Everything After Survival
After I was diagnosed with cancer, my family stopped visiting, and the man I had been dating disappeared.
Even when I had almost given up on myself, only Dante Russo stayed.
He was my childhood friend, the boy who emptied his savings, sold his apartment, and spent ten years dragging me back from the edge of death.
By some miracle, I recovered. Soon after, I became pregnant with his child.
On the anniversary of our first kiss, I planned to tell him the news and ask when he was finally going to marry me. Instead, I found another woman's pregnancy report in his car.
When I confronted him, Dante only sighed.
“Serena De Luca is the Godfather’s daughter. She helped me secure the Russo family. If people find out she’s pregnant before marriage, her reputation will be ruined.”
“You’re the only one I love. I’ll hold a fake wedding with her first. Once the child’s situation is settled, we’ll get married immediately.”
At that moment, the pain was worse than any treatment I had survived.
I only wanted to ask him one thing.
What was love supposed to mean?
Later, while Dante and Serena stood at the altar, Serena’s parents forced me to have an abortion.
By the time Dante found out, I had already left.