Winter Bear; Stay With Me.

CHAPTER 1. More than one way to break a heart

**JANUARY SEATTLE**

"How could you do this?!" Zack Keller's furious roar stopped his girlfriend right at the door as soon as he saw her arrive.

Giselle saw a piece of paper in his hand and had no idea what he was talking about, but she had never seen him so upset as he was at that moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Of course you do! You aborted my child! You lost it on purpose!" he accused her angrily. "Did you at least have the damn intention of telling me anything?!"

The woman in front of him turned pale.

"How... how do you know...?"

Zack threw the paper in her direction and looked at her with disappointment.

"Do you forget you're on my company's health insurance?" he spat, approaching her. "As soon as your last name appeared in the payment records, they notified me. Imagine my joy when I found out the insurance had paid for a pregnancy test and then for an ultrasound!"

Giselle stepped away from him, her face red with embarrassment, but Zack was not one to give a break. At thirty-two years old, a multi-champion of winter games, moderately wealthy, and owner of one of the largest sports representation companies in America, he had learned to deal with anything but lies.

"It's not easy to explain, Zack..." she said, trying to find an excuse.

"Yes, it is! You were pregnant with my child!" he yelled at her. "You were pregnant, and like an idiot, I kept quiet because I thought you were looking for the best way to surprise me! Damn, I even called my father, my sick father who almost had another heart attack but this time from joy, because I told him I was going to give him his first grandchild!"

Zack was so disappointed that anger was his only defense.

"You shouldn't have told him anything!" Giselle replied. "It wasn't the right time..."

"It was never going to be the right time because you didn't plan on having it, and you weren't even going to tell me!" he shouted, his eyes full of tears. "It was my child too! I had the right to know, Giselle! And instead, I come home and find a message from your doctor reminding you about a follow-up appointment! But oh surprise, it wasn't a pregnancy follow-up, but a follow-up for an induced abortion! You lost our child!"

Giselle looked at him with cheeks drenched in tears.

"I'm not ready to be a mother... I'm too young, I have a career I want to succeed in!" she stated as she broke down in sobs. "It was a very difficult decision for me, Zack, but later on, we can..."

"You weren't ready to be a mother? It was a difficult decision? Do you think I'm an idiot? If it had been difficult, you'd at least be depressed, you wouldn't have gone shopping for our trip to Cancun!" he hissed with contempt because he couldn't believe his girlfriend of three years had deceived him like that. "It was my child, you should have at least told me!"

Giselle wiped her tears and seemed to muster the courage to stand tall.

"No, I didn't have to," she stated. "It's my body, and it's my decision."

Zack was speechless for a second, as if she had slapped him with those words, then he approached her.

"Get out of my house," he spat.

"What...? Zack...! You can't..."

"Yes, I can!" he roared. "It's my house, and my decision! And I want you out of my house and out of my life in an hour."

"Zack!"

"Whatever you haven't taken in a damn hour, I'll burn!" he warned her as he grabbed his coat to head out into the cold winter of a January in Seattle. "Get out!"

He left there with more than just a broken heart. He left with the desperation of having to take away from his sick father that joy, and he didn't know how he was going to do it.

And by the time he returned home, he realized he was completely alone.

**JULY VANCOUVER**

Andrea opened her eyes, dazed. Her whole body ached, especially her abdomen. She touched it, scared, and found it flat and empty.

"Help...!" was all she could shout, her voice coming out hoarse and cracked. "Help me... please...!"

By the time a nurse reached her, her face was already drenched in tears, and she clung to the nurse's arm desperately.

"My daughter... please, my daughter...! What happened to her? My baby..."

Luckily, the nurse was prepared for this question.

"Your daughter is fine, Mrs. Brand," she said softly. "She is out of danger and has already been taken to special care. Do you remember how you got here?"

Andrea couldn't hold back the tears as she closed her eyes.

She had a terrible argument with her husband Mason over excessive expenses just when the baby was about to arrive. She still had three weeks left before her daughter was due, but the contractions had started right there, and he had taken her to the ER... or so she thought.

"How long... how long has it been...?" she stammered, scared.

The nurse smiled gently.

"They had to perform an emergency C-section four days ago. Your baby was born healthy but small because she was premature. However, the operation had more consequences for you... you've been in a coma since then," she explained and watched Andrea hold her breath. "Is there any family member we can notify?"

Andrea's eyes widened in fear.

"What... what family...? My husband! My husband brought me to the hospital. Where is he?"

The nurse pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, we only managed to identify you from the documents in your wallet. But no one came to inquire about you... and no one stayed either."

Andrea clutched her chest in desperation. How could it be? Had Mason not come to see her and their daughter all this time?

She tried to sit up, but the pain pierced through her.

"My daughter," she sobbed, looking at the nurse. "Can I see her...?"

"Of course," the nurse responded sweetly, and shortly after, she returned with the baby. "She is a beautiful little girl."

Andrea held her with all the love she had. Her baby was safe, and that was all that mattered at that moment.

However, the anxiety soon returned. She tried to contact Mason in every possible way, but to no avail. Two days later, when they were discharged from the hospital, an even harder blow struck Andrea.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you leave until you pay the remaining balance of your medical bill," the director said.

"The remaining balance...? I don't understand, I have health insurance," she replied.

"Your insurance covered the C-section, but not the other hospitalization costs for almost a week, nor the medications for you and your daughter."

Andrea felt a lump in her throat, a mix of uncertainty and fear.

"And how much is the bill?" she asked.

"Eighteen thousand dollars," the man responded, and she closed her eyes.

She had twenty thousand in her account, all she had managed to save over the past three years, thinking she would need it someday to have her baby. When she finished paying the hospital bill, she would be left with very little... but she had no other choice.

She nodded, and the director handed her the hospital's account number while she sat down. She took out her phone and checked her bank account, but she didn't expect to see that absolute zero.

"No...! No, no, no!" she exclaimed desperately, her heart pounding and tears streaming down her cheeks. "This can't be... this can't be...!"

Her account was empty! Completely empty! Someone had taken all her money, and unfortunately, the only name that came to mind was him, her husband, Mason.

Andrea stood there, paralyzed and not knowing what to do.

"I don't have... I don't have money to pay you... my account..."

The director looked at her with compassion, understanding she was in a very difficult situation.

"Don't worry," the man said. "If you can't pay the bill right now, we can arrange for you to pay the hospital in installments. It will take you a few years, but..."

Andrea looked at him with tear-filled eyes and nodded. The director handed her a promissory note to pay back the remaining medical expenses in installments. Even though the interest would add a lot to the debt, it was the only way to leave the hospital that day. With no other options and a broken heart, Andrea signed the debt and hugged her little girl, finding solace in her warmth and the love she felt for her to get through that tough moment.

She barely managed to take a taxi and went to her apartment. Struggling, she inserted the key into the lock, but when she opened the door, she was speechless. She couldn't believe her eyes. The apartment was empty! No furniture, no clothes, nothing to indicate she had ever lived there. Everything was gone!

Mason hadn't just taken the money from her account - now she had no doubt it was him! - but he had also sold everything in the apartment. Everything Andrea loved and her entire life had disappeared in seconds. It was as if he had wanted to erase all traces of her and their daughter.

Not even the crib was left!

The only thing he hadn't sold was the apartment itself because it wasn't theirs; it was rented.

Andrea couldn't believe it. How could he have been so cruel? How could he abandon her like this, with nothing, nowhere to go?

Tears started streaming down her cheeks, and she collapsed on the floor, crying bitterly and not knowing what to do.

She was alone, with no one to turn to, with a newborn baby in her arms, and without a home.