All Chapters of Everything After Survival: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Before dinner, I went to his office to find him. Dante had left his car unlocked in the private garage, and when I opened the passenger door, a cream-colored folder slid out from the glove compartment.At first, I thought it was mine.Then I saw the name on the first page.Serena De Luca.Pregnancy confirmation. Twelve weeks.My fingers tightened around the paper until the edges bent.By the time I reached the top floor, Dante’s office doors were half open. Inside, Serena stood before a full-length mirror while a stylist pinned a veil into her dark hair. Dante stood behind her, adjusting the diamond clasp at the back of her neck with a carefulness I knew too well.Serena saw me first.Her eyes widened for half a second, then softened into something almost pitiful.“Aria.”Dante turned sharply. His gaze dropped to the pregnancy report in my hand, and the color drained from his face. He crossed the room at once and caught my wrist.“Listen to me first.”I looked down at his hand.“Let go

I had no one left.After I was diagnosed with cancer, my relatives stopped visiting, my parents slowly accepted that I might not survive, and the man I had been dating disappeared. Dante was the only person who stayed.He sold what little he had, paid for my treatment, and made me believe that love could survive anything.That belief had carried me through ten years of pain.During treatment, I kept working remotely under Professor Evelyn Shaw. Her closed medical research project accepted only a few doctoral candidates each year. She had asked me more than once to join after my recovery, but I kept refusing because I did not want to leave Dante.Now it was fading inside his own house.That night, Dante stayed in my room. I did not refuse him, though the faint rose perfume on his shirt made me nauseous.The next morning, he kissed my forehead, looking almost relieved.“The two most important women in my life can finally get along,” he said. “Thank you, Aria. I’ll make it up to you.”I s

I was half-collapsed in the doorway of the old medical room, my wrists held by De Luca guards, my mouth taped shut. A dark stain had spread down my dress, and a warm stream of blood was running between my legs.The smile disappeared from Dante’s face.For a few seconds, no one moved.Then he rushed forward and tore the tape from my mouth.“Aria?” His voice cracked. “What happened?”I tried to answer, but pain bent me double. The private doctor stood behind me with his case open. Lucia De Luca held the consent form, and Don De Luca’s expression remained cold, as if this were only an inconvenience before a wedding.Dante looked from the blood to the doctor, then to Lucia.“What did you do?”Lucia recovered first.“We did what you were too weak to do. This woman and her child would have destroyed Serena’s wedding.”Dante’s face went white.“That child is mine.”The room went silent.Serena’s hand flew to her stomach. “Dante, don’t say that. Not now.”He did not look at her. He lifted me i

The Russo villa looked as if nothing had happened.Gold ribbons wound around the staircase. Champagne crates stood beside the dining room, and servants carried trays through the hall for Serena’s pregnancy reception. The old medical room had been closed, its door locked, as if shutting it could erase the blood.Dante’s mother stood near the staircase with Lucia De Luca. When she saw me, her face tightened, but she pointed toward two suitcases by the service entrance.“Your things are there.”The institute’s legal director stepped forward.“Miss Vale is under institutional protection. Anything said to her today will be added to the complaint.”Lucia’s eyes chilled.“This is a Russo house. Today concerns my daughter’s future. Aria’s condition has nothing to do with Serena.”Dante’s mother said coldly, “If she had known her place, none of this would have happened. Dante paid for her illness and gave her shelter for years. Instead of being grateful, she tried to ruin an alliance between tw

The Commission hearing was held in a private hall downtown.I arrived with Professor Shaw, the institute legal director, and two security officers. I wore a dark green dress beneath my coat, not for beauty, but because I wanted to remember that I had entered Dante’s house bleeding and left this time standing.Before we reached the hearing room, Serena appeared near the elevator.She looked thinner than before. There were no De Luca guards behind her, no silk dress, no soft smile polished for cameras. The institute security officers stopped her before she could come close.“Aria, please,” she said. “I know I was wrong. Punish me however you want, but don’t destroy Dante. Russo Holdings is everything to him.”I looked at her for a moment.The hatred I once had for her had cooled into something almost useless.“You are still asking me to pay for what you chose.”Her lips trembled.“I’m begging you.”“No,” I said. “You’re negotiating with something you no longer have.”The doors opened beh