A nanny was hired to look after Ian when Anna wasn't at home, but Maxwell liked to spend a lot of time with his son. Sometimes Anna would notice him whispering something in Ian's ear, who would giggle happily. She tried to listen once to what they were talking about, but didn't understand anything that was said. Ian held out his arms to Maxwell every time he was at home and became agitated when he heard his voice, calming down only when his father took him in his arms. Anna was jealous, but she didn't want to interfere in her son's happiness, so she allowed it without getting involved.
Maxwell often invited her to dinner and let her make the orders, so that she could get used to the language. This also helped Anna adapt to the country.
Her father was always willing to stay with Ian on these occasions, as Anna didn't trust leaving him with the nanny. She demanded that a hidden camera be placed in Ian's room, where the nanny spent the night, to keep an eye on her, and watched every day what went on in the room at night. Over time, she became more confident, because Ian liked the nanny and she never noticed anything that made her suspect mistreatment.
Maxwell was always a good friend and a caring, loving father. He delighted in Ian's first words to him, calling him Daddy and always clinging to him, preferring his arms to Anna's. She didn't mind, and was even pleased with their affection.
She didn't mind, and was even happy with the affection between them, since a secret love for Maxwell was born in her heart. It grew and grew. She began to fantasize about a lifetime with him. However, she didn't have the courage to declare herself, because he never talked about it, but on the nights they went out, she longed for him to kiss her and touch her more intimately.
She met a few boys she thought were interesting at school, but she was never impressed by them, because as soon as she finished school, she would go straight to Maxwell's office, where she would inevitably compare him to them, and they would turn out to be uninteresting. Her biggest dream became to marry him. She liked everything about him. And it was because of her guarded feelings that their first disagreement occurred.
It was her day off, and she took the opportunity to go to a salon, where she had become accustomed to going, to get everything done. Nails, hair, make-up and waxing. That day, she called home and said she'd be home a little later because she wanted to go shopping. She wanted an evening dress to try and impress Maxwell the next time he asked her out. She suspected that he didn't see her as a candidate for a girlfriend, because she always wore the same jeans that were in the closet when she arrived. She also admitted that her countenance bore a resemblance to her teenage years and she felt that she needed to present herself to him as a woman. That day, she was looking for a dress on her own, as her friends wouldn't understand her plans. She thought it would take a long time, but faster than she had imagined, she found a beautiful dress that highlighted the color of her eyes. Happy with her dress, she bought it for a small fortune and returned to her apartment.
One of the advantages of living there was the chance to drive legally before she was eighteen. Even though she was already nineteen, she enjoyed seeing her friends on the streets, driving their expensive cars.
Her father had given her a car, and she loved driving.
She arrived at the building where she lived, parked in her space and got into the elevator to the penthouse.
For a moment, she thought she was in the wrong place. She hadn't even entered yet, and heard loud music and female laughter. As Beth wasn't working at that time, she didn't think it was the maid, who would have left by now.
She opened the door to see the biggest disappointment she had ever experienced in that country. Ian was grabbing the beautiful curls of a redhead, while Maxwell was smiling with his arm around the woman's waist and a glass of drink in one hand. The three of them seemed to be having a great time.
Anna didn't even feel it when she stopped thinking. She walked in and immediately snatched Ian out of the red-haired woman's arms, as rudely as possible, and glared at Maxwell with hatred.
"How dare you bring my son to your orgies!" She asked shrilly, and with hatred, left the room with Ian grumbling about being taken out of the woman's arms.
Anna went into her bedroom and went to the door that connected it to her son's room. She put him in his crib and glared angrily at the nanny, who had gotten out of bed as soon as she had entered.
"What are you for, if you don't stop my son from being in the middle of... exposed to the drunks in this house?"
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but what could I do? He's the child's father." The young woman said it so rationally that it made Anna start to think. It wasn't the nanny's fault. She was to blame. She had left Maxwell with no limits in the upbringing of his son. But she promised herself that it would be different from that day on.
Magno came looking for him and stopped at the entrance to Ian's room, without entering. He leaned against the doorframe.
"Anna, can we talk?"
"Feed him and put him to sleep. Don't let it happen again." Anna said to the nanny in a haughty tone, and walked off, wincing at Maxwell, who followed her into the living room and curiously watched her pour herself a brandy for the first time. She always refused when he offered it to her.