Anna took a deep breath.
"What did she tell you?"
"Things that a child shouldn't witness."
"She told you what she saw." Anna concluded. "Would you agree to raise my children? If I decided to take the triplets and bring them to live here, would you accept them?"
Adam frowned.
"I'd love to! They're part of you. And I love everything about you. They would be raised according to your wishes, and with my protection. But, Anna... They would never have to ask me to accept them, I would feel honored if they accepted me. I... I'd be the happiest man in the world if you did."
Anna felt her chest ache and tears fill her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Adam. I didn't think you'd be so excited. I asked just to see what my options were, but it was really nice to know that I can count on you. That doesn't change the fact that I will never take away from Max the children he loves so much. However, I have already decided Tayme's fate. She can no longer live with her brothers. She's become a little box, full of unpleasant surprises. I love her, but I'm going to put her in a boarding school in Avallon."
"You can't do that to her. She's just a child!"
"I'll wait until she's six. After that, I'll send her to boarding school. I can't let her run around loose."
"Here, with me, nothing she says... She'll get distracted and forget, Anna. There, she looks at Max every day and all she can see is him shagging Camille and promising her a life as a queen."
"No."
"You're not thinking about what's best for Tayme!"
"You shouldn't get involved in this, Adam. She's not your daughter."
"Tayme is going to pay for my brother's mistake? Is that what I'm hearing?"
"She needs to forget what she saw. I can't wave a magic wand and get it out of her mind. It seems to be becoming her only thought. She's obsessed with what she saw. And living under the same roof... She won't forget. You're right about that. But by taking her away from her brothers, perhaps nostalgia will be stronger than her bad memories."
"She'll understand it differently. She'll believe that she's being punished for catching her father in the act. You're a fool if you think she'll forget the scene that robbed her of her innocence and sent her away. She'll only have more ideas about it. She'll want revenge."
"I'll take my chances, Adam." Anna said unwaveringly.
"And when do you intend to communicate this to her? At the family reunion, by video call?"
"When Dad comes to visit, I'll talk to him about my decision and he'll talk to her."
Adam took another sip of his drink and stared at Anna intensely.
"You... Anna, why not have one or two more children with me?"
Anna laughed, as if Adam had told her a joke.
"Are you crazy? Do you think I'm going to spend my whole life giving birth to children for you and your brother? It's not in my plans to have more children, and I don't want to! Understand, Adam, once and for all, that we're never going to start a family together. You had your chance, and you let it slip away. If that's what you want, I don't think there will be a shortage of candidates, but I'm not one of them."
"You promised me..."
"I said I'd bear your child, Adam. Being a mother requires more than just giving birth to a child. I don't intend to be your son's mother. I don't even intend to look at him once."
"Ian, was it such a bad experience?" Adam asked with an expressionless look.
Anna didn't see the danger in that look.
"I love my son, Adam."
"But you won't love anyone else..."
"No."
"You're the only woman who can be the mother of my children." Adam said and there was a mystery in those words, but Anna didn't notice.
"And Bonnie? Doesn't she interest you anymore?"
"No, to be the mother of one of my children. I think she'd be a much better mother than you, but I can't bring her here, with my son in this house."
"Then go to her. What's stopping you?"
"I think you've forgotten that she's in a hospital bed, fighting for her life."
"If you're trying to move me, you've used the wrong person. I want her to die."
"Is this all jealousy, Anna?" Adam said, and opened his arms. "I'm here. All yours. All you have to do is stop being stubborn and start sharing your room with me."
"I'm not jealous of you. Get it out of your head. Bonnie, it's not a good choice. She has too much evil in her, and her presence in your life will drive you to the dark side that already exists inside you, and that's already too big. I'm afraid that if you stay with her, your good side will cease to exist."
"I don't love her."
"Then don't bring her into your life again."
"You disfigured her... And her death date is still some way off. When she gets better, I'll keep coming to her bedside until you tell me you've decided you love me too. Then I'll leave Bonnie to be only with you. Is Max capable of doing that for you? Aren't you giving love to the wrong brother?"
"I love you both. But differently." Anna said with tears in her eyes. "I can't stop loving Max. I just can't. He's the right man for me. The love I feel for you is more carnal. There are also things I've only experienced and felt with you. Max can't erase that from my heart either."
"I'm going to prove that I'm the right man for you." Adam said, and got up from around the table and held out his hand to Anna, who, after a little hesitation, accepted his hand, and he led her into his bedroom, where he made her feel the most beautiful and loved woman with his caresses and cuddles. And in the end, it was Anna's decision to consummate the ardor that Adam had ignited inside her.