CHAPTER 22. Hospital or jail?Zack squeezed Andrea's hand for a moment and assured her that he would take care of Adriana. The young woman ran after her neighbor, crossed the hallway, and entered Mrs. Wilson's house. The poor old woman was breathing heavily, as if she had asthma or something, but Andrea knew it wasn't that."Calm down, Mrs. Wilson, we've already called the ambulance. The paramedics will be here soon," she said gently, holding her hand.Shortly after, they heard the sound of the ambulance siren, and they quickly put her on a stretcher while giving her oxygen.Both Mildred and Andrea were nervous because they didn't want her to go alone, but the truth was, the lady had no family to accompany her."Does anyone know her allergies?" a paramedic asked, and Andrea immediately started filling out the form. "We need to take her to the hospital. Who will accompany her?"Andrea and Mildred looked at each other, worried."I have all the kids at home, and two of them have a bad fl

CHAPTER 24. Knight in shining armorAndrea felt a tightness in her chest that was hard to describe. She usually didn't care what people thought of her, but it hurt to hear women she had worked with for over four months speak so superficially about what had happened with Trembley or what she was doing with Zack."Still workplace prostitution," another woman laughed. "Though I'd do the boss for free!""That's true, I don't want a promotion, just eating up that hunk is enough for me," another said."Well, Andrea got the promotion and the hunk! It's no different than if she had slept with Trembley. The fact that he's attractive doesn't mean she didn't do it for the promotion."Andrea clenched her fists in frustration. All the women sitting there had come to her for favors more than once, and Andrea had helped them gladly. She didn't expect them to repay her, but she would have settled for them not speaking badly about her behind her back."We all thought she was a complicated girl, one of

CHAPTER 26. Shirt offAndrea didn't say a word as they headed to Zack's apartment. The baby had calmed down a little, but they hadn’t.“Okay, we’ve got the medicines, the formula, and the baby... and our nerves!” Zack muttered as soon as they arrived.He opened the door to his apartment, and Andrea tried not to be surprised, but just the living room of Zack’s place was three times the size of her entire little apartment.They gave the baby a bath, and Zack decided to leave diaper duty for another day, as it was obvious the child wasn’t feeling well. She wasn’t crying or vomiting anymore, but she didn’t want to sleep; she just wanted to be held.By three in the morning, they were both like zombies, completely exhausted, but Adriana wouldn’t sleep, just dozing off a bit and then whining as soon as they tried to lay her down.Zack went to take a shower to wake up, and when he tried to rock Adriana to let Andrea shower, the baby refused completely.“Come on, princess! I love you, let momm

CHAPTER 28. Zero convictionBen was a man with a special charm, but ever since he had reunited with the mother of his child, that charm had disappeared for other women. It wasn’t surprising then that no one else paid him any attention in that crowded elevator, especially when he was wearing his usual cap, head down, grumbling at Zack over the phone.His focus was on his best friend until he heard the conversation next to him, then both he and Zack fell silent.“You have to accept it, honey, these men sleep around in private with as many as they can, but don’t think he’ll acknowledge you in public. Mr. Keller must have a mistress in every branch, and rumor has it he has many... branches.”“Don’t mess with me, Ben! Where the hell is that?” Zack snapped angrily.“Yes, I’m on the elevator...” Ben said offhandedly.“I appreciate your concern, ladies, but whatever happens between Zack Keller and me is our business alone,” Andrea was saying, and for once, he was glad she defended herself, ev

CHAPTER 30. Little Thor and SweetieZack wanted the ground to swallow him up. He had no idea when his sister had met Giselle or if that was even true. But if it was, it must have been in the past year when they were already separated. His hand unconsciously tightened around Andrea's, and she knew something was very wrong.“Well, if you met Giselle,” he said sharply, “then I don’t understand why you're putting on this act because you know perfectly well that the woman beside me is not her. Giselle and I separated a long time ago. This is Andrea, my girlfriend, so come say hello properly or save the theatrics.”“Alright, little brother, don’t get upset,” Noémi said dismissively. “You must understand that you were with Giselle for years. When you told Dad, 'My girlfriend is pregnant,' we all assumed you were talking about Giselle.”Andrea remembered Zack’s words like a punch: "If life were fair, I’d have a wife and a baby." So whatever had happened, it was clear it had been very difficul