Maxwell was taken by surprise for the second time that evening.
"With all my soul." He found himself confessing.
"Then you shouldn't have lain with her." Anna's father said and crossed his arms.
"I don't understand your reasoning..."
"Do you think I'm blind? I know everything. I know how much she drank yesterday." Anna's father said as if it were an accusation.
"Yes. She drank, and she could have chosen today to pretend that nothing had happened. But even without drinking, she made a point of celebrating this day and talking about us."
"She loves Adam. She's his wife! And you will be a stone in her shoe in the future."
"She doesn't love him anymore. She loves me, and she's my wife now."
"I don't doubt that she believes that. I don't doubt that you fervently wish to believe that, but I'm experienced, Maxwell. She loves your brother and wants to be with you because you're too much like him. You're both young and it's natural to be attracted, but the day Adam crosses that threshold, and he will, she'll run into his arms. Maybe she won't admit it so quickly. But in the end..."
"That won't happen. You're wrong. She's madly in love with me. She would never abandon me because of my brother. She likes the maturity in me, and I'm everything Adam lacks." Maxwell said and thought for a few seconds. "Tell me you prefer him with Anna."
"You... Adam can give her a life, children, they'll grow old together..."
"Adam is going to give Anna a family? Is that why she's here? Because she couldn't stand Adam's love?"
"I didn't say he's the best for my daughter, he's just... Better than you."
Maxwell felt his face burn.
"Are you saying that I'm not the right kind of monster for Anna?"
Anna's father put his hands in his pockets and then looked firmly at Magno.
"I'm against you staying together."
"Why? You took it well, my brother. And he hasn't offered half of what I provide for Anna. And he will never offer her anything but humiliation and sex. Is that everything Anna dreams of having? Is that what you want for your daughter?"
Henry took a deep breath.
"You made her believe that dressing like a whore was a good thing. Adam would never approve, or let her go to that extent to surprise him, and gain his attention."
"No. He did much worse. He took her, with the ridiculous excuse of the debt you could have paid off, and made her his private whore. I married Anna for real. She bears my name. I took Ian on as my legitimate son, while he left her abandoned on the streets, starving and cold."
"That's not quite how it happened. You know she was in danger and Adam protected her from my enemies."
"No one gave her a choice. Tell her your reason for letting Adam rape her, with her still being a virgin, and just a girl to 'keep her safe', and let's see what her reaction is!"
"You're no better than him. You did the same thing!"
Maxwell gave him a dark look.
"No, Henry. She came to my bed of her own free will. I didn't force her into anything. And today, she did all that to prove she was happy, and you humiliated her in front of everyone."
"She... She can't dress like that..." Anna's father said ruefully, which was an exceptional occasion, as he never showed his true feelings.
"Yes, she can. She can walk as she likes. Don't you think she's already been denied too much? Let her be happy and decide for herself whether she wants to be more modest or more seductive. You acted as if she had committed a crime. What were you thinking treating her like that? It was just us at home! You could have spoken to her differently, and when you were alone."
"I think... You're right. I'll apologize to her. But I can tell you that Adam will come one day..."
"And I'll let her go if she wants to."
Anna's father looked at him with a frown, and stared vacantly for a few seconds.
"She won't forgive me very easily."
"How do you know?"
"She's a lot like her mother..." He said with an enigmatic smile. "We're going to have a party in a very elegant hall, and invite her friends, and yours, and then, yes, in the middle of that party, in front of lots of people, I'll ask for your forgiveness, and I'll bless your union. Until then, I'm going to stay here, so that she doesn't have to see me. I believe that today I have become the last person she wants to see in front of her."
"You've given her reason not to want to see you."
"Max... Answer me; what will become of the two of you in twenty years' time?"
Maxwell remained silent and Henry lowered his eyes.
"You can't do that to my daughter, Maxwell."
"Would you rather see her dead? Or will you ask for a special permit and travel to DreamStone and live in the water mine you restore?"
"No, Maxwell. I'm going to die, and now that we have Ian, and that guarantees her mother's lineage, she should die too when the time is right."
Maxwell's eyes filled with tears.
"Is that what you arranged with Adam? That he would use her and when he got tired, kill her?"
"Do you know a better fate for someone like her?"
Maxwell clenched his hands into fists. If that man in front of him wasn't the father of the woman he loved, he would punch him until he saw the life drain from his eyes.
"I'll make Anna happy. That's a promise. You don't get to decide what's best for her."
"Are you going to make a better decision?"
Maxwell headed for the door. If he stayed there, he would do something he hated. He would kill Henry, but he stopped before he finished leaving the room and said without turning to Henry.
"Life is always the best choice." He said and left.