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The painful, burning sensation is caused by rising stomach acid. It moves from your stomach, where the lining is resistant to its corrosive effects, up into your esophagus, the lining of which is not similarly protected. It can climb all the way from the bottom of the esophagus all the way up into the throat.
This causes pain, nausea and muscle tightness in the chest -- hence the feeling that your heart is heavy, or those sharp pains when you see your crush with someone else. So essentially, your brain sends a message to a nerve. The nerve responds by making your muscles tighten in your chest. It feels like your heart is heavier, or that you're in pain, or both. When you stop being sad, your brain stops sending the message.