Echoes of a Stolen Heart

On my tenth birthday, my parents, the Don of the Falcone family and his wife, were murdered in a targeted hit. Because they took a sudden detour to pick up my custom birthday gift, they drove right into a rival syndicate's fatal ambush. My brother, Vincenzo, blamed my childish demands for their deaths. When Vincenzo took over as the new Don, his first act was to banish me to a remote convent to do hard labor. For eight whole years, he never visited me once. When I died on the operating table in the family hospital, he was standing guard right next door. He was watching his adopted sister, Lucia, get a heart transplant. He had saved her from a street shootout years ago. Just before I lost consciousness, I heard him comforting Lucia through the wall. He told her not to be afraid and promised to save her. The last words he ever said to me were, "Are you faking a cough or fainting this time? Do not bother me unless you are actually dead!" Twenty-four hours later, a nurse finally found my body lying in a pool of blood. No one ever came to claim me. What my brother didn't know was that my heart would keep beating inside Lucia's chest forever. Chapter 1 After my parents were killed when I was ten, the first thing my brother Vincenzo did as the new Don was banish me to a remote convent to do hard labor. Right before I died, he was standing guard over his adopted sister's heart transplant, telling me not to bother him unless I was actually dead. My dear brother, this time you got your wish. As my heart beats in Lucia's chest, I will never come back again. After I died, an invisible force tied my soul to Vincenzo. I watched him waiting outside the ICU. He stared blankly at Lucia's heart monitor through the glass. The twenty-four hours after the surgery were critical. His eyes were filled with worry as he muttered to himself, "Whether she makes it depends on the next twenty-four hours." Aldo, the family consigliere, walked up to him and patted his tense shoulder. "You've already given her the best doctors. The rest is up to God. If this can't save her, then it is in His hands." "By the way, you got a call during the surgery." As soon as he finished speaking, Aldo handed him the secure phone. Vincenzo unlocked the screen and frowned when he saw the name. There were seventeen missed calls in total, all from the Mother Superior of the convent. He was about to block the number when the Mother Superior called again. Aldo reminded him, "You should answer it. Calling so many times in a row means something might have happened to Eden at the convent." Hearing my name, Vincenzo's eyes instantly filled with absolute disgust and hatred. "Does she ever stop faking? Every time I visit the convent, she's perfectly healthy. She thinks she can play me for a fool. If she could be half as well-behaved as Lucia, I wouldn't have cut off her trust fund!" "Don't mention her in front of me, Aldo. Every time I hear her name, I remember how Mom and Dad were blown to pieces." Floating next to him as a ghost, my eyes filled with despair and bitterness. Vincenzo, I didn't lie to you, and I certainly wouldn't dare try to fool you. I just didn't want you to see me in so much pain, so I swallowed a handful of painkillers before you arrived. Ever since our parents died in that tragic hit, the brother who used to treat me like a princess changed the way he looked at me. Before that day, Vincenzo was my ultimate protector. He used to carry me on his shoulders, promising to shield his little Principessa from the darkness. But now, that warmth was completely gone. After the funeral, he led his men to wipe out the rival family's territory. During that brutal shootout, he saved Lucia. She had a heart defect and could die at any moment. My brother brought her back to the estate, got the best doctors for her, and sent me away to the convent. From that day on, the only Principessa in his eyes was Lucia. He wouldn't even spare a single glance for me. Even before I died, all he gave me were curses. But for this adopted sister he took in, he gave his all. To cure her illness, he assigned the family's best doctors entirely to her case. He scoured the black market for a matching heart. He didn't hesitate to break the rules, using the family's money and power to get it done. And I knew this was my only chance to earn his forgiveness. So, on the day of my diagnosis, I signed the donor papers. I only hoped that this heart, which would save his beloved sister, could wash away his eight years of hatred toward me. I hoped it could make him forgive me just this once. Tears fell from my eyes. Just before the call