Katrina

Chapter Five - Story B

Story B — The Past

THE SIGNATURES THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

The scent of freshly baked pastelitos de carne drifted through the McAllister home, mingling with the rich aroma of coffee.

Anna had always loved the little Cuban pastries. Their crisp, golden shells gave way to savoury fillings, and she could remember eating them as a girl while her mother talked about the sort of life she hoped her daughter would have.

A comfortable life.

A life in which she would never have to beg anyone for anything.

Anna lifted a pastry from the plate beside her coffee and took a small bite.

Across the room, Edward sat at his desk, reviewing a stack of documents. His reading glasses rested low on his nose, and his attention was fixed on the papers before him.

Jason sat on the floor nearby, playing with a collection of toy cars. Every few minutes, he made an engine noise loud enough to earn a smile from his father.

Heather slept in her cradle, while Emery sat at the table, carefully breaking a pastry into smaller pieces.

It was an ordinary morning.

Anna watched her husband for a moment.

He looked comfortable in his world. The hotels were doing well, the children were healthy, and the business he had built alongside Rafael continued to grow.

Edward had everything he needed.

Anna, however, had begun to understand that having everything and having control over everything were two very different things.

She set down her coffee.

“Eduardo?”

Edward looked up. “Yes, mi amor?”

“I brought you the documents we discussed.”

His expression brightened with recognition.

“Ah, good. Leave them here, and I'll look through them after breakfast.”

“Actually, I'd like you to sign them today. The project approvals are time-sensitive, and I would rather not delay the arrangements.”

Edward glanced at the folder beneath her hand.

“You've already checked everything?”

“Twice.”

He smiled.

“Alright then.”

Anna returned his smile.

She placed the folder on his desk and arranged the pages in the order she wanted him to sign them.

The documents had taken time to prepare. There had been meetings, revisions, and careful attention to details most people would never think to question.

The man assisting her had been precise about that.

The arrangement had to look ordinary. Every signature needed a purpose that Edward would accept without hesitation, and every document had to fit neatly among the legitimate business and family papers he was accustomed to handling.

Now, everything was ready.

Anna pointed to the first page.

“This one authorizes the next stage of the renovation project. The contractors need confirmation before they proceed.”

Edward scanned the heading, then glanced over the figures.

“You've negotiated the revised budget?”

“Yes. The original estimate was unnecessarily high.”

He gave a low whistle.

“You're becoming quite good at this.”

“I've always been good at this. You simply haven't given me enough opportunities.”

Edward chuckled.

“Fair enough.”

He signed.

Anna turned the page.

“This confirms the updated management arrangements for the properties we're overseeing. It will make it easier to approve certain expenditures without waiting for you to review every minor decision.”

Edward barely skimmed the document.

He had allowed Anna to oversee selected hotel projects before. She was capable, persuasive, and comfortable dealing with people who might have intimidated someone else. He had come to regard her involvement as a convenience rather than a threat to his authority.

“Will this give you the authority you need?” he asked.

“It will allow me to handle the work you've already entrusted to me.”

“Good. There's no point making you come to me for every little thing.”

He signed again.

Anna kept her expression calm as she slid the next set of pages across the desk.

“These are the long-term arrangements we discussed for Jason.”

At the sound of his name, Edward looked toward their son.

Jason had lined up three toy cars and was making them race across the rug.

“What arrangements?”

“The provisions for his future. Your shares, the business interests you intend him to inherit, and the management of those assets while he's still young.”

Edward leaned back in his chair.

“You've been thinking about that?”

“Someone has to.”

He laughed softly.

“I'm not planning to disappear tomorrow, Anna.”

“Of course not. But planning ahead isn't the same as expecting something terrible to happen.”

She moved closer to the desk.

“You've spent years building something valuable. Wouldn't you rather know that Jason's interests are protected if something unexpected happens? You always say the children should never have to worry about the business.”

Edward's expression softened.

“That is what I want.”

“Then these arrangements will help.”

She spoke with the confidence of someone who had spent considerable time studying the matter. There was enough truth in her explanation to make the deception convincing. Edward did want Jason to benefit from his work, and he had discussed the importance of succession planning more than once.

What he did not know was how far Anna had taken those discussions.

The papers before him included carefully drafted trust provisions concerning Edward's shares and other business interests. Under the proposed arrangement, Jason would hold the beneficial interest designated for him, while a trustee would exercise specified management and voting powers until he reached the age set out in the documents.

Anna was named to that position.

Other provisions dealt with the authority she would hold over particular business decisions and the administration of the assets during Jason's minority. The documents were designed to give her substantial influence without making the arrangement appear, at first glance, to be a transfer of control to her personally.

The language was formal, dense, and unremarkable enough to sit among the other papers on Edward's desk.

He glanced at the pages.

“Have the lawyers approved these?”

“The arrangements have been prepared and reviewed,” Anna replied smoothly. “The signatures are what remain.”

