The ride to the hospital blurred into chaos.

Victoria sat in the backseat of the black SUV, Dante’s limp body sprawled across her lap. Her hands were pressed to his wounds.both the shoulder and lower side trying to stop the warmth of his blood from spilling through her fingers. Her breathing came fast, uneven.

“Dante, stay with me… please…” she whispered, her voice cracking as sirens wailed outside.

Felix drove like a man possessed, weaving through traffic, barking orders through the car’s Bluetooth to secure every route and warn their men.

“Call Dr. Hamilton. Prep the trauma wing. And tell security NO ONE steps near the boss unless I say so!” Felix growled.

This news of him getting shot must not leak.

“Yes, sir!” someone answered on the line.

Victoria felt Dante’s head grow heavier against her chest.

“No, no, no… Dante…” she shook him gently. “You promised… you said you were fine…”

His eyelids twitched, barely opening for a second. “Victoria…”

“I’m here,” she cried, touching his cheek. “I’m right here, just stay awake.”

But the next moment, his head dropped again.

“Felix!” she screamed.

“We’re almost there!” Felix shouted back, voice strained.

The SUV screeched into the emergency bay. Men in medical uniforms rushed forward as Felix jumped out and ripped open the back door.

“Boss!” he barked, grabbing Dante under the arms.

Victoria refused to let go until the stretcher was beneath him. Her fingers, trembling and slick with blood, hovered helplessly until she finally stepped back.

“Ma’am, please move aside!” a nurse urged.

They wheeled Dante away, monitors beeping, doctors yelling instructions. Victoria stumbled after them, her legs numb, her heart twisting painfully in her chest.

Felix grabbed her arm gently before she crossed into the restricted zone.

“Victoria…wait.”

Her body numb a part of her realized how much he meant to her even after all these years she couldn’t see him in pain. He’s showed up for her even after disappearing without a word then.

“But he” her voice shook. “Please don’t stop me… he needs me.”

Felix shook his head. “They need space to work on him. If you go in there like this panicking you’ll make it worse.”

“Let the doctors do their job” Felix added.

The words broke something inside her.

She pressed both hands to her face and sobbed.

Felix let her cry for a moment before speaking softly. “Dante is strong. Stronger than all of us. He’ll fight.”

Victoria swallowed back a tear. “Because of me… he got shot because of me.”

Felix’s expression hardened. “No. Enzo shot him because Enzo is a monster. Don’t you ever blame yourself for his sins.”

“This is how it has been in the Moretti family so you better know what you’re getting into” Felix said not sugar coating his words.

He saw his friend lose blood for a lady and to him Dante shouldn’t have any weakness.

She didn’t answer, but the guilt burned in her chest.

They waited outside the trauma room. Seconds stretched into minutes. Each minute felt like an hour.

Victoria couldn’t stop replaying Dante’s collapse. His eyes dimming, his body falling into her arms, the warmth draining from him.

She shuddered.

She didn’t even realize someone had approached until she heard stilettos clicking against the hospital floor.

A tall woman cold, elegant, dressed in Moretti black walked toward them. Her face was striking, sharp, unreadable.

“Who is she?” Victoria whispered.

For a moment she thought that was Dante mom but the cold gaze of the lady halted her step.

Felix stiffened. “Dante’s aunt. The second of the Moretti organization in italy.”

The woman stopped directly in front of Victoria.

“So,” she said, eyes raking over Victoria, “you’re the little bride my nephew was willing to die for.”

Victoria froze.

Dante’s aunt tilted her head, studying her like prey. “He hasn’t bled this much for anyone since his mother. Interesting.”

Felix stepped forward. “Ma’am, this isn’t the time—”

She lifted a single finger, silencing him instantly.

“Felix, I was not speaking to you.”

Victoria swallowed hard, trying to stand straighter.

“Is… Dante going to be okay?” she asked, voice barely a whisper.

The woman’s lips curled. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether he thinks you’re worth surviving for.”

Victoria felt her breath stop.

“What do you mean by that?” she whispered.

The woman leaned closer. “The Moretti men… they don’t survive for themselves. They survive for what they love. If they have nothing, they let death take them.”

Victoria’s jaw trembled.

“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “He’s strong. He’ll live.”

“Then pray he believes you are worth the fight,” the woman replied coldly. “Because no one survives two bullets unless they have a reason.”

Before Victoria could respond, the operating room doors burst open.

A doctor stepped out, covered in blood.

Victoria’s heart stopped. “Doctor?!”

Felix’s shoulders tensed.

The doctor pulled off his mask.

“He’s stable… for now,” he said. “But he lost a dangerous amount of blood. The bullet in his side did the most damage. He’ll need transfusions and close monitoring.”

Victoria sagged against the wall in relief, tears falling freely.

“Can I see him?” she whispered.

“Only one person,” the doctor said. “And only for a moment.”

Felix nudged her gently. “Go.”

Victoria entered the dim recovery room. Dante lay there—pale, unconscious, tubes taped to his arm, chest rising with slow, steady breaths.

She approached quietly, her fingers brushing his hair back from his forehead.

“You scared me,” she whispered. “You can’t do that. Not again.”

She sat beside him, her hand resting over his.

“Please wake up. I don’t care what your brother says, or what this family wants. Just… come back.”

For a moment, his fingers twitched.

Victoria gasped, leaning closer.

“D-Dante?”

But he didn’t wake.

Victoria lowered her head against his chest, the steady heartbeat keeping her sane.

She didn’t hear the footsteps until they stopped at the doorway.

When she looked up, her entire body froze.

Standing there was

Kelvin.

His eyes darkened when he saw her beside Dante’s bed.

And the last words of the chapter hit like a hammer:

“I warned you, Victoria,” Kelvin said coldly.

“You should’ve never gone back to him.”