Chapter 2

Serena

After settling my daughter into our new place, I quickly found a job.

I secured a position as an archivist at a private community library, a legitimate business funded by the Moretti family.

The base salary was meager, but it came with one vital perk. It provided a premium medical insurance plan—our only legal lifeline to afford Lucia's expensive asthma medication.

However, on my third day of work, Dante and Alessia showed up at the library. Dante frowned the moment he saw me.

"Why did you move without telling me?" he asked, holding up a crumpled paper bag. "I brought something for Lucia."

Looking at the bag in his hand, I almost laughed out loud.

On my way to work this morning, I had seen the three of them outside a high-end bakery. Matteo had cried and screamed for a box of expensive imported Swiss chocolates.

Dante had hesitated, not wanting to indulge the bad behavior, so Alessia had coaxed her son by buying him a warm blueberry muffin.

But the spoiled boy had simply slapped the pastry onto the pavement, throwing himself on the ground in a massive tantrum.

The bag in Dante's hand held that exact same muffin. Squashed, dirty, and long gone cold.

I swallowed my sharp sarcasm. "Is there anything else?"

His frown deepened. In the past, I would never have treated him with such icy distance. Seeing him stay silent, I glanced at the wall clock.

"If you don't have anything to say, I'm busy. I need to get back to the archives."

Alessia hastily stepped forward, her voice soft and hesitant. "Serena... Dante hopes you can transfer this job to me."

I froze. I looked at Dante, certain I had misheard him, but he nodded firmly.

"I've thought about it. Alessia and Matteo can't rely on the family's charity forever," he said. "She needs a respectable, stable job to help her heal from her trauma."

My jaw clenched tight. I asked with red eyes, "And so?"

He shifted his jaw, delivering a heavy, implicit threat. "This library is directly funded by our corporate front. All it takes is one signature from me, and the board will prioritize my brother's widow."

Extreme anger made my nails dig painfully into my palms. I stared at him and asked, "So you're going to force me to hand my job over to her?"

Perhaps sensing he was crossing a line, Dante fell silent. But Alessia immediately choked out a sob beside him.

"Serena, I know this is too much to ask. But I'm a woman who lost her husband, raising a son all alone. What else can I do?" She covered her face, crying pitifully. "Matteo is still so little. If only his father were still here..."

That last sentence hit Dante's nerves directly. His face hardened, and his tone turned dangerously cold.

"Serena! Are you really going to fight a grieving widow for a job? Don't make me make a call and have you fired."

Still, I refused to give up, trying to find a compromise. "The family's legitimate businesses have plenty of vacancies. You could easily place her in..."

Alessia interrupted with a high-pitched, delicate laugh. "But what can I do, Serena? I just happen to like your position."

A violent shiver ran through my body. The horrifying memory of my daughter and I freezing to death in the snow flashed before my eyes. I had already retreated this far. I had given up everything. Why...?

Seeing my fierce reluctance, Dante sighed, acting like he was trying to reason with an unreasonable child.

"Serena, you are my wife. You need to look at the bigger picture. Alessia is a woman single-handedly raising a child. It's not easy for her."

A sarcastic laugh escaped my dry lips. "But Dante... I've already surrendered my home and my husband to her."

I tasted blood from my bitten lip. My heart was filled with disappointment, but mostly, a chilling numbness.

"The woman you're talking about... the one raising a child and struggling alone out here right now... That's me."

I knew Dante too well. If I defied him completely, he would make good on his threat. The brutal lessons from my past life taught me that fighting him head-on only backfired.

So, I lowered my eyes and softened my tone, playing my last desperate card.

"Lucia and I need money for rent, and we need money for food. I've already left all the estate's privileges to your brother's widow."

"If I lose this job, I lose our medical insurance. Without it, how am I supposed to pay for Lucia's asthma meds? How are we supposed to survive?"