with my ear pressed to his heart.

He'd asked why.

I said I liked hearing his heartbeat. He didn't understand, but he let me.

That habit lasted three years.

But now, I shook my head. "I don't need to anymore."

He sat up, displeased, his brows knitting tighter. "Still angry that I left you behind? You should understand. When Vivien is being bullied, I can't just stand by."

I only said quietly, "I understand. Anything else? If not, I'm going to sleep."

I'd spent so long meek and submissive at his side that this coldness was something he wasn't used to.

Elliot Farley was about to ask what was wrong with me when a figure slipped in at the door.

"Hi, Serena. Elliot and I are good friends. Sorry to intrude."

It was Vivien Galloway. She walked in smiling, her hand settling on Elliot Farley's shoulder. She called herself a friend, but it looked more like she was staking a claim.

My gaze went cold.

I was leaving, yes, but the provocation still grated.

Before I could say a word, Vivien Galloway's eyes had already reddened. She looked at Elliot Farley, all wounded. "Since Serena hates me, I'd better go. I don't want to stay here and get looked down on!"

And with that she turned and rushed out.

"Vivien has no one and nowhere to go. I'm the one who told her to move in. What's your problem?" Elliot Farley shot me a cold look and went after her.

Soon Vivien Galloway's sobbing drifted in from the hallway, along with his low reassurance. "I'm here. I'd like to see who dares chase you out."

Absurd.

I hadn't gotten out half a word, and he'd already decided it was my fault.

Whatever filter that heart had cast over him, it shattered completely then.

Early the next morning, I packed up every gift Elliot Farley had ever given me and donated them all to the children in the slums.

I was busy until the afternoon, and when I got home, I punched in the front-door code a few times, and every time it came up wrong.

The door suddenly opened from inside. Elliot Farley leaned against the frame. "Vivien has a bad memory. I changed the code to her birthday."

He watched me as he said it, as if waiting for me to blow up.

"Oh." I answered flatly. "Got it."

He pressed his thin lips into a line, that puzzled look on his face like he wanted to ask whether I really wasn't angry, but I walked past him into the house as if I hadn't noticed.

I had no interest in becoming part of his game to spoil her.

I climbed the stairs, and the sight in front of me froze me in place.

All my things had been thrown out into the hallway. Even my mother's memorial photo had been dropped on the floor, glass shattered everywhere.

My eyes went red in an instant. I spun around and shouted, "Why would you touch my mother's memorial photo?"

### Chapter 3

Elliot walked over, his voice cold.

"Vivien isn't well. I moved her into the master bedroom so she can rest properly."

Vivien pressed closer against him, her voice catching in her throat.

"I'm sorry, Serena. I didn't mean to. The second I came in I saw the memorial photo and I got so scared, that's why"

"Scared, and yet you still moved in?"

"Enough!" Elliot cut me off sharply. "It's one photo. Do you really have to keep dragging it out?"

My chest heaved. "One photo? That's the only thing my mother left me."

Something flickered across Elliot's face.

I turned my red-rimmed eyes away, picked up the photo and my bags, and walked off. That look of pure disappointment made something in Elliot's chest tighten for no reason he could name. "Where are you going? The guest room's empty!"

"I'll stay downstairs. Wouldn't want to upset Miss Galloway."

The words were barely out before the servants started whispering to each other in surprise. "But the only thing left downstairs is that tool room full of junk."

"That's right. And CEO Farley built that tool room himself, back then, for Miss Galloway."

She liked flowers, so he'd planted them for her by hand. After she left, for years Elliot never let anyone into that room. By now it was thick with dust.

I found myself suddenly curious to see what Elliot would decide.

But Vivien spoke first, tugging at his sleeve with a wounded look.

"It's fine. At most I'll just take a little more medicine to settle myself. Serena is the lady of the house, after all. I can't be so selfish."

Instead of arguing, Elliot ruled on it at once. "Vivien's easily frightened. Serena, clear out the tool room and stay there for now."

The corner of my mouth twitched.

After Zachary died, I developed panic disorder. I woke at the slightest thing, and had panic attacks more than once.

But apart from calling me an ambulance, Elliot never spared me a single word of concern.

Vivien mentioned it in passing and he was beside himself, rushing to have soundproof glass installed and the walls reinforced, even ordering the servants to go barefoot when they came upstairs.

As if she'd melt if he held her any less carefully.

So it turned out that when he loved someone, he could be this gentle too.

I gave the tool room a quick clean, barely clearing enough space to sleep.

Back when Zachary was alive, he even made the bed himself. He said my hands were meant to feel happiness, not do chores.

Later, to win Elliot's favor, I took on every dirty, exhausting job there was.

Before, I'd had hope in my heart, so it never felt that hard to bear. Now there was nothing in my chest but bitterness.

At least it was only for a few more days.

Toward evening, Elliot pushed the door open, glanced around with a frown, and tossed a formal dress at me.

"Put this on. You're coming to the family dinner with me."

At the dinner, his parents and relatives kept up a steady stream of small talk.

Eventually the conversation turned, and everyone's eyes settled on us. Bryce Farley spoke up abruptly. "You two have been married three years now. It's time you had a child."

