Chapter 8 - The Will Nobody Was Supposed to Read
That afternoon, Rafael came to the hospital.
Alejandro almost refused to see him.
Valeria stopped him.
“Let him talk.”
Rafael entered alone.
He looked exhausted.
His suit was wrinkled.
His eyes were red.
He carried an old leather document case.
Alejandro remained standing.
“You have five minutes.”
Rafael nodded.
“I deserve less.”
He placed the case on the table.
“This is why everything happened.”
Alejandro stared at it.
“The will?”
“The full estate agreement.”
“You hid it from me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rafael looked at Valeria.
“Because I was a coward.”
Alejandro said nothing.
Rafael opened the case.
Inside were several legal documents bearing Don Emilio Aranda’s signature.
“My father never trusted Esther with permanent control.”
Alejandro frowned.
“Then why give it to her?”
“He didn’t.”
Rafael pushed one document forward.
“He gave her temporary voting authority over twenty-one percent of Aranda Holdings.”
“Until my child is born.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happens?”
“The shares transfer into a protected trust for your child.”
Alejandro read.
Rafael continued.
“You become trustee until the child turns twenty-five.”
“So combined with my current shares…”
“You control sixty-one percent of the voting stock.”
Alejandro leaned back.
Enough to control the company.
Enough to remove Esther from the board.
Enough to undo decades of power.
Valeria whispered, “That’s why she hated this pregnancy.”
Rafael shook his head.
“She didn’t hate the baby at first.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“What changed?”
“She discovered another clause.”
Rafael turned several pages.
“If your first child is born and legally acknowledged, Esther loses not only the temporary voting shares.”
“What else?”
“Her lifetime veto rights.”
Alejandro stared at him.
“I didn’t know she had veto rights.”
“Almost nobody did.”
“Why?”
“Your grandfather created them when he became ill.”
Rafael’s face tightened.
“He thought giving Esther temporary authority would keep the company stable.”
“He underestimated her.”
“Yes.”
Valeria looked at Rafael.
“When did she learn about this clause?”
“Seven months ago.”
Valeria was seven months pregnant.
The timeline was impossible to ignore.
Rafael lowered his eyes.
“She was furious.”
“What did she say?” Alejandro asked.
“She said my father had humiliated her from the grave.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I told her the will was final.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Rafael closed his eyes.
“She asked whether the clause still applied if the pregnancy did not result in a living heir.”
Valeria went pale.
Alejandro’s face hardened.
“What did you say?”
“I told her yes.”
Silence.
Rafael’s voice cracked.
“I answered the legal question.”
“You gave her the answer she needed.”
“I didn’t understand what she was thinking.”
Alejandro slammed his palm against the table.
“How could you not understand?”
A nurse glanced through the glass door.
Valeria reached for Alejandro’s hand.
He forced himself to lower his voice.
Rafael whispered, “I didn’t want to believe it.”
Alejandro stared at him.
“That sentence nearly killed my wife.”
Rafael nodded.
“I know.”
He looked at Valeria.
“I am sorry.”
Valeria did not respond.
Rafael continued.
“Three weeks later, Esther asked me to authorize a private nurse.”
“Teresa.”
“Yes.”
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
“Then the bruises started.”
Rafael nodded.
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
“I confronted Esther.”
“What did she say?”
“That Valeria was weak.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“She said pregnancy had made Valeria unstable.”
“The forged psychiatric report.”
Rafael nodded.
“I didn’t know it was forged then.”
“But you suspected.”
“Yes.”
“And still you stayed quiet.”
Rafael’s shoulders collapsed.
“Yes.”
Alejandro turned away.
For several seconds, the only sound was the monitor beside Valeria’s bed.
Then Rafael pulled another envelope from the leather case.
“There is one more document.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“What?”
“Your grandfather wrote a letter.”
“To whom?”
“You.”
Alejandro frowned.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Esther kept it.”
Rafael handed him the envelope.
The paper was yellowed slightly at the edges.
Alejandro recognized his grandfather’s handwriting instantly.
He opened it.
The letter was short.
Alejandro read silently.
Then again.
Valeria watched his face change.
“What does it say?”
He looked at her.
“My grandfather knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Mother would try to keep control.”
Rafael lowered his head.
Alejandro read one sentence aloud.
“Power reveals character most clearly when it is about to be lost.”
Valeria shivered.
Alejandro continued reading.
“If Esther resists the transfer, do not fight her for the company.”
He paused.
“Protect your family first.”
Nobody spoke.
At the bottom was another handwritten note.
A name.
Gabriel Serrano.
Alejandro looked at Rafael.
“Who is Gabriel Serrano?”
Rafael stared at the floor.
“The attorney who wrote the original trust.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because he disappeared from Aranda business four years ago.”
“Disappeared?”
Rafael shook his head.
“Esther fired him.”
Alejandro looked at the old letter again.
A phone number had been written beside the name.
He dialed it.
The number rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then an elderly male voice answered.
“Hello?”
Alejandro stood perfectly still.
“My name is Alejandro Aranda.”
May you like
There was a long silence.
Then Gabriel Serrano said, “I wondered how long it would take you to find that letter.”
