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.

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.

Beneath the report was a wedding itinerary printed on thick ivory paper. The De Luca estate. A chapel by the east garden. A guest list filled with family bosses, Commission members, and names I had only heard whispered by Dante’s men.

The groom’s name was Dante Russo.

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.”

His fingers loosened, but he did not step away.

“Serena’s child isn’t mine. It won’t change how I feel about you.”

How could it not change anything?

I had imagined many explanations on the elevator ride up. That one still hit harder than I expected.

Serena lowered her head, one hand resting over her stomach.

“Dante, you promised no one would know. You promised you would protect me.”

Dante’s jaw tightened.

“Aria deserves the truth.”

“Then tell her all of it,” Serena said softly. “Tell her why you have to stand beside me at the altar, and why my child needs your name.”

For a moment, the room seemed to tilt.

I looked at Dante.

“What does she mean?”

Dante closed his eyes briefly.

“Serena is Don De Luca’s daughter. Her father helped me secure the Russo family when half the old captains wanted me gone. If the Commission learns she’s pregnant before marriage, the De Lucas will be humiliated. Their enemies will use it against them.”

“So you’ll marry her.”

“It’s a fake wedding.”

“And claim her child.”

“Only in name.”

My laugh came out thin.

“And mine?”

He froze.

I took the pregnancy report from my purse and placed it on his desk.

“Yes, Dante. I’m pregnant too.”

His gaze dropped to the report, and real panic crossed his face.

“Aria...”

“Are you asking me to hide your own child so another woman can keep her reputation?”

“It won’t be forever.” He stepped closer, voice low and urgent. “I’ll stand with Serena for the ceremony, calm the De Lucas, and settle the child’s registration. Once this passes, I’ll marry you properly. You know I love you.”

Serena gave a small, wounded smile.

“Aria, Dante spent ten years saving you. Is helping him once really so much to ask?”

The room fell quiet.

That was her skill. She never needed to raise her voice; she only had to place the blade where it hurt.

I waited for Dante to stop her.

He did not.

Instead, he said, “I know this is unfair, but I need you to endure it for a little while.”

Endure.

For ten years, I had endured treatment after treatment, the smell of disinfectant, and pain that made sleep impossible. I had endured because Dante held my hand and told me there would be a life after all of it.

Now that life had finally come, he wanted me to hide it.

“If you truly love me,” I said, “why is my child the one who has to disappear?”

Dante’s expression darkened.

“Don’t make it sound like that.”

“But that is what you’re doing.”

A few guards and staff members had started looking toward the office. Dante noticed and lowered his voice.

“We’ll talk at home.”

He guided me out through the private elevator. Serena followed us without being asked.

When we reached the car, she opened the front passenger door and sat down naturally. A silk shawl embroidered with her initials was folded on the seat, and a bottle of prenatal vitamins rested in the cup holder.

Serena glanced back at me.

“Dante keeps these here for me. He worries too much.”

“Enough,” Dante said.

She touched her stomach.

“Don’t scold me. The baby will feel it.”

His expression softened despite himself.

“It’s barely three months old. It can’t feel anything yet.”

I sat in the back and said nothing.

On the way home, Dante kept explaining.

“Serena’s father is ruthless. If I don’t step in, he may force her to end the pregnancy. She wants to keep the child.”

“Then let the De Lucas handle their own scandal. Why does my child’s father have to become hers?”

Serena’s eyes reddened at once.

“Dante...”

He immediately turned toward her.

“No one will force you. I promised I would protect you and the baby.”

Then his gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, and his voice turned cold.

“Aria, don’t be cruel. I already refused the De Lucas once because I chose you. This time, I can’t abandon Serena too.”

Cruel.

I had never thought that would be Dante’s word for me.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a slow breath.

“Then get rid of the child in my belly.”

The car lurched as Dante hit the brakes and pulled to the curb. He turned back to me, eyes dark with anger.

“Are you insane? Don’t ever say that again. I won’t lose your child, and I won’t let Serena lose hers either.”

I looked at him and suddenly found it almost funny.

He wanted both children kept, but only one of them was allowed to have a name.

The next morning, Russo men appeared around the villa. Dante took my phone and locked the outer gates, saying I needed rest and could not be allowed to act emotionally while pregnant.

I understood what he really meant.

He was afraid I would ruin Serena’s fake wedding.

Two days later, I woke to noise downstairs. When I walked out, Serena and her mother, Lucia De Luca, were standing in the entrance hall, directing servants to carry luggage, garment trunks, and sealed De Luca security cases into the house.

Lucia looked me over and gave a cold laugh.

“So this is the woman Dante keeps hidden. Pregnant with a child no one can acknowledge, yet still shameless enough to stay in his house.”

She wrapped an arm around Serena’s shoulders.

“My poor daughter. You’re carrying Dante’s child in public, yet he still keeps this woman under the same roof.”

Serena lowered her head, her lashes trembling just enough to look wounded.

“Mother, please don’t say that. Aria has been with Dante for years. If she hates me, I can understand. I only hope she won’t take it out on the baby.”

When Lucia went upstairs with the servants, Serena looked at me and smiled.

“So what if he says he loves you? My child is the one he’ll claim. My wedding is the one he’ll stand in. You’re the one he has to hide.”

I did not want to argue with her. I swallowed the pain and tried to walk past.

Serena suddenly caught my wrist and leaned close.

“You still don’t understand, do you? As long as this child exists, Dante will keep choosing me.”

Before I could pull away, she let herself fall against the staircase.

“Aria, why would you push me? I know you hate me, but my baby is innocent.”