automatically hung up, Vincenzo finally answered. The Mother Superior's panicked voice came through: "Hello, is this Eden's emergency contact? She is..." Before she could finish, my brother coldly cut her off. "Don't talk to me about her. If she's dead, just let me know so I can collect the body." The Don who controlled an entire mafia empire only lost his temper when it came to me. Oh, wait. Lucia too. He seemed to think that saving Lucia could atone for our parents' deaths, and atone for his own sins as well. Aldo was my father's most trusted friend, someone who would have laid down his life for him. Seeing Vincenzo blinded by hate, he had to speak up. "It's been eight years. Eden wasn't the one who leaked their route! She's your own flesh and blood, the only sister you have left in this world!" But whenever someone brought this up, my brother would fly into a rage. "Aldo, I told you never to mention that traitor again! Tonight, I just want to stay here and make sure Lucia pulls through!" Aldo's face darkened, and he stopped talking. A trembling soldier nearby finally stepped forward. "Don, about the sit-down with the rival bosses tonight..." "Cancel everything. I'm going to watch her wake up right here. I won't step away for a second. If anything happens to her, I'll bury all of you with her." I smiled bitterly as I followed his gaze through the glass window. A deep sorrow welled up from the depths of my soul. I had my own heart taken out, but it still couldn't earn me a decent look from him. Lucia didn't have to do a single thing to make my brother drop the entire family business. The man who once treated the syndicate like a religion used to stay awake for three days straight just to collect a debt. But when it came to Lucia, he threw all his rules out the window. A moment later, Aldo's phone rang, and he answered it. Staring at the girl on the hospital bed, Vincenzo pressed the speaker button on Aldo's phone without asking. "Aldo, why is Eden's name on the hospital's critical surgery list? Did something happen to her?" Chapter 2 Hearing this, Vincenzo frowned even tighter, his patience running dry. He quickly glanced at the date on his phone, and his chest heaved. "Doesn't she know what today is? How dare she show up at the hospital? Tell her to get out. I don't want to see her!" Today was my eighteenth birthday, and also the eighth anniversary of our parents' murder. To punish me, my brother deliberately changed Lucia's birthday to today as well, celebrating it just for her. Aldo's voice turned cold and hard, carrying an unquestionable seriousness. "Vincenzo, this is the hospital's surgery schedule, not a visitor log! You'd better go find out what exactly happened to Eden yourself!" "Even if you don't believe it, just go take a look at the regular room she's staying in. This kid grew up in the convent and has too much pride. She wouldn't beg you for mercy even if she was dying in pain." Hearing my name twice in a row, my brother's patience completely snapped. "Ever since she was sent to the convent, how many games has she played? She fakes a terminal illness every day, only to be perfectly healthy every time I check on her. Do you think I'm stupid?" "She starves herself for sympathy, thinking I'm some soft-hearted saint? Someone who sold out her parents and lies through her teeth doesn't even deserve our last name! Stop talking about her!" Aldo stood in front of him, trembling with anger at his attitude. "If you won't ask, I'll go ask myself! Acting like this today, you will regret it later." "If the old Don is watching from heaven, he would never allow you to treat your own sister this way!" Vincenzo was equally angry, the rage in his eyes impossible to hide. "I won't admit that Eden is my sister. She doesn't deserve it. When Lucia wakes up, I will announce to the Commission that she is the only Principessa of this family." Aldo was left speechless. Suppressing his anger, he continued. "If your father were alive, the first one to take a bullet would be you, you blind fool!" "It's been eight years. You cut off her trust fund and made a kid do the hardest chores at the convent. Have you ever thought about how she survives? Have you ever looked at her hands, covered in calluses and scars?!" "Do you know how cruel you are? Do you have any honor left? Vincenzo, as a Don you might be ruthless, but as a man, you aren't even fit to shine your father's shoes!" The angry roars echoed in the dead silent hallway, but my brother's eyes turned red at the mention of that tragic memory. A moment later, he shouted, "Don't mention them to me! If Eden hadn't been so spoiled and