"Exactly. The Farleys need an heir."

One of the female relatives looked at me. "Serena, is something wrong with you, physically? Medicine's advanced these days. Why not get some help from drugs and, you know, tools"

Elliot, who had said nothing all this time, suddenly cut in, irritation in his voice.

"I'm the one who's in no hurry."

The air froze. Paula Farley fixed me with a sharp stare. "Serena. Come to the study with me."

Elliot started to say something, but his phone rang. He glanced at it, and his expression shifted. He answered at once and walked out, his voice turning impossibly gentle. "Vivien, what's wrong?"

I followed Paula in silence. The moment we were in the study, she gave the order, cold as ice.

"Kneel."

I froze, and the bodyguard beside me suddenly kicked the back of my knee. Pain shot through me, and I dropped to the cold floor.

Paula looked down at me. "Elliot says he's in no hurry for a child, and you didn't even try to talk him out of it!"

She pulled out a black velvet box and threw it in front of me.

"These will help things along. From today on, you'll share his bed every night until you conceive."

The old me would have agreed, sweet and obliging.

Today I shook my head.

"I don't need them. And his heart is weak. He shouldn't be doing anything that strenuous, that often."

Paula's pupils shrank. "You dare talk back to me?"

I lifted my head, my gaze steady. "Your son doesn't want a child with me. You should be talking to him, not me."

Worried about his health, we'd shared a bed only a handful of times since the wedding.

And even on the rare occasions things went further, Elliot always made sure I took the morning-after pill straight away.

Now that I knew it wasn't Zachary's heart in his chest, there was even less chance I'd ever carry his child.

"You've completely lost your place!" Paula was shaking with fury. "Bring the whip!"

The bodyguard handed her a whip.

Crack.

The whip came down hard, and the searing pain tore a scream out of me.

I collapsed to the floor in agony, and through the window I could see Elliot still out in the garden on his phone, not once glancing this way.

There was a smile at the corner of his mouth the whole time. Clearly the call with Vivien was going well.

"Will you take them or not?!" "I won't."

Blood soaked through my clothes, and the last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was Elliot's smiling face, still on that call.

But I smiled too. This way, the two of us were even.

### Chapter 4

When I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed.

The director's deferential voice drifted in. "Mr. Farley, your wife's injuries are quite serious. Several of the lash marks may scar"

"Use the best medicine you have." Elliot's voice was cold and hard. "She cares about her looks. Don't leave a mark."

"Yes, yes. I'll see to it right away."

The director's footsteps faded off, and Elliot came in. Seeing my eyes open, he brushed the loose strands of hair from my forehead, brow faintly knit. "They just finished the dressings. Does it still hurt?"

My back burned like fire, every wound a reminder of what had happened.

But I forced it down. "Not much. If you have things to do, go on."

He didn't leave, though. He sat down at the edge of the bed, something complicated in his eyes. "My mother made things hard for you. Why didn't you call me?"

I thought of his back turned to me, absorbed in that phone call, and the corner of my mouth curved.

"You looked busy."

"I've already handled things with the family." His voice dropped low. "No one will pressure you to have a child anymore. And haven't you always wanted to go to Los Angeles? Once these next few days are over, I'll take you."

I wanted to travel to Los Angeles because it was where Zachary and I had met, where we had grown up.

Once I had let myself dream of going back there with the heart that beat inside Elliot's chest. But since he was the wrong man, that wish came undone too.

I lowered my eyes. "All right. Go and do what you need to."

Elliot's brow drew tighter. He couldn't understand why I kept urging him to go today. He was about to speak when a call came through in a rush.

"Mr. Farley, Miss Galloway scalded her hand with boiling water. Please come right away."

He shot to his feet and tossed out a hurried line as he left. "Vivien lost both her parents. I'm the only one she can rely on. I'll come see you later."

Watching him stride out and vanish through the door, I couldn't help a faint, bitter smile.

He only remembered that Vivien had no one. He'd forgotten I was alone in the world too.

All these years I'd fought to squeeze my way into his world, and in the end I hadn't earned even one honest word from him.

He didn't want to be my shelter. And now, I didn't need him to be.

For the next two days, Elliot didn't appear again. But everything he did showed up in real time on Vivien's Instagram.

He threw her a back-to-single party, hosting the country's elite for two nights of revelry, grander than our own wedding banquet had ever been.

She said she liked a place, and he spent a hundred million to buy her a seaside estate.

Every major outlet ran spread after spread of the two of them out together, the comment sections full of envy for the handsome man and his lovely match.

No one remembered that I was Elliot's lawfully wedded wife.

It didn't matter, though. In two more days, I would disappear for good.

Whoever he was inseparable from had nothing to do with me.

Two days later I was discharged, and Elliot actually showed up, in visibly good spirits. "Vivien arranged a discharge party for you. She invited quite a few friends."

I refused without a second's thought.

"There's no need. I don't want one."

In three years he had never once brought me into his circle. Now that I was leaving, there was even less reason to meet those friends of his.

But this time it was Vivien who'd suggested it, and Elliot insisted I go. I could only give in.

