Anna turned to her, and felt another twinge in her head as she frowned.
"Why? Are you upset with me?"
"No. Not at all. It's just that I need some time... I've decided to resume my studies. Feel free to say goodbye and find another nanny who can stay... I know a few young women myself..."
"Stop!" Anna interrupted her. "I'll pay for your studies without compromising your salary. You can take any course you like at the college where I study... That way you can continue to look after Ian. While you're away studying, I'll look after him myself. I don't trust anyone else to do that."
"You're being very generous."
"There's no generosity in that. I need you and I have to make sure you stay. By the time you finish college and go into your profession, Ian will be old enough to tell if someone mistreats him. Don't think I don't watch you. You've been like a mother to him, and he loves you like one. I have to thank you for the opportunity to give a little back, because I know that love is priceless, and if I had it, no gold in the world could pay for it... But ask me one question... Was this decision made for a particular reason?"
"I had an unprecedented experience just this morning, and someone I love advised me to go back to school... I don't think he wants his future wife to be a nanny, so I decided that doing what I was advised could guarantee me a better future... Perhaps even being seen as a woman." The nanny said, blushing at her audacity to tell the truth to Anna, who stared at her as if she knew who she was talking about. However, she didn't care, because their relationship had already made it clear that in the months she had been there, it had been one of friendship, even though they were married and had a child together. She didn't understand why they weren't a couple, but she loved Maxwell even more for knowing that he was generous with the mother of his child. And she loved Ian, who was the image of his father. There was no way she couldn't surround the most precious possession of the man she loved with care, and she hoped to win him over.
Anna stared at her deeply, and her thoughts wandered. Maxwell! She was in love with her man. She didn't want to confront her at that moment, she would reserve the reckoning with her for the future, when Ian no longer needed her. She knew it was Maxwell she was talking about, because she said that the advice had been given to her by the man she loved, just that morning. And she didn't leave the apartment. She was as sure of that as she was of the rain outside. Without saying another word, she left, after giving Ian another kiss, and while she was still in her room changing for school, she remembered that the nanny believed that she and Maxwell were just friends. And it was her responsibility to show the nanny that that territory belonged to her. And without Anna feeling it, or anyone else around her, a transformation began inside her. Even while still in the United States, her darker side covered a part of her once pure heart. For the first time there, she turned her thoughts to those she had left behind, and the revenge she had been silently preparing for each of them came to mind. It gave him great pleasure to think of his enemies' cries for mercy. It made her day even brighter. She smiled at the memory and picked up her backpack and went off humming.
Anna arrived at school and soon began to feel bored. Suddenly, a diploma was no longer the achievement she felt she needed to feel fulfilled in life, her father was convinced that she was gifted with exceptional intelligence and she still went to school because she didn't want to see the look of disappointment in his eyes. Classes became boring after she read the books one by one and knew all the laws and articles. She couldn't even pay attention to what the teachers were saying anymore. It seemed like repetition to her. Even Maxwell was surprised at how quickly she learned things. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her suspiciously, evaluating her, but when he saw her eyes, he would look away. When she started working for him in his office, after a few weeks of watching her attentively, and realizing that she was the most capable of everyone there, even lawyers who already had their degrees, he delegated more difficult jobs to her, gave her an office of her own in the building where she worked when she wasn't in court, and increased her salary.
Anna listened to the siren for lunch with relief. She needed a quiet place to plan dinner that day. She knew she would be meeting Maxwell and his father. And probably the nanny, who would be sitting with them for dinner. This was the right time to put Maxwell against the wall. She wasn't very confident that he would continue to have an affair with her, so she would put pressure on him and watch his reaction, his words. If he rejected her, she would leave the apartment and go somewhere he couldn't find her. It would be very humiliating and embarrassing if, after the night they had spent together, he continued his flirtation with her.
Also, she still didn't know how to face him, after everything she'd said while drunk. Today, she decided she would miss work. She wasn't ready to see him yet. But she was already thinking about wearing the dress she'd bought and putting on special makeup for dinner. She wanted to surprise him in many ways. And finally, she would take her rightful place in that apartment. She fervently hoped that her father wouldn't say anything to make Maxwell back down. She knew he loved her. She didn't need to hear him say those words. No man is that generous with a woman if he doesn't love her. And the night before, he had proved to her that it wasn't brotherly love. He wanted her. The way he loved her, and the way he touched her as if she were a rare, precious jewel, and then in a possessive, invasive way, as if he were taking possession of someone who had always been his. She felt that she was totally his. Everything that happened proved his love far more than any words he could say. She was sure of his love. But she wasn't sure if he would be able to confront her father if he took a stand against them being together. He cracked a smile. She wanted to see Jenna's face now. Would he condemn her or support her? Now she had carried on Adam's family name twice. And consummated the marriage. Twice. Her status was no longer the same. And it was time to assume her position.