Page 57 of His Hell Girl

Once his body is loaded in the car and I'm on my way back home, I have to be extra careful, so that the surprise isn't ruined for Sisi.

Going to the basement, I access a part that's separated from the rest. I hadn't wanted for Sisi to see it and get scared of me—again.

And so when I reach my blood room, I lay Michael on a table, quickly getting to work.

The easy part is cutting him open and getting the heart out. In fact, it takes me less than half an hour to cut through skin, open up his thoracic cavity and get the heart out. And because it's not my first rodeo, I even manage to do it without making a mess.

As soon as I have the heart removed, I drain it of blood and cauterize the arteries so they don't leak even more liquid later on.

Then, I take a scalpel and get to work, carving a special dedication to Sisi.

Compared to the harvesting part, getting my strokes right is much harder, since the muscle has striations and is overall uneven.

It takes me a few hours of concentration to make sure everything is perfect. When I'm done, it's already close to dawn, so I know I can't waste any time.

Getting a silver platter and scattering some rose petals around, I'm finally pleased with the overall appearance.

If I can't give her my own heart, I'll just give her the next best thing.

But what if she asks for mine?

What if she's not satisfied with a substitute? I mean, I'm sure I could get a heart transplant… Yes, that would work. I'd be alive to see her reaction, and she'd still get my heart.

Win-win.

Just to make sure I have everything covered, I call Maxim and ask him to book me up for a heart consultation.

Maybe then she'll see just how honest my intentions are.

Still, I hope this will be enough since a transplant would put me out of commission for a while, and there's too much to be done to waste any time.

I already missed a day of gifts, so right before she opens her door, I'm there, waiting.

"What's this?" she asks as I come face to face with her.

"I made you a little something," I say, trying to sound confident even though I'm already scared I'll offend her yet again.

"Again?" She raises an eyebrow, arms crossed over her chest as she waits for me to remove the lid off the platter.

"Well, I put more work into this. I didn't just buy it." I give her my signature smile, my fingers on the lid as I lift it, carefully watching for her expression.

She squints her eyes at the heart, and for a few seconds she's quiet.

And then she laughs.

"Vlad," she starts, barely able to speak in between spurts of laughter, "what is this?"

"A heart," I answer, a little unsure of myself.

Damn, but I thought she'd like it.

"You brought me a heart?" She raises her gaze to meet mine and I nod.

"It's in place for my heart since I couldn't bring that and, you know,actuallybringit," I try to explain, but she just keeps laughing.

"Vlad," she forces herself to keep a straight expression, "you carved a heart on a heart?" She bursts into laughter again.

I turn the heart toward me, trying to see what's so funny. I'd carved her name with an arrowhead and a three next to it since that's what people use to indicate love online.

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