EVEN AFTER YOU

EVEN AFTER YOU

Chocolatefinger16 · Ongoing · 88.7k Words

445
Hot
445
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Alessia Moretti was born into a legacy of wealth, silence, and shadows. When her powerful father dies unexpectedly, she returns to Florence — not in grief, but in search of what never made sense. The funeral is lavish, the condolences practiced. But what catches her eye isn’t in the eulogy. It’s a name in the guestbook. A stranger who stood apart. Watching.

A sealed envelope from her father's lawyer deepens the mystery — an addendum to his will, locked behind a single condition: it must not be opened unless something happens to Giuliana De Luca — the woman who raised Alessia, but never quite loved her. The woman who replaced her mother. The woman with secrets buried deeper than the grave.

As Alessia begins to peel back the layers of the house — and her own memory — she uncovers missing tapes, manipulated truths, and a man named Matteo who seems tied to it all. A man she should stay away from. A man who might already know who she really is.

But nothing in the Moretti legacy is what it seems.

Not her past.
Not her family.
Not even herself.

And some ghosts don’t stay buried.

Even After You is a dark, slow-burn romantic thriller about power, obsession, and the brutal things we inherit. For readers who crave revenge laced with longing, and love that demands blood before it offers softness.

Chapter 1

The rain fell like whispers — soft, steady and unforgiving — soaking into the old bones of Florence. An atmosphere that usually bring comfort to Alessia now taunting her, reminding her of what she had just lost. Narrow cobblestone streets gleamed under the gray sky, slick with water and age, each stone glistening like a memory too heavy to forget. Puddles quickly forms around the feet of wrought-iron balconies and marble columns, rippling with the passing of polished black shoes and unsmiling faces. The sound of church bells can be heard ringing from somewhere beyond the Duomo, muffled out by the low-hanging clouds and the hush of umbrellas opening like secrets. Ornate buildings with decade-old façade loomed tall, their fading frescoes watching over the living like ghosts carved into stone while the city hummed with the kind of stillness that carried weight.

A slow procession of sleek cars moved through the narrow alleys near the cathedral, their engines nearly drowned out by the sound of the rain. Mourners stood in small clusters beneath awnings and arches, their expressions guarded. The scent of wet pavement, old incense and freshly cut lilies mixed with the metallic tang of grief too long to withstand filled the air.

Alessia Moretti stood at the edge of it all, just outside the old chapel’s threshold, the black heels echoing faintly on the rain-slicked marble. Behind her, the city exhaled centuries of secrets. Before her, a coffin waited — and somewhere in between, the weight of everything unspoken pressed down, as if Florence itself was holding its breath.

“We gather here today, not only to bury a man, but to acknowledge the silence he leaves behind.” The priest begins and the subtle murmurs from the mourners seize. Alessia’s body stiffens as the priest’s voice floats over the pews like mist, slipping between candlelight and marble. She can barely hear the words , not because they didn’t reach her but because they didn’t touch anything real.

“Dario Moretti was many things to many people — a father, a protector, a public servant. Some knew him through his service, others through his stillness. He moved through this city with a certain weight — like stone beneath water — rarely loud, but always present.” Alessia holds herself back from rolling her eyes. To some, maybe. But to her? He was a locked door. A man who called her his daughter but never held her hands. Who gave her everything but never himself. She had grown up in his shadow, but never his warmth — a figure built from rules and routines, not memories. It has always been hard for her to get anyone to understand how distant her father was, because while she always felt the emptiness of his absence, others saw a girl who got everything she wanted and took that as fatherly love.

“Florence remembers men like Dario. It holds their names in stones and shadow. But memory, as we know, is not always a clear mirror. It is fogged with what was never said, with what was lost in the spaces between who we are, and who we pretend to be.” Once again, Alessia holds herself back. Florence remembers all these good deeds but it didn’t remember how he would turn his back on her whenever she cried, or how he never said her mother’s name. Let’s not forget how, at the age of ten, she had to learn to stop asking questions that left his jaw tight and his eyes far away.

“Today, we do not pretend, nor do we unravel any truth. We simply lay him down, beneath the same sky that has watched over our grief for centuries, and we let the rain do what it always does: fall, and keep falling.” The priest continues.

“But we do.” She thought, jaw tightening, reminding her of her father’s expression whenever she would mention certain topics as a child. We pretend that this city is the end. That this city doesn’t know where the blood was pooled. That Giuliana DeLuca isn’t seated three rows ahead, veiled in black like a widow to a man she was never married to, head bowed, fingers stoll and ringless, but smirking beneath her silence and occasionally looking around like she’s trying to find someone.

“May peace find what he never spoke. May love find what he left behind.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” She murmurs silently. The words lands on her like soft rain on cold stone. She didn’t cry. Not because she couldn’t, but because she had done all her grieving the moment she first realized her father was two people: One she lived with and the other she would spend the rest of her life trying to unearth.

