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Andrea wanted the earth to swallow her up as she dropped her little daughter off at daycare. From there she had to go to Zack’s office and collect the money he owed her for the Christmas contract. She hated having to do it, but right now the first thing was to settle that debt with the hospital before it doubled. As soon as she entered the office he raised his head and looked into her eyes. The atmosphere seemed tense to her although he tried to smile, perhaps because she was the one who felt bad about it. “Hello Thorcito,” he murmured, approaching and leaving a soft kiss on her lips. “Hello Pastelito. Everything okay? The baby?” Zack asked and Andrea felt her cheeks turn red. “Yes, everything is okay.” She tried to keep her composure, but inside she was very embarrassed. She had agreed to that Christmas contract with Zack, but now they were together, many things had changed. Thorcito… I’m really embarrassed to ask you this… —she whispered with her gaze fixed on the floor—, but that you pay me the amount of the contract. Zack didn’t make a single gesture that showed annoyance. Instead, he took his checkbook and began to write on one. —Can you…? Can you put it “To the bearer”, please? —she asked him and Zack looked into her eyes. —Why “To the bearer”? Isn’t this money for you? Andrea swallowed but ended up telling him the truth. —No, Zack, it’s not for me, it’s to pay a debt. In fact, that still doesn’t make up the total… I wanted to ask you… I wanted to see if it’s possible for you to give me an advance on my salary… —she murmured. —A debt? —Zack asked as his face darkened —A debt from Mason? Thanks for reading on LeeNovelas.com. Andrea opened her eyes wide in surprise and he saw her swallow. —If you mean that it’s something that Mason had to pay, yes. That’s right. But I have to take responsibility,” she replied. Zack was silent for a moment and Andrea thought he was going to refuse to pay her. But then Zack nodded and only three words came out of his mouth. “How much more do you need?” “Two thousand more…” Zack immediately wrote another check for twelve thousand dollars and handed it to her. Remember. Read this novel only at LeeNovelas.com, not on other sites. Half of Andrea was relieved to have gotten the money and the other half was sad because she didn’t want Zack to think she had done it all for money. “Thank you… I’ll pay you back as soon as possible…” “No need,” Zack smiled at her. “I just want you to be okay. Are you okay, Andrea?” She nodded. Those twelve thousand dollars plus three thousand that she had saved from the bonus Ben had given her were enough to pay off that debt and give her peace of mind and security. “Yes, I’ll be fine,” she murmured. I have to go out and deliver this check, but I’ll try to come back as soon as possible. Andrea said goodbye to Zack and left the office in a hurry, took the first bus that left for the hospital and in less than an hour she was walking through those doors.Unfortunately, the administrative section was in turmoil and she was not a priority. Finally, at almost two in the afternoon, someone from the collections department received her, and it took her another hour to make the payment, get the settlement papers and update her health insurance file, now free of all debt. “Ready, you just have to deliver this document to your workplace so they can update your insurance and that would be it,” the man who was helping her kindly told her, and Andrea left there feeling like she could breathe again. It was almost five in the afternoon when she finally arrived back at the office building, and went straight to Zack’s office, but he was not there. She looked for him all over the floor but neither he nor Ben were there. She put in order all the work that had accumulated during the vacation and went to pick up Adriana. “Sonya, has Mr. Keller not been here?” she asked worriedly to one of the baby nurses. —Yes, he was here like two hours ago, I thought he was going to take Adriana but he just played with her for a while and then he left, the woman replied. —Ah… OK. Thanks —said Andrea and saying goodbye, she took her daughter home. All the way on the bus she was dialing Zack’s number, but sometimes it was out of range, other times it was out of service and other times it was off. She didn’t understand anything, but there was nothing she could do except wait for him to answer or talk to him the next day at the company. Andrea knew that with her father’s illness, it was very likely that she would receive bad news at any moment, so that had her worried. She was uncomfortable all afternoon, as if a bad feeling was looming over her, and as soon as she heard a knock on her door she ran to open it. She hoped that Zack had come to see them, but the person who was at her door at nine o’clock at night was not who she expected again. —Was I not clear yesterday?! —she hissed, looking Mason in the eyes. Didn’t I say it in the right language? I don’t want you around! “Calm down Andy,” he smiled at her as if that aggression meant nothing to her. “I just came to see if you had paid off your debt with the hospital.” “Of course I paid it off, and no thanks to you!” she snapped. “I see… I guess I have to thank your little boss for paving the way for me,” she hissed. “Anyway, since that particular matter is already closed, let’s talk about us. I just bought a house in a very nice part of town, so I came to take them there.” Andrea looked at him as if he had grown another head. “Are you an idiot or are you pretending to be?” she snapped. “I’m not going back with you, Mason! The divorce will be out in a few days and-!” “Speaking of which, I kindly suggest you withdraw the lawsuit, because I don’t want a divorce,” he warned her. “Well, kindly or not, it’s already done.” You weren’t here, the police investigated, you left the country the same day Adriana was born,So the judge granted me a divorce “in absentia” —She replied firmly. “The document hasn’t come out, but the sentence has already been passed, so save your cheap kindness because I’m not going to back out of it.” Mason clenched his fingers and Andrea could see the look of annoyance on his face. He’d always had a bad temper, what Andrea didn’t know was that if Mason hadn’t had the power to exercise that bad temper before, it was very different now. “You forget that there’s nothing that money can’t revoke.” “Then I’m going to report you, you moron, because you’re not above the law!” Andrea stifled a cry when she felt that hand pressing on her cheeks as he lifted her face. “Let me get this straight, Andy. You want to do it the hard way? Perfect!” Mason hissed. “I know I made a mistake and I already apologized, that was my duty. And yours as a wife was to forgive me and move on, but if you want to do this the hard way… that’s fine with me. You’re right.” No one is above the law! Andrea gasped as he released her, her eyes glazed over. That sounded like a threat to her, and there was no doubt that Mason looked set to follow through. “I don’t want you anywhere near me! Go away!” she screamed furiously. “Go away or I’ll call the police!” Mason looked around and noticed the little girl. He hadn’t even looked at her the night before, but he didn’t bother to wonder why. He turned and headed for the door, certain that despite Andrea’s resistance, he would have her at his side sooner than she imagined. After all, his first move had worked perfectly. Andrea didn’t sleep that night. She sat against the door, since she didn’t have a single piece of furniture to bar it against, and kept calling out to Zack, but she got no answer. The next day she left for the company very early, but Zack wasn’t in the office either. By ten in the morning she was already desperate, and as soon as she saw Ben get out of the elevator she ran towards him. —Ben… where is Zack? Did something happen to him? —she asked distressed and Ben was silent for a moment—. Ben! Did something happen to him?! The man in front of her looked uncomfortable but finally shook his head. —No, nothing happened to him. Zack is fine. —So where is he? —she asked him. —He left. Andrea felt as if she had been hit hard in the stomach. —Did he… leave…? What do you mean he left, Ben? Where…? Did his father get sick? Ben took a deep breath and shook his head again. —No, Andrea, he didn’t go to Switzerland. Zack just… he went to the United States, and I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon.