Anna took All's hand and felt his grip.
She began to talk about everything she felt at the news of his illness. She talked about what his son and his foreman had done to her, and then she talked about the house. Anna talked about the mansion so excitedly and with such wonder that she didn't notice Allister's gaze become dark and thoughtful, nor the angry line that formed on his lips. She only noticed his silence.
"Something wrong, All?"
He forced a smile.
"No. I need a lawyer. I've called a reliable lawyer and she should be here any minute... Call my son."
"No. He doesn't like me, and that feeling is mutual. What do you want with a lawyer?"
"I need to resolve some issues. It's business I want to get settled. You don't have to think about this bureaucracy."
"I don't know anything about business, but if it's something for me... Just release my father. There's nothing more I want."
Allister seemed to reflect on her words.
"I want to ask you for something."
"You can ask me for my life, and I'll give it to you."
"Will you marry me?"
Anna smiled thoughtfully.
"You're already married."
"Only in church. I've never been officially married in a registry office."
"There's no need for us to get married. You're not going to give me children and I... I don't want to go on living without you."
"But you will. You'll do your traveling and shopping, you'll study, and I'll leave you that mansion you described in my will."
"I don't want to. The house was in my dreams, when you were part of my future."
"You don't have to die with me, Anna."
Anna didn't answer and they remained silent, until a woman in high heels, dressed formally, with a knee-length skirt and a button-down shirt entered with a briefcase.
Anna realized it was a lawyer as soon as she started pulling out a huge amount of documents from inside her briefcase.
The woman took some papers out of a folder, then looked at Anna and approached with her hand out and a professional look on her face.
"My name is Kate and I'm Mr. Allister's lawyer. I've prepared a series of documents at his request for you to sign."
Anna shook her hand.
"I'm Anna." She said simply.
Kate let go of her hand and took the papers and a clipboard from the nurse on the bed and brought them to Anna.
Anna took it and sighed.
"I can't sign a marriage contract and... That's not necessary either."
Kate looked at Allister.
"Anna... Please let me protect you. This is one of my last requests to you." Allister asked.
Anna smiled.
"You... All! Are you blackmailing me?"
"Who says I can't have fun, just because I'm dying?" He joked, smiling too, and Anna moved closer to him and kissed him softly on the cheek.
"You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Then make me happy. Grant my last wishes."
"Usually a dying person only asks for one last wish..." Anna said, glimpsing the life she was living next to All.
"I'm a billionaire. And you love me. If I've managed to achieve that, don't you think I deserve at least two wishes?"
Anna kissed him again, wanting to lie down next to him and enjoy the moment of lucidity, alone with him, but she wouldn't do that in front of the lawyer. Even though All had always treated her like a daughter, that wasn't how she loved him.
"Your son... I signed a marriage contract with him."
Allister exchanged a glance with the lawyer, and Anna frowned when he wasn't surprised.
The lawyer didn't seem surprised either and, putting the papers away in her briefcase, she took out two brown envelopes and turned to Anna.
"There are two officials from the registry office outside this door. Can you ask them to come in and wait five minutes before coming back here?"
Anna looked at All, who nodded in agreement with Kate, and she left. The men in suits and ties entered without her saying anything, and she leaned against the wall in the corridor.
Anna looked at the place where she had stayed for a few days, and realized that there was movement inside. She took a deep breath and held her precious package close to her chest.
Kate arrived at the door and invited her in again. She pushed the clipboard into Anna's hands.
"Can you sign this document, please?"
Anna looked. It was a witness certificate. She didn't want to know the details, because she wasn't interested. She wouldn't leave there alive to receive whatever it was that All was donating and she didn't want to deny him anything either. She signed and handed the papers to the lawyer, who, after checking, said goodbye and left.
Anna came over, took off her sandals and lay down next to Allister, wrapped her arm around his abdomen and held him like that.
"You said you had two wishes. One was for me to sign those documents and the other is..."
"The other is even more important and crucial than the first."
"I'll do my best."
"I want you not to kill yourself. I want you to live, to become a powerful, independent, feared woman..." He fell silent as Anna burst into inconsolable tears.
He hugged her and let her cry. When he stopped feeling and hearing her sobs, he took her hand, gently opened it and took out the package she was holding as if it were her salvation, and threw it into the garbage can on the other side of the bed.
"You won't have to do that. If I hadn't found a way to try and rid you of a bad future, I'd give it to you to take yourself. But there's a good chance that my intuition is right and you can be happy..."
"Trying to get rid of a bad future? Trying isn't much consolation, All."
He laughed.
"I want to be right in my intuition, because it's what prevented some enemy from catching me off guard, and it's also the reason for the empire I created. So your chances are great."
"And what are you predicting for me now?"
"Hmm... You're going to race a turtle and come second..."
Anna laughed out loud, oblivious to all her anguish.
"All! Was there anyone else in that race?"
"No." He replied, holding back his laughter.
"Then I guess I lost the race."
The two laughed in amusement at this hypothesis, and began to talk about various subjects, which always ended in laughter. They shared the same sarcastic impressions of people, and it distracted them from their impending fates.
Adam listened to their laughter, standing in the corridor in front of his office door, frowning. He only moved from his position when he saw Sarah coming towards him, so he went into the office and locked himself in, staying alone while he worked and stopped thoughtfully at times.