As the casket is lowered, she didn’t whisper ‘goodbye’. She didn’t reach out to touch the roses. She simply watched with one thing on her mind: “Let peace find him, I’ll take the truth.”

The sound of the piano fills the air, along with the clattering of shoes and the clanking of champaign glasses. Men and women in black attire make their way up and down the room. Alessia holds in a breath as she sights another couple approaching her to offer their condolence. They looked like they couldn’t care less about her or her late father, but that didn’t surprise her as she knew all of this was just for show; the fake tears, half-assed sympathy, and side hugs. The only thing that seemed authentic about the entire ceremony was the melodious sound of the piano. She knew that tune like the back of her hand and it held so many memories; good, bad and ugly.

“Miss. Moretti, I am so sorry for your loss. He was such a good man,” A slightly obese woman with a thick accent says as the stretches out her arms as if asking for a hug. Alessia smiles weakly as she accepts the hug. Behind the woman is a middle aged man. The tip of his nose and ears are red, no doubt from the cold outside. He stands quietly behind the woman who kept rambling about how loved her late father was and how dearly he would be missed.

“Thank you, Mrs…”

“Riccardo. Mrs, Riccardo”

“Mrs. Riccardo, can I ask how you knew my father?”

“We worked together on a case a few years back. He helped burst a drug lord that managed to infiltrate about ten private school in the city.”

“Oh, okay.”

“You look drained, how about a drink?”

“Sure.” The woman places her palm on Alessia’s shoulder and leads her towards the bar that was setup in the kitchen. The middle aged man followed behind tgem, not getting close enough for her to get a good look at his face in the poorly lit room but she was certain that he could hear them clearly.

“So, who’s the lingering man?” Something about his presence made her uncomfortable.

“Just ignore him. He’s my husband but he’s a bit awkward. He never really got along with your father.”

“Well, my father is dead now so…” If he had some beef with her father, he ought to have buried it with him. The two women downed a few shots in silence. For a brief moment, Alessia felt a pang in her chest as a memory of her father flashed though her mind, but was cut short by a weird sound from the piano.

“The pianist must have hit the wrong key,” Mrs. Riccardo murmurs.

“What?”

“You flinched when the pianist hit the wrong key. Do you know the song?”

Before she could answer someone interrupts them.

“Miss. Moretti, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Although I wish it was under better circumstances.” An all too familiar voice calls from behind her.

“Uncle,” She smiles ginuely for the first time since she arrived in Italy. Her uncle was the closest thing to a friend that she had. They had never met physically, but she could recognize that voice anywhere after all, he always sang lullabies to her over call when she was a child. He wasn’t related to her but she always called him uncle.

“Little bunny,” He smiled warmly as he pulls her in to a hug. “I’m sorry about your dad. His soul rest in peace.”

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure, tell me about work.”

“It’s stressful. My boss is an absolute witch and her husband is a pig…” For the first time since the night started, she was having a proper conversation with someone she was familiar with about something other than death and her dad. It was refreshing, but short lived as her uncle cuts her off.

“Has she approached you tonight?” The look in his eyes was cold and hateful and she stared over her head and into the distance. She didn’t need to look back to know who he was referring to.

“That Giuliana DeLuca,” She whispers.

“Has she?”

“No, but she has be glaring daggers at me all night.”

“Stay far away from her, Ally. She’s bad news.”

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

He Never Loved Me, Until I Left

He Never Loved Me, Until I Left

35.3k Views · Completed · Joy Brown
In order to rush to comfort his assistant whose apartment was leaking, Richard signed his name hastily without even glancing at the documents on the table.
I put away the divorce agreement with a wry smile.
When he and my son completely disappeared, he finally panicked.
Three months later .
He knelt down on the streets of Chicago in despair, begging me to remarry him.
My six-year-old son looked coldly at his biological father and said, "Get lost, you bad uncle! You don't deserve to be my dad!"
When I Disappeared, He Regretted It

When I Disappeared, He Regretted It

234.2k Views · Completed · Coralie Sullivan
I thought I was the happiest woman in the world... until I clicked on that video.

The moment the screen lit up, my entire world came crashing down.

The woman on the bed was Calista - that girl who grew up with us since we were kids. And that hand caressing her skin was wearing the wedding ring I had personally put on Matteo's finger.

"I've missed you so much..."
"You drive me crazy, baby..."

Those sweet words I knew so well completely destroyed me.

Everyone said we were the perfect couple, but who knew this marriage was built on nothing but lies?

Since he's so good at acting, I guess it's time I gave him a show of my own. I'm going to make sure everyone sees what this "perfect husband" really is...
I Loved You in Silence, You Betrayed Me in French

I Loved You in Silence, You Betrayed Me in French

33.9k Views · Completed · Joy Brown
I swear, I hate my husband.

