Two weeks before the day they had chosen for Ian's birthday party, Anna and Maxwell decided that they would stay with him in the apartment, where it was closer to the party hall they had rented for the party. Anna also wanted to be closer to the hospital, where she would have a routine check-up, and the grandmothers and grandfather would be responsible for the triplets. Even though they had their own nannies, Anna didn't trust them to be without someone close to them. She still resented the fact that Helen hadn't said goodbye to Ian, even though he didn't talk about her, as if he didn't remember, which she considered strange, since she had looked after him since he was a baby, but she feared asking him how he felt and then he would realize that she was no longer with them. Anna considered her ungrateful, but knew she would be fine. Maxwell's biological mother reported that her hundred-thousand-dollar watch had been stolen and when they went through Helen's belongings, they discovered several pieces of jewelry, including some of Anna's and her mother-in-law's, and came to the conclusion that she had been stealing them for a long time.
The grandmothers and Henry would attend the party, but Anna was afraid that her enemies would link them to her and try to harm the triplets. As for Ian, his father surrounded him with security and bodyguards wherever the child went, and there was no longer any need for her to pretend she wasn't his mother, as all the guests knew her, since she took him to nursery school. Even so, she let him go ahead with his father and the bodyguards.
The party was very quiet. Anna realized with relief that her father was good at organizing a party. The bodyguards were in plain clothes and posed as guests.
The children had fun blowing up the thousands of balloons scattered all over the hall. Few were interested in the ball pool.
Ian had a lot of fun and laughs with his friends, and his brothers, who joined in the balloon popping.
The huge enclosure that his father had provided for Ian's presents was filled to the brim. But the boy wasn't interested. It was watching her eldest son that Anna noticed the similarities in his personality to his biological father, and she worried. He was charismatic, all the children did what he wanted, and his siblings and friends always sought his company, even competing with each other. And he wasn't afraid. Until that day, she had never seen Ian afraid. Not even when a snake appeared in the garden of the mansion. He didn't seem to know it was a werewolf, but he seemed to believe that everything and everyone should bow down to it. On the occasion of the snake, Helen reported that he didn't move. He just stared at the snake as if he could manipulate it. This memory brought back another. Shortly before telling Maxwell about her pregnancy, she had seen her triplets, at the age they were now, playing on the swing. And that had ignited in her, for the first time, the need to know her roots, the origin of her mother. For she had a vision. And she needed to know her secret. She knew the time was right. She felt she was ready to be more than just a mother. And she felt that something would happen later that night. It would be quiet during the day, but the night would bring a storm into her life. She didn't understand how, but she knew these things. An invisible force pushed her to do things, and they ended up working out, as if the path she took was fundamental to every consequence that would come.
She looked at Maxwell, who was kneeling next to Ian, listening to something with a serious, but more amused expression. Ian had his hand on his shoulder. And at the last moment, she saw Maxwell stand up and stare at Ian in surprise.
The boy shook his shoulders and ran off to his grandfather, who quickly bent down to hear what he had to say, and then Anna's father called everyone together to sing Happy Birthday. Soon afterwards, the cake was broken by expert waiters and served to everyone. The party lasted another three hours. The last guests left and only Anna, Maxwell and Ian remained. She knew that her father must have left the bodyguards waiting for them outside the hall, to escort them back to the apartment. But she could sense a tense atmosphere in the air. Ian ran over and took Maxwell's hand.
"Are we leaving, Dad?"
"Yes, my son. We'll be right there."
"What about the presents?" Anna asked, wanting to donate them to some orphanage.
"Your father has already arranged for them to be taken to the mansion today."
"We could donate them to an orphanage."
"No." Ian said, looking at her darkly. "They're mine."
"But you weren't even interested..."
"They're mine." The boy said, as if that explained everything.
Anna was furious.
"Ian! You shouldn't be so selfish! You don't even know how many toys are in there! You don't even know what's inside the parcels!"
Ian looked at the pile of toys and then turned to Anna.
"Forty-seven. I don't need to open them to know what they are, but I can even describe the color of each one inside the package."
Anna took a step back. Ian spoke like an adult! His voice was childish, but the coherence of his words was perfect...
Maxwell held Anna's hand with his free one and began to lead them to the car. It wasn't completely dark yet, but Anna was already looking forward to a rest. She needed to worry about other things. She was sure that Ian hadn't said the words she'd heard. It was tiredness making her see things that weren't there.
They arrived home, and the servants who had gone there to take care of things welcomed them with joy. But they soon dispersed when they saw the tiredness in Anna's eyes. Ian ran out of the apartment and into his old bedroom. Still in the living room, Anna leaned on Maxwell's shoulder to take off her heels when someone knocked on the door and a member of staff came to open it.
Anna froze with one hand on Maxwell's shoulder and the other on her shoe.
She could feel all of Maxwell's muscles tighten. A face she knew she would see again, but not now, stared at her with his head cocked to one side, just as she remembered.
To make matters worse, as soon as she had decided to leave her shoes on and move away from Maxwell, fearing that Adam would hurt him by being with her, Ian came running and hugged her, holding her legs.
Anna's gaze went from the child to Adam, who was watching the boy intently and surprised.