Edward nodded.

He trusted that she had taken care of the details.

He had never been the sort of man who needed to supervise every task his wife undertook. He believed a marriage worked best when both people could rely on each other, and he had never regretted allowing Anna to assist with matters that concerned the hotels.

Why would he begin questioning her now?

He picked up his pen.

“Show me where.”

Anna indicated the signature lines.

He signed the first page, then the next.

One document authorized the proposed trust arrangement. Another confirmed the powers assigned to the trustee. Further pages recorded his agreement to the associated business provisions and set out how decisions would be handled while Jason remained a minor.

The final papers concerned family arrangements and the authority to be exercised in certain circumstances affecting the children.

Anna described them as the supporting documents needed to keep Jason's future secure and ensure that the business arrangements would not be disrupted by uncertainty.

Edward paused briefly over one page.

“What exactly does this one cover?”

For a fraction of a second, Anna felt her heartbeat quicken.

Then she rested her hand lightly against his shoulder.

“It's part of the contingency arrangements, Mi amor. It sets out how decisions concerning Jason and his interests would be handled if you were unable to manage them yourself. The legal provisions are rather tedious, but they need to be included.”

Edward glanced at the heading.

He could have read every paragraph.

He could have set the folder aside and asked his lawyers to explain each provision independently.

Instead, he looked at his wife.

“Have you made sure everything is in order?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in her answer.

Edward smiled and signed.

Anna watched the pen move across the paper.

That was all it took.

Not a threat. Not an argument. Not even a particularly elaborate lie.

Just a signature from a man who believed the woman beside him would never use his trust against him.

He continued through the remaining pages, occasionally asking where he should sign. Anna guided him from one line to the next, keeping the explanations brief and the process moving.

When he reached the final page, he looked up.

“Is that everything?”

Anna glanced at the document.

“Yes. That's everything.”

Edward put down his pen and stretched his shoulders.

“Excellent. One less thing to worry about.”

He gathered the papers into a neat pile and returned to the renovation plans he had been reviewing earlier.

Anna remained beside his desk.

For several seconds, she couldn't move.

The documents were signed.

The arrangements she had been working toward were no longer merely proposals discussed in private. They now carried Edward's signature, the mark he had given freely because he believed he was protecting his family.

She gathered the pages and slid them back into the folder.

Edward barely glanced up.

“Would you mind asking the help to send me another coffee? I have a call with one of the hotel managers in half an hour.”

“Of course.”

She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

“Don't work too hard, mi amor.”

He caught her hand before she could straighten.

“Thank you for taking care of all this.”

Anna looked at him.

His affection was effortless. His trust was complete.

For one uncomfortable moment, she remembered why she had once loved him so deeply.

Then the moment passed.

“You're welcome, Eduardo.”

She left the room with the folder held securely against her side.

Jason looked up as she passed.

“Mama, look! My cars are racing.”

Anna stopped and crouched beside him.

“Are they?”

“This one is winning!”

She smiled and straightened the little car in his hand.

“Then you'd better make sure the others don't catch up.”

Jason giggled and returned to his game.

Anna watched him for a moment longer before continuing down the hallway.

She had told herself that everything she was doing was for her children. That the business needed a different kind of leadership. That she deserved more than a life shaped entirely by Edward's decisions.

Perhaps some part of her believed those explanations.

Perhaps another part simply wanted what she wanted, regardless of what it would cost.

She reached her room and locked the door.

Only then did she open the folder again.

She checked the signatures, one by one, ensuring that every required page had been completed. She reviewed the dates and the attached schedules, then separated the documents that needed to be delivered for processing from the copies she intended to keep.

Nothing appeared to be missing.

The trust provisions were signed. The management powers had been acknowledged. The supporting arrangements had been executed.

Edward had given her precisely what she needed without ever understanding the full purpose behind his signature.

Anna sat at the edge of the bed, the folder resting in her lap.

For weeks, she had been moving pieces into place. Every conversation, every document, every carefully worded explanation had brought her closer to this moment.

Now, the final piece of her puzzle had fallen into place.

She no longer needed to persuade Edward to consider the arrangement.

He had already agreed to it.

She closed the folder.

There would still be formalities to complete and details to settle, but the most important signatures were secured. The rest could be handled in time.

Anna rose and placed the folder in a locked drawer.

From downstairs came the sound of Jason laughing, followed by Edward's voice calling out a playful warning about racing cars on the furniture.

For a moment, Anna stood motionless.

The life she had built with Edward was still unfolding around her, ordinary and familiar. He was only a few rooms away, entirely unaware that their marriage had crossed a line he could not see.

She could still walk downstairs, sit beside him, and speak to him as though nothing had changed.

She could kiss him, laugh with him, and let him believe that they were planning their children's future together.

Perhaps that was the most unsettling part.

Nothing had changed for Edward.

But for Anna, everything had.

And now that she had secured the final piece she needed, she could begin preparing for what came next.