At my birthday party, my husband whispered to his mistress in French that he missed her. His voice was low, but I heard it all—the black lingerie, the bit about how pregnancy makes you more sensitive. His French clients around us were laughing. He turned and put his arm around me, claiming he was just helping his clients come up with sweet nothings.

He doesn't know I understand every single word. Just like he doesn't know that inside my body, I'm carrying his other surprise. And his mistress—she's pregnant too. Two wombs, one secret.

Confrontation would be too cheap. Tears are worthless. I quietly started cataloging the hidden networks my father left behind, activating the Swiss accounts.

In seven days, Zoey Smith will cease to exist. And what will my husband's reaction be?
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

1.1m Views · Ongoing · Becky j
"Mate is here!"
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

1.7m Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
The Human Among  Wolves

The Human Among Wolves

650.3k Views · Ongoing · ZWrites
"You actually thought I cared about you?" His smirk was sharp, almost cruel.
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
Surrendering to Destiny

Surrendering to Destiny

713.7k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
Catherine is not only a rogue half-breed, she is also the result of mate-bond infidelity, was abandoned as a baby and, to top it off, she can only shift during the full moon. When Catherine left the only pack she'd ever known in order to escape the new alpha, the last thing she expected was to find her mate... let alone for him to be the mouth-watering, heavily tattooed, lead warrior of the most feared lycan pack on the continent.

Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.

From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.

Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
Shattered Girl

Shattered Girl

861k Views · Completed · Brandi Rae
Jake's fingers danced across my nipples, squeezing gently and making me groan in pleasure. He lifted my shirt and stared at my hardened nipples through my bra. I tensed, and Jake sat up and moved back on the bed, giving me some space.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was that too much?” I could see the worry in his eyes as I took a deep breath.

“I just didn’t want you to see all my scars,” I whispered, feeling ashamed of my marked body.


Emmy Nichols is used to surviving. She survived her abusive father for years until he beat her so severely, she ended up in the hospital, and her father was finally arrested. Now, Emmy is thrown into a life she never expected. Now she has a mother

who doesn't want her, a politically motivated stepfather with ties to the Irish mob, four older stepbrothers, and their best friend who swear to love and protect her. Then, one night, everything shatters, and Emmy feels her only option is to run.

When her stepbrothers and their best friend finally find her, will they pick up the pieces and convince Emmy that they will keep her safe and their love will hold them together?
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.3m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
[Dear readers, if you loved this book, be sure to read my new recommended read: Cheating Husband, Vengeful Me.]
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

3.1m Views · Ongoing · chavontheauthor
“You’re mine, little puppy,” Kylan growled against my neck.
“Soon enough, you’ll be begging for me. And when you do—I’ll use you as I see fit, and then I’ll reject you.”


When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two things—honor her mother’s legacy by becoming a skilled healer for her pack and get through the academy without anyone calling her a freak for her strange eye condition.

Things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that Kylan, the arrogant heir to the Lycan throne who has made her life miserable from the moment they met, is her mate.

Kylan, known for his cold personality and cruel ways, is far from thrilled. He refuses to accept Violet as his mate, yet he doesn’t want to reject her either. Instead, he sees her as his puppy, and is determined to make her life even more of a living hell.

As if dealing with Kylan’s torment isn’t enough, Violet begins to uncover secrets about her past that change everything she thought she knew. Where does she truly come from? What is the secret behind her eyes? And has her whole life been a lie?
Oops, Wrong Girl to Bully

Oops, Wrong Girl to Bully

241.3k Views · Completed · Xena Kessler
An original story by Xena Kessler
My back hit the desk. Pain exploded through my skull.
"Girls like you don't get to dream about guys like Kai." Bella's breath was hot on my face. "You don't get to write pathetic love letters."
She shoved me again. Harder.
"Maybe if you weren't such a desperate little—"
I fell. My head cracked against the corner.
Warmth trickled down my neck. Blood.
Their laughter turned to gasps.
The door slammed.
I tried to stand. Couldn't. The room was spinning, fading to black.
Someone... please...
Angelina, the most powerful Alpha who conquered forty-nine packs, dies in a yacht explosion—only to wake up as Aria Sterling, a fifteen-year-old Omega's daughter who just died from bullying.
The original Aria's life was a nightmare. Humiliated when golden boy Kai Matthews posted her love letter online, then shoved to death by his girlfriend Bella Morrison. But that's not all her family faces:
"You got until Monday," the tattooed gangster sneered at Aria's mother. "Ten grand cash. Or I'm taking collateral—your kids' organs fetch top dollar. That pretty daughter of yours? She could make us money another way too."
Now Angelina's lethal combat skills awaken in this fragile body. No more hiding. No more fear.
Armed with an Alpha's ruthlessness and a mysterious blood-red pendant, she'll dismantle everyone who hurt this family—one calculated move at a time.
Goddess Of The Underworld

Goddess Of The Underworld

690k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her.

When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.