insisted on taking a detour, they would never have driven right into an ambush! I will never forgive her as long as I live!" Those words pierced through my soul. Even without a physical body, I could still feel the pain. A sense of powerlessness washed over me from head to toe. I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, hugging my knees. I used to want to be like my brother, a mafia heir who would make our parents proud. I still remembered when I was seven, I scraped my knee. But the reality was that I did the hardest chores day and night at the convent. Hunger, cold, and endless torment finally gave me severe kidney failure three years ago. When I used my scarred hands to hand him the medical records, he didn't even glance at them. He just clicked his lighter, burned the papers to ashes, and threw them in my face. "Eden, do you think I'll forgive you just because you're sick like Lucia? Dream on. Try tricking me with a fake report again, and I'll make you disappear from this family forever." But those records clearly came from the family hospital. If he had just let his men check the internal system, he could have verified they were real. From that day on, I never mentioned the word pain in front of him again. It was just that every time I fainted at the convent, the Mother Superior would call him. I couldn't stop her. Brother, you'll never receive a call like that again. This time, I'm truly gone. Chapter 3 My body lay quietly on the cold operating table, my chest cut open, and my beating heart gone. My brother remained glued to the spot outside Lucia's door, not moving an inch. A nurse who was on her way to move a body rushed down the hallway. She was stopped by Vincenzo's cold voice. "You, come here and watch this window. Don't take your eyes off it for a second. I need to use the restroom." The nurse looked troubled. "But Don, the donor in the OR who just gave her heart..." Vincenzo irritably loosened his tie. "She saved my sister's life, and I will personally arrange her funeral. Just watch the room for now." After giving the order, he turned and walked toward the restroom. For some reason, his hands were actually shaking a little. He didn't return until half an hour later, arriving right when the hospital staff changed shifts. After the staff finished their shifts, they went to eat. The entire ICU area was left with only a few bodyguards. Meanwhile, my poorly stitched body was dumped in the freezing hallway outside the morgue like trash. No one remembered me. I had wanted to die with dignity, but I really looked awful right now. Not long after, a trusted soldier walked over quickly and handed him a covered food tray. "Don, this is the dessert and soup that Miss Lucia asked the kitchen to prepare for you before her surgery." Only then did Vincenzo's gaze shift away from the girl on the bed. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked down. He saw a note with a faint scent of perfume stuck to the tray. A bit of warmth finally appeared in his dark eyes. "She was still worrying about whether I ate before her surgery." The elegant handwriting on the note was quite long. He read it word for word, as if reading a sacred contract. By the end, his eyes actually watered. [Brother, the surgery should be over by now. Did you stay up until your eyes were red just to keep me company again? Please eat all of this. When I wake up, I'm going to make sure you eat on time every day. Your health is more important than anything.] He wiped his eyes with his thumb and actually stood there in the hallway, eating the dessert. Just as he threw the empty container in the trash, Aldo called again. "I sent you Eden's room number. Go take a look. I have other things to handle on my end." Those words were like a match, reigniting Vincenzo's anger. "Is she throwing another tantrum? Doesn't she know I'm busy today? Did she talk you into saying this? If something really happened to her, tell her to crawl over here and find me herself!" "Before Lucia opens her eyes, even if the sky falls, I won't let her out of my sight!" "Aldo, for the sake of your friendship with my father, I'll let this slide one last time. My biological sister only causes trouble for me when I'm busy. But my adopted sister remembered to send me food before going into surgery. She was worried I would go hungry. Do you still think Eden deserves to be the Principessa of this family?" The call ended with a violent hang-up. It was the first time since he took power that he had lost his temper so badly at this family elder. The irony was, I was the cause of it yet again. But it didn't matter anymore. Once he saw the