Chapter 9 · Severance Is Mine

Michael's attorney, David Gordon, was cautious when he answered the call.

He said all the documents had been provided by Michael's family, and Michael had already signed a statement confirming their authenticity.

As for the source of the supplementary agreement, he needed to verify it again.

"Mr. Gordon, the document is dated last night," Anna said. "I didn't sign any compensation agreement last night, and there's a recording of everything that happened at home."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"If that's true, I'll immediately inform the court," David said.

*****

Less than half an hour after the call ended, Michael arrived at the print shop.

He looked pale, still clutching the brown paper bag.

"I asked my mom," Michael said. "She said that document was prepared by the loan broker at my dad's request."

"Who signed it?" Anna asked.

"She wouldn't say."

Anna looked at him. "You don't know?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have handed it over to the court."

"What about the documents from the bank?"

"Yeah, I saw the scans, but I figured they weren't actually used."

"Every time something goes wrong, you're always the last one to find out."

A flicker of discomfort crossed Michael's face.

"I'm not trying to shift the blame," he said. "I never thought they'd go this far."

Anna gathered up the files. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll have my lawyer withdraw that document."

"Withdrawing it doesn't mean it never happened."

"So you want me to be the one to send my parents to jail?"

Michael's voice shot up, but he quickly brought it back down.

There were other customers in the print shop, and he didn't want anyone overhearing his family's business.

Anna wasn't provoked by his words. "I'm not asking you to make decisions for me. I'll handle things based on the facts."

Michael stood in the doorway, his eyes bloodshot. "They were desperate because of the debt. My dad has always been hard-headed. His workers have stuck with him for years, and he couldn't bring himself to shut down the business.

"My mom's mind is always on saving the house and the business. She can be harsh sometimes, but she is not being selfish. Everything I said is true."

Anna nodded. "And it's also true that someone signed my name without my permission."

Michael had nothing to say.

Just then, Ethan got a call from the court.

The tech team discovered that the supplementary agreement wasn't first uploaded today with the court filing.

It had actually been uploaded into a financing company's system at 11:03 last night.

The account used to upload it belonged to the loan broker for the shop.

Even more importantly, the system had saved a video of the remote verification process.

In the video, someone was holding a photocopy of Anna's driving licence and answering the verification questions on her behalf.

The video was blurry, but the audio was crystal clear.

The voice wasn't Linda's, and it wasn't Richard's either.

Anna only needed to hear a few words before she recognized the speaker.

It was Michael.

The recording played from Ethan's phone.

"My wife knows about it," Michael said. "She is away on a business trip, so she can't be on video.

"She signed the document ahead of time."

Every word was spoken by Michael himself.

The printers in the shop kept humming in the background.

Michael stood by the door, the color draining from his face.

Anna hit pause. "Anything else you want to tell me that you just found out?"

Michael's lips moved a few times before he finally lowered his head. "That video was recorded last month. The broker told me it was for pre-approval, and it wouldn't be made official."

"So you knew they were going to put our house up as collateral."

"My dad said it was to raise the credit line."

"He promised that once the loan got approved, he'd take care of the high-interest loans first."

Anna looked at the man she'd shared four years of her life with.

Suddenly, she realized he wasn't simply a puppet for his parents.

She thought, 'He'd been involved in some of this. He didn't want to take responsibility when things fell apart.

'He knew the risks all along.

'He always believed that as long as it was for his family, whatever he hid could be forgiven.'

"Why did you act like you were me and answer those questions?" Anna asked.

"The broker said it's pretty common for couples to fill in missing paperwork this way," Michael replied. "I was going to let you know before the loan actually went through."

"What if I didn't agree?"

Michael fell silent.

It never crossed Michael's mind that Anna would say no, or maybe deep down, he assumed she'd cave in eventually.

Chapter 9

Michael's attorney, David Gordon, was cautious when he answered the call.

He said all the documents had been provided by Michael's family, and Michael had already signed a statement confirming their authenticity.

As for the source of the supplementary agreement, he needed to verify it again.

"Mr. Gordon, the document is dated last night," Anna said. "I didn't sign any compensation agreement last night, and there's a recording of everything that happened at home."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"If that's true, I'll immediately inform the court," David said.

*****

Less than half an hour after the call ended, Michael arrived at the print shop.

He looked pale, still clutching the brown paper bag.

"I asked my mom," Michael said. "She said that document was prepared by the loan broker at my dad's request."

"Who signed it?" Anna asked.

"She wouldn't say."

Anna looked at him. "You don't know?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have handed it over to the court."

"What about the documents from the bank?"

"Yeah, I saw the scans, but I figured they weren't actually used."

"Every time something goes wrong, you're always the last one to find out."

A flicker of discomfort crossed Michael's face.

"I'm not trying to shift the blame," he said. "I never thought they'd go this far."

Anna gathered up the files. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll have my lawyer withdraw that document."

"Withdrawing it doesn't mean it never happened."

"So you want me to be the one to send my parents to jail?"

Michael's voice shot up, but he quickly brought it back down.

There were other customers in the print shop, and he didn't want anyone overhearing his family's business.

Anna wasn't provoked by his words. "I'm not asking you to make decisions for me. I'll handle things based on the facts."

"My mom's mind is always on saving the house and the business. She can be harsh sometimes, but she is not being selfish. Everything I said is true."

Anna nodded. "And it's also true that someone signed my name without my permission."

Michael had nothing to say.

Just then, Ethan got a call from the court.

The tech team discovered that the supplementary agreement wasn't first uploaded today with the court filing.

It had actually been uploaded into a financing company's system at 11:03 last night.

The account used to upload it belonged to the loan broker for the shop.

Even more importantly, the system had saved a video of the remote verification process.

In the video, someone was holding a photocopy of Anna's driving licence and answering the verification questions on her behalf.

The video was blurry, but the audio was crystal clear.

The voice wasn't Linda's, and it wasn't Richard's either.

Anna only needed to hear a few words before she recognized the speaker.

It was Michael.

The recording played from Ethan's phone.

"My wife knows about it," Michael said. "She is away on a business trip, so she can't be on video.

"She signed the document ahead of time."

Every word was spoken by Michael himself.

The printers in the shop kept humming in the background.

Michael stood by the door, the color draining from his face.

Anna hit pause. "Anything else you want to tell me that you just found out?"

Michael's lips moved a few times before he finally lowered his head. "That video was recorded last month. The broker told me it was for pre-approval, and it wouldn't be made official."

"So you knew they were going to put our house up as collateral."

"My dad said it was to raise the credit line."

"He promised that once the loan got approved, he'd take care of the high-interest loans first."

Anna looked at the man she'd shared four years of her life with.

Suddenly, she realized he wasn't simply a puppet for his parents.

She thought, 'He'd been involved in some of this. He didn't want to take responsibility when things fell apart.

'He knew the risks all along.

'He always believed that as long as it was for his family, whatever he hid could be forgiven.'

"Why did you act like you were me and answer those questions?" Anna asked.

"The broker said it's pretty common for couples to fill in missing paperwork this way," Michael replied. "I was going to let you know before the loan actually went through."

"What if I didn't agree?"

Michael fell silent.

It never crossed Michael's mind that Anna would say no, or maybe deep down, he assumed she'd cave in eventually.