All Chapters of Only After I Died Did They Regret It: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I was slipping in and out of consciousness. The glass in my back was about to take the last of my life.Derek had shoved me away with all his strength.I had nothing left. I lost my balance and hit the cold marble hallway floor.Something tore in my back with a dull, wet sound.The impact drove the glass in my back deeper into my organs."It hurts so much—"I curled up in a pool of blood. The surgical lights overhead blurred, and then everything went dark."Nurse..."A nurse at the station glanced at me, then looked down and went back to typing."Please, help me up. Get me a doctor..."No one answered. Some were touching up their makeup. The others turned away and put on headphones."Nurse...""Princess, get up and find yourself a seat in the waiting area!" one of them finally said, unable to hide her irritation."Dr. Hart made it crystal clear. Anyone who gives you special treatment because you're her daughter will be punished under the family rules!"Last week, Dr. James Allen gave y

After divorcing my gambler father, my mother raised me alone.Back then, we lived in the dirtiest alley in the slums. She worked three jobs but still came home to check my temperature and give me medicine.I'd been sickly since I was little, so my mother had given up a lot to care for me.Though she was a top surgeon, she spent several years working as an assistant at a community clinic.Only later did I realize she'd been waiting for her chance.Salvatore's wife was chronically ill. My mother's surgical skill got her recommended as the Costa family's private doctor.After that, she became Salvatore's secret lover.Don Salvatore already had a wife, so my mother had no official place at his side. She was chief surgeon only because he'd ordered it.The day she first put on the chief surgeon's white coat, she held me in front of the mirror for a long time. "Evelyn, we can never go back to the slums. Never."Derek, our neighbor, had promised since we were children that he'd always protect

The pressure in my chest vanished at once.So did the pain in my back, which had felt like someone carving away my flesh with a dull knife.My body felt as light as a feather.It doesn't hurt anymore.Dazed, I floated in midair and looked down.A woman who looked exactly like me lay on the cold operating table in the corner.She was alone in the shadows, facing the wall. Her skin was white as paper, her lips a lifeless purplish black.I stared at my body and managed a bitter smile.So this is what death feels like.Across the room, the VIP treatment area glowed with light.Chloe rested comfortably in Victoria's arms, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright.Victoria held Chloe's bandaged arm and stroked it gently."It's okay now, baby. Mommy did the stitches herself. There won't be a single scar!"Derek stood nearby, putting away the instruments. Every so often, he looked up at Chloe with tenderness in his eyes.The sight brought back painful memories. They had once looked at me that way.

The cold stiffness of my body shocked Victoria.All the color drained from her face. The arrogance in her eyes gave way to panic."Evelyn... don't play a joke like this..."She grabbed my shoulders and shook me wildly. My body slid off the narrow bed and fell to the floor.I landed on my back with a dull thud against the cold tiles.My face was ashen. My eyes were half-open, as if I hadn't been ready to die. Black blood stained the corner of my mouth."Aaaah!"Victoria clutched her head and screamed. Then her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.The scream finally brought Derek over.When he saw my stiff body on the floor, his knees buckled, and he fell hard beside me.He reached for my face, but the cold made him snatch his hand back. He sank to the floor, a ragged wheeze escaping his throat.The nurses rushed to revive Victoria.She woke with a gasp, scrambled over to Derek, and grabbed his collar."Well? Is she in shock? Do something! What did I teach you? CPR!"Derek's eyes were bloo

Outside the clinic, a paparazzo had come to take secret photos of the wounded mobsters and sell them.Through the air vents, he'd heard shocking words from inside: "murder," "fake report," "drained her blood."He immediately called his newsroom.As the reporters broke through the outer security, they ran into a police homicide unit investigating the gang shootout.The police captain looked at my body on the floor, then at the red critical-condition band on my wrist, and frowned."She's dead? An emergency nurse put that band on her, didn't they? Why wasn't she treated first?"Victoria stumbled toward him as if he were her last hope."Captain! What happened in my daughter's crash? The back seat was supposed to be the safest and best protected. How was she hurt this badly?"The captain pushed her away, took out a tablet, and played a video."Because the driver didn't care if she lived or died."Look at what you people did!"On the screen, Derek had one hand on the wheel and the other arou