Dante’s voice came from behind me.

“Aria, what did you do?”

I turned and saw him standing at the foot of the stairs, his face already dark.

Serena cried harder and reached toward him. Lucia rushed down from the second floor, furious.

“Dante, this is exactly what I warned you about. As long as she stays here, my daughter will never be safe. Either you send her away, or I take Serena back to her father and this wedding ends today.”

Serena buried her face against Dante’s chest, but over his shoulder, she looked at me and smiled.

Dante stayed silent for a long time. Just when Serena thought she had won, he gently pushed her back and walked to my side.

“If you want to leave, you can take Serena home,” he said to Lucia. “But I won’t throw Aria out.”

Serena’s expression froze.

For one brief second, something in my chest moved.

Then Lucia’s face hardened.

“You hurt my daughter, Dante. If you insist on keeping this woman here, then at least make Serena feel respected. She is carrying the child everyone believes is yours. She should not be treated like a guest.”

Dante looked at me.

He did not ask directly, but I understood.

Another sacrifice.

By that afternoon, I was moved out of the upstairs bedroom and into the old medical observation room on the first floor. Years ago, when I was still undergoing treatment, Dante had kept it prepared for emergencies. Now the monitors were gone, but the room still smelled faintly of alcohol wipes and closed windows.

Serena took the master bedroom for her pregnancy, the adjoining room for the nursery, and the east salon for her wedding gowns and De Luca gifts.

Dante came to me that evening.

“It’s only temporary,” he said. “I’m trying to calm Lucia down. Once the wedding is over, I’ll make it up to you.”

I did not argue.

Where I slept no longer mattered. I was already thinking about how to leave.

Every day, I watched the guards change shifts and memorized which servants still dared to speak to me. I even considered asking Serena for help. After all, she wanted me gone more than anyone.

But when I found her alone in the garden and asked whether she would help me leave, she only laughed softly.

“Aria, if Dante doesn’t want you to go, how could I help you? You still don’t understand us. Dante and I grew up in the same world. He may love you, but he trusts me in ways you’ll never understand.”

For once, she was not pretending.

That was when I realized she was right.

There was an understanding between them that had nothing to do with love, yet it was strong enough to crush me.

After that, the villa became Serena’s stage.

Dante came home every night and went to her room first. He listened while she spoke about the wedding guest list, De Luca protocol, the chapel flowers, and the baby. Sometimes he read to the child in her belly because Serena said the baby liked his voice.

By the time he came to my room, it was usually close to midnight.

I would lie with my back to the door and pretend to be asleep.

One night, he stood beside my bed for a long time before touching my shoulder.

“Are you asleep?”

I did not answer.

“I know you’re awake.”

I turned slightly, still facing the wall.

“What do you want?”

His voice was lower than usual.

“Do you hate me that much now? Do you really not believe I love you?”

For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him.

Then I remembered the pregnancy report, Serena’s smile, Lucia’s insults, and the room he had moved me into.

How could he still expect belief from me?

I kept my voice calm.

“I’ll carry the child to term. But locking me here is bad for the baby. I need fresh air, my phone, and internet access. I have medical records to review and research files I still need to finish.”

Dante slipped onto the bed behind me and carefully pulled me into his arms.

“All right,” he said, sounding almost relieved. “As long as you rest and don’t upset yourself, I’ll give you whatever you need.”

I closed my eyes.

He thought I was finally becoming obedient.

He did not know I had only stopped wasting strength on him.

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 said nothing.

After breakfast, he returned my phone and allowed me to walk in the garden, though two Russo guards still followed me.

The first thing I did was call Professor Shaw.

“If the project still has a place for me,” I said, “I want to join.”

There was a pause. Then she said, “Aria, I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

For the next few months, I stopped fighting Serena.

She had Dante hire a private chef, a prenatal doctor, and a stylist for the wedding. I stayed in the old observation room and ate whatever the servants brought me. Even when she flaunted the jewelry and wedding gifts Dante gave her, I felt nothing.

As the wedding approached, Serena’s doctor said her condition was unstable. Don De Luca insisted the ceremony could not be delayed, so Dante packed his things that night.

I sat in the corner of my room, one hand over my belly, feeling weaker than I had in years.

Dante paused at the door.

“Are you okay?”

I did not answer.

“Aria, I’ll come back as soon as the wedding is over. It’s only a fake ceremony. When I return, I’ll stay with you properly.”

I wanted to tell him that I needed him too, that our child needed him too.

In the end, I only nodded.

Dante stared at me for a moment, as if surprised I had let him go so easily.

He had almost reached the door when he suddenly came back and hugged me.

“Forget it. I won’t go. I’ll send someone else.”

For one brief second, my heart moved.

Then I remembered that whenever he was forced to choose, I was always the one asked to understand.

“You should go,” I said quietly. “If anything happens to Serena’s child, you’ll feel guilty forever.”

What I meant was: if anything happens to her child, you’ll blame me forever.

Dante slowly let go.

Just as he reached the front door, a maid hurried over.

“Mr. Russo, please let Miss Aria move back upstairs. The room she’s in is too damp. It isn’t good for her or the baby.”

Before Dante could answer, Serena said, “That won’t work. I’ll be coming back after the wedding. How can she take my room?”

“I don’t want to move back,” I said.

Dante’s expression softened.

“When I return, I’ll buy you a new house. I’m sorry you’ve suffered these few days.”

Then he got into the car and left with Serena.

I watched the convoy disappear, then went back to my room and began packing the research notes I had hidden for years.