Chapter 1: The Husband Who Appeared in Winter

Winter had come down hard on the city, as though the sky had decided to snuff out the world's light.

Wind battered the empty streets and slipped into every corner, sending people hurrying along with their faces buried in scarves and coats. It was the kind of bitter morning when no one wanted to stop for anyone.

But on a forgotten street corner, fate had stopped time.

Lucia Santamaria lay on the ground.

Her clothes were soaked through by icy rain, her breathing faint, her face streaked with tears that would not stop falling. Her trembling hands clutched her belly desperately, as if she could hold on to the life growing inside her.

"No... I can't..." she whispered in a broken voice. "Please... help me..."

She was pregnant with quadruplets.

And she was alone.

The man who had promised to love her, the one who had claimed to be her future, had abandoned her without explanation when she needed him most. No money. No family nearby. No strength left.

Only pain.

The cold cut through to her bones.

And the fear was worse.

"God... don't leave me..." she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut. "Not now..."

Her contractions grew stronger. Every second was harder than the last.

Then an engine shattered the silence.

A black car slowed to a stop in front of her.

The door opened.

A tall man stepped out.

Dark coat. Steady gaze. A cold expression, like someone used to controlling everything around him.

Adrian Valcarcel.

He wasn't looking for anyone. He didn't know the woman on the ground. He had only been driving down that street on his way to an important meeting, something business-related that couldn't wait.

But something made him stop.

The scene.

The woman on the ground.

The pain on her face.

And the way she held her belly as if her life depended on it.

Adrian frowned and hurried toward her.

"What happened to you?" he asked, his voice firm but not indifferent.

Lucia tried to lift her gaze, but the pain overwhelmed her.

"I was... abandoned..." she said haltingly. "I don't have any money... the babies... I think they're coming..."

Adrian looked around. No ambulance nearby. No immediate help. Only the cold and a woman on the verge of giving birth.

Without giving it more than two seconds' thought, he took off his coat and laid it over her.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," he said, crouching to pick her up.

"No... I can't pay..." she whispered weakly.

Adrian lifted her into his arms without hesitation.

"That doesn't matter right now."

The drive to the hospital was fast, but the atmosphere inside the car was tense. Lucia cried out in pain at intervals, gripping the seat as though it were the only thing keeping her conscious.

Adrian drove in silence, but his jaw was tight.

He didn't understand why he cared.

He didn't understand why he hadn't left her behind like anyone else would have.

He only knew he couldn't stop.

When they reached Central Hospital, chaos broke out immediately.

"We need help over here!" a nurse shouted when she saw her.

But the calm didn't last.

"Patient's name?" the staff asked.

Lucia couldn't speak.

Her documents weren't in order.

She had no insurance.

She had no one.

"We can't treat her without basic information," another doctor said coldly.

Time was running out.

Lucia screamed in pain, doubling over on the gurney.

That was when Adrian stepped forward.

"I'm her husband," he said firmly.

Everyone stared at him.

Lucia raised her eyes in surprise, but she couldn't speak.

The pain was too much.

"My wife is in labor," he repeated with authority. "Treat her now."

The hospital reacted immediately.

They rushed her into the emergency room.

But fate wasn't done making things complicated.

Reporters were at the hospital entrance.

Cameras.

Microphones.

And a scene impossible to ignore.

An elegant man carrying a pregnant woman through the chaos.

The pictures were taken in seconds.

"Unknown businessman saves woman in labor and claims to be her husband."

The rumor was born right there.

And within minutes, it began to spread.

Hours later, the hospital had gone quiet.

Night had fallen.

And the world outside still had no idea that, inside those walls, a life was changing forever.

Lucia had gone into labor.

The pain was long.

Intense.

Devastating.

Hours of struggle between life and fear.

Adrian didn't leave.

He didn't understand why he was still there.

But he stayed.

Outside the delivery room, he paced back and forth with his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor as if trying to put his thoughts in order.

"Why am I staying here?" he murmured to himself.

He had no answer.

He only knew he couldn't leave.

At last, after hours of tension, a baby's cry split the silence.

Then another.

And another.

And one more.

Four.

The doctor came out looking exhausted but serious.

"They're quadruplets. They're alive... but weak. They'll need intensive care."

Adrian closed his eyes for a second.

Four babies.

Then the world went quiet again.

Hours later, Lucia woke in her hospital room.

Her body was weak. Her mind confused.

But the first thing she saw was him.

Adrian sat near the bed, watching her.

"What happened...?" she whispered.

He regarded her calmly.

"You survived. And so did the babies."

Lucia let out a small sob.

"My babies... are they okay?"

"They're alive," he answered.

Silence.

She struggled to breathe.

"And who are you, really...?"

Adrian held her gaze.

"The man who brought you here."

She frowned.

"They said... you were my husband."

Adrian exhaled slowly.

"I pretended to be him so they'd treat you."

Lucia's eyes widened, confused and vulnerable.

"Why would you do that?"

The silence grew heavy.

Adrian watched her for a moment before answering.

"Because if I hadn't... they wouldn't have helped you in time."

She lowered her gaze.

Exhausted. Lost. Unable to understand any of it.

Then he added in a firm voice:

"And now there's a problem."

Lucia looked at him again.

"What problem?"

Adrian hesitated for only a second.

"The press thinks we're married."

Complete silence.

"And that isn't going to go away on its own."

Lucia stared at him, unable to process what she was hearing.

And then he finished:

"I'm going to propose something... an arrangement. A fake marriage. Temporary. Just to get this under control."

Outside, winter battered the hospital windows.

But inside that room...

Fate had just changed Lucia Santamaria's life forever.

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