LOVELORNED

HEARTMENDED (CHAPTER FOUR)

HEARTMENDED

Book 2 of the LOVELORNED Series

CHAPTER 4: STATEMENTS AND STITCHES

Caleb sent his statement at 11:47 PM.

Subject line: FOR MAYA ONLY

I wasn’t asleep. I never am.

> I, Caleb Reed, declare under penalty of perjury:

> Addison Vale typed 3 chapters in 2023. She did not write the plot, the characters, or the ending.

> The manuscript was abandoned after Lily’s death.

> Maya Hart revived it in 2025. Every word after Chapter 3 is hers.

> I take full responsibility for not disclosing this sooner.

>

It was short.

It was enough.

It was the first time he chose me out loud.

I forwarded it to Priya and Ms. R. Then I stared at the ceiling.

My phone lit up.

TikTok notification.

@BookTeaSpill posted a video

I shouldn’t have clicked.

I did.

A girl with red glasses and 2M followers.

“POV: Your fave author is getting sued?? LOVELORNED author Maya Hart allegedly stole her book from ex-girlfriend Addison Vale. Receipts in the comments. #BookDrama #WritingCommunity”

The comments were already a war zone.

“I KNEW it felt like 2 different voices”

“Leave Maya alone she’s been through enough”

“Addison deserves credit”

“Cancel Dreame”

10K views in 20 minutes.

My name. Trending.

I threw my phone. Kayla sat up.

“What?”

“I’m viral for the wrong reason,” I said.

By 8 AM, Dreame had sent me 40 emails.

By 9 AM, Caleb was at my door again.

This time with coffee. And the red umbrella.

“Did you see it?” he asked.

“Everyone saw it.”

He handed me the coffee. “We can’t respond yet. Priya said no statements to the public.”

“So we just let them drag me?”

“So we let the lawyers drag her.”

My phone buzed again.

Ms. R: Emergency meeting. 12PM. Bring everything.

The conference room was full this time.

Priya. Ms. R. Two other lawyers. And a PR woman named Tasha.

Tasha pulled up t****k on the big screen. 1.2M views now.

“Okay,” she said. “We have two options. Silence, or control the narrative.”

“Silence makes me look guilty,” I said.

“Exactly,” Tasha said. “So we do a live. You. Not Caleb. Just you. Calm. Honest. No legal details.”

My heart was in my throat. “I’ve never gone live.”

“You write for a living,” Priya said. “Talking is the same. Just without delete.”

Caleb looked at me. “You don’t have to.”

I looked back. “Yes I do. If I don’t speak, Addison will.”

3 PM.

Dreame set it up. Title: Talking with Maya - LOVELORNED

I sat in my dorm. Fairy lights on. Notebook in my lap.

0 viewers. 3 viewers. 100. 1K. 10K.

I hit “Go Live.”

“Hi,” I said. Voice shaky. “I’m Maya. I wrote LOVELORNED.”

Comments flew.

“We love you”

“Is it true??”

“Don’t cry”

“I’m not going to talk about the lawsuit,” I said. “Because my lawyers won’t let me. But I will say this: LOVELORNED started as grief. It became healing. Every word after Chapter 3 is mine. Lily’s letters are mine. The pain is mine. The hope is mine.”

I held up notebook #1.

“This is where it lives. Not in a contract. Here.”

The comments slowed.

“We believe you”

“Protect Maya”

“I’m not perfect,” I said. “I’m just a girl who writes at 2AM. And I’m not letting anyone take that away.”

I ended the live at 15 minutes.

Hands shaking.

Caleb texted immediately: You were incredible.

Then another text. Unknown number.

Unknown: Cute speech. See you in court. -A

That night I opened HEARTMENDED - Draft 1 again.

Word count: 1,240.

If this was going to be a public fight, then I was going to write every word of it myself.