Elizabeta Montagne was born just outside of Los Angeles, California in an oceanside town called San Medea to an affluent family of socialites, the eldest of two daughters. To her sister and friends, she was always "Bette". Decorum and social graces were a part of her upbringing from the beginning; she neither shied away nor embraced the lifestyle of her parents, however. She was just used to it — the life of the rich and successful was ingrained into her from the start. A smart, well-behaved child, she was expected to follow in her family's triumphant footsteps. And she did.
She followed their wishes when it came to choosing her college and majors, enrolling into a medical program on her way to becoming a doctor. The foray into education beyond private school was the time she began to really come into herself, blossoming — so to speak — out of the somewhat sheltered geek role she had cultivated. (This is a well-kept secret, given that, today, most people would peg her for the outgoing popular girl who slept with the football team in high school rather than the quiet, clumsy nerd with glasses who totally rocked Science Club.)
She excelled and went on earn her M.Sc and PhD, but before that would happen, her resolve would be put to the test; halfway through her education, she got pregnant. What Bette had assumed to be a one night stand with an avid admirer led to what she thought was love. Christopher and Bette were married, Bette at the young age of 24, before the baby was to be born. However, through complications during the course of labour, they lost the baby.
They were married for ten years. In the midst of it all, she graduated med school as a doctor, a surgeon with a decent background in toxicology and went on to do her residency with a focus in neurology. She was actively involved in numerous clinical research trials while working as neurosurgeon; her name is recognizable in medical journals, to those who pay attention.
Gradually, the husband and wife's sentiments toward one another couldn't be anymore different. Christopher was constantly there for her. But she stopped loving her husband, at some point along the line. More than likely, things had changed for Bette in the aftermath of losing their baby so many years ago, but she stuck it out since she did care about her husband. They became like good friends, but it became painfully obvious that, for Bette, the only reason they were together in the first place was because of the baby. She realized she wasn't as in love with Christopher as she thought, and she cheated, more than once, and despite her cautions, he found out.
The divorce was brutal, even with no children. They had a house, by then — a life that torn apart, as tends to happen with divorces. She decided to take off to New York City when all was said and done and worked there for several years at another prominent and busy hospital.
Recently, at age thirty-eight, being worn down by the pressures from every angle in her professional life (not to mention her constantly destructive love life), she decided a change was in order. When she paid her family an overdue visit at Christmastime, she decided to pack up her New York lifestyle and settle down in Los Angeles. She had no trouble landing a position with Good Samaritan Hospital's Neurosciences program and now she's trying to settle back into LA and force herself to take it a bit easier. Unfortunately, she has no idea what's really lurking beneath the surface of the city with a way of making things more complicated.