Before we left, I slipped into the bathroom and made a call.

"Change the location to the Farley club. Same time. We move tonight."

Elliot dressed me himself in a beautiful gown, and when we reached the club he suddenly gave a mysterious smile.

"I've got a surprise for you."

I stepped into the private room, wary, and several bottles of champagne popped open all at once. It startled me back two steps.

He caught me against him. "Don't be scared. Look."

I steadied my gaze. The room was set up beautifully, warm and elegant, and across the wall hung a banner that read:

"Happy Third Anniversary, Elliot Farley & Serena Quinn."

Something stirred in my chest, but there was not a trace of joy in my eyes.

Smiling, he opened a velvet box, and a sapphire ring appeared before me.

His eyes burned. "Serena, happy anniversary."

Years ago, when Zachary proposed, he had fastened a sapphire necklace around my neck with his own hands, and sapphires had become my favorite ever since.

Remembering the tenderness in his eyes, I smiled until mine went wet.

Under the lights, something passed through Elliot's eyes, faint and hard to catch, as if he'd been struck by how beautiful I looked.

"Serena, congratulations on getting out." Vivien came over, all smiles. "I felt terrible about smashing your photo before. Think of this party as my apology. I hope we can be good sisters from now on."

Just as she was making her false show of goodwill, Elliot's phone rang.

He turned and stepped out to the corridor to take it.

The next second, a bottle of iced champagne came down over my head.

Vivien threw aside the empty bottle, the smile gone, her face gone sharp and cruel. "You bitch. You're nothing but my stand-in, a tool for Elliot to work off his urges these past few years!"

### Chapter 5

Laughter and camera shutters filled the room as I wiped the wine off my face.

I opened my eyes to Vivien Galloway's taunting smile.

Malice in her stare, her lips shaping the words: serves you right.

"Don't think I don't know you want Elliot's child. You think if you carry his baby, he'll fall in love with you?"

"Dream on. Now that I'm back, one word from me and he'll throw you out."

I raised my hand, past my breaking point, but Vivien got there first, snatching up a shard of the broken bottle and dragging it hard across her own arm.

"Ah!"

Blood welled up, and she let out an agonized scream, tears forced into her eyes.

"Vivien, what happened to you?"

Elliot rushed over and shoved me aside.

The force slammed me hard against the floor, and in that instant countless slivers of glass pierced my hands and feet.

The whip wounds that hadn't healed split open again, and the pain blacked out my vision.

Elliot cradled Vivien against him and turned to roar at me:

"Vivien threw you a surprise party out of kindness, and this is what you do to her?"

Then his bloodshot eyes stopped cold the moment they took in the state of me.

Under the dim lights, my white dress was stained with wine.

My body was torn open everywhere, glass buried in the flesh, blood streaming out.

I forced out a trembling rasp: "Elliot, is this the surprise she prepared for me?"

Cold sweat drenched my face, the hatred in my eyes mixed with tears I couldn't stop, and it cut into his chest like a knife.

Elliot's face changed, his pupils shrank, and something he had never felt before seized hold of him.

"Vivien was just joking with you. I'll apologize on her behalf."

"Who are you to apologize for her?"

He pushed down the unease churning in him and reached out to help me up.

"Let me take you to the hospital first. As long as you're not angry, ask for anything you want."

I pushed his hand away and stared straight at him. "I want the brooch I gave you."

It was the wedding gift Zachary had once wanted most. I'd given it to Elliot because I had taken him for Zachary.

Elliot's hand went instinctively to the brooch on his suit, ready to refuse.

In that hesitation, a burst of screaming exploded behind him: "Fire! There's a fire!"

Flames swept in from the corridor, and in an instant the curtains, the sofa, the carpet were swallowed. Screams broke out everywhere, the crowd surging madly for the exits.

In the crush I was drained of all strength, and I looked at Elliot weakly.

"Elliot, I..."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Vivien broke into violent coughing that drowned out my voice. "Elliot, I'm so scared! Am I going to die?" Then her head lolled to the side and she crumpled softly down.

Elliot's hand, reaching for me, snapped back. "Vivien's frail, I have to save her first. Wait here, rescue's coming any second!"

He scooped Vivien up and bolted out without looking back.

I watched that unwavering back, my vision blurring with pain, my lips moving without a sound. Goodbye.

This fire was part of my escape plan, but now that the moment had come, I wasn't sure of anything.

A blazing beam crashed down from above, and I squeezed my eyes shut and called out the name I'd buried in my heart.

"Zachary..."

The flames I braced for never fell.

A team in full gear charged into the fire, tracking me down exactly by my phone's location.

The man at the front braced the beam for me, quickly fitted a breathing mask over my face, and swept me up into his arms.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here."

Through the mask, his voice was gentle. I couldn't make out his face, but I sensed a very deep tenderness hidden in those eyes.

Before I passed out I gripped his sleeve, still holding on to one thing. "The body to take my place?"

"Don't worry. It's all arranged."

He carried me out through the shattered window, a wall of flames behind us.

Safe in his arms, I let my eyes fall shut.

Elliot, that mistaken, absurd pursuit ends here.

Never again in this life.