empty hole in my chest, he wouldn't need to vent his rage on me ever again. Vincenzo glanced at the number on the screen, swiped his finger, and deleted the message. He turned around to smoke at the end of the hallway, passing by my old hospital room with no expression on his face. As he passed the closed door, he paused and glanced at it. I remembered when I had a fever at eight, Vincenzo stayed awake by my bed for two nights. Back then, my slightest cough sent him into a panic. Now, with undisguised contempt in his eyes, he bit his cigar and scoffed, "What a drama queen." My heart jumped into my throat. If he just pushed that door open right now, he would see the things I left by the bed, and he would know that I didn't lie to him this time. But he had no intention of pushing the door open at all. The disappointment piled up too high. I floated numbly in midair, left with nothing but the dead silence and bitterness of having my heart hollowed out. Chapter 4 I followed him to the corner of the hallway. His face was gloomy, and his breathing was heavy. His footsteps suddenly paused. A moment later, he turned around and took large strides toward my room. He kicked the door open and roared, "Eden, get out here!" Naturally, no one answered him. With a dark face, he stepped halfway in. His eyes only met a messy and empty hospital bed. Vincenzo, if you just took two more steps inside, you would see the things I left for you. I really didn't lie to you... And what happened to Mom and Dad had absolutely nothing to do with me... But his patience for me was always zero. After confirming I wasn't in bed, he didn't even want to take another look. He just turned and walked away. The loud slam of the door was deafening, even shattering a painting on the wall. As he walked back to the ICU, his anger only grew. He opened his phone, pulled me out of the blacklist, took a deep breath, and typed a message: "Eden, if you dare waste our time and money again, I'll have someone break your legs and throw you into the sea! You check into the hospital but disappear. At least put some effort into your acting!" "I expect you back at the convent for punishment immediately! It seems they haven't taught you a lesson. I'll give you one day. If you don't drag yourself back there by sunset tomorrow, I'll make you pay!" Floating behind him, I smiled bitterly. When I was nine, a boy pushed me. Vincenzo threatened to break his legs and throw him into the sea. The exact same threat he once used to protect me was now aimed at me. The moment the message was sent, the phone left next to my pillow on the hospital bed vibrated. The screen quickly went dark, and its owner would never touch it again. After sending the harsh words, Vincenzo turned and returned to the outside of Lucia's room, watching for any movement inside through the glass. Suddenly remembering something, he opened his messages and casually replied to Aldo. [I checked Eden's room. She's just putting on an act. She's not even there.] Just as the message was sent, Lucia's finger twitched on the other side of the glass. Vincenzo shuddered, pressing his whole body against the window with wide eyes, as if afraid he was seeing things. The numbers on the monitors were beeping steadily. He confirmed it wasn't an illusion. Lucia's condition was stable, and she was showing signs of waking up. A rush of joy hit him. He completely forgot about me and quickly called his men. He had them prepare some jewelry. He also told the chef to start making her favorite dessert and soup. He paced excitedly in the hallway, muttering to himself like a teenage boy, "What else does she want?" Suddenly, he smacked his forehead, as if remembering something huge. He ordered his guards to go to the family vault immediately and bring back a specific ring. It was the pigeon-blood ruby that only the family's Principessa could wear. Then he contacted his lawyer, demanding he immediately bring the paperwork to transfer the family's main casino to Lucia. Moving too fast, he bumped into the nurse who had taken care of me earlier. Seeing him, the nurse's eyes immediately lit up. "Don, your sister Eden, she..." Vincenzo waved his hand impatiently. Before she could finish, he rushed back outside the room. Through the glass, he met Lucia's slowly opening eyes. He let out a long breath, finally dropping his ruthless guard. Just then, his phone rang sharply at the worst possible time. After pressing the answer button, the trembling voice of the lead surgeon came through: "Don, the donor... your sister's body is still in the hallway unclaimed... Please come down to make the arrangements."（卡点位）