Adam felt like killing Kate, but took a deep breath.
"Kate!"
"I've tidied up, according to your instructions." She finally said.
"Come on, Ian. Let's see your new room. Let the women gladiate themselves." Adam said debauchedly and Ian took his hand and held out the other to Genevieve who accepted the mute invitation, immediately, to be guided to her new room.
Once they had left and it was just the three women, Kate leaned back on the sofa and stared at Bonnie and Anna alternately.
"You should look in the mirror with Anna, Bonnie. I once said that you were a poor imitation, and now I find out that I was wrong. Not even the color of your eyes resembles each other. You bear no resemblance whatsoever. Even Anna's hair is silkier... I'd be ashamed if I were you."
"Who are you to talk about shame? You're nothing but a whore, whose existence only serves to deposit sperm, the ejaculate of many men, when they want it."
Kate smiled reassuringly.
"And what's the difference between you and me?"
"I get the man I want, only when I want him."
"Really? I don't think you were happy to lie with Adam after he started calling you Anna while you were having sex... It was so obvious that he was only using you when he was thinking about another woman... The men who stay with me enjoy being with me and don't pretend to be with other women. And I, unlike you, feel pleasure whenever I'm summoned to their bed. They make me happy. Can you say the same?"
"I'm not going to argue with a whore who doesn't have a roof over her head. You're a leech, Kate."
Kate laughed.
"You want to see my bank account on my cell phone app? I'm rich, you pigeon shit. You're the parasite here. I have assets, I have houses and apartments. And you? You only have middle-class relatives who you lean on when you're without a male to support you. You don't even have a car!"
Bonnie turned red and stormed out of the room. Anna followed the discussion, enjoying herself and trying not to laugh. She sat down next to Kate as Bonnie left the room.
"I understand that your ambitions no longer include Adam." Anna commented.
"Your ambitions don't include Adam either." Kate said as if she knew everything Anna had planned.
"It's true. I'm not seventeen anymore, and I have a different family and a different life..." Anna said sincerely.
"And yet you're here."
"And yet, I'm here."
They were silent for a while, until Kate turned her eyes to Anna.
"I always knew that you and your father hid your true age... How old are you now?"
Anna smiled.
"No one's ever been that curious before. No, not really. Adam said something about it to me once, but I realized he was afraid of the answer and let him believe I was the age on the fake birth certificate my father forged. That animal wouldn't have been able to sell me to Allister if he'd known my age..."
"You don't have to hide it from me."
Anna stood up and poured herself a brandy, before turning to Kate.
"I'm almost twenty-one now."
Kate shook her head thoughtfully.
"Did you come back for any other reason than the blackmail Adam must have put on your family to manipulate your will?"
"Did you know what he would do?"
"No. But I knew that he wouldn't say with such certainty that he was going to come for you if he didn't have something in mind to make you do it."
"So you don't know the things he did."
"No. He just called me and asked me to decorate a room for a four-year-old boy. I knew it must be his son that you carried in your womb when you ran away from here."
"You never told him that?"
"He'll kill me the moment he finds out I was aware of it."
"Why do you stay here, Kate? You're a beautiful woman, and independent. What binds you to this place where you're humiliated all the time?"
"The same thing that trapped you in another country. Love. I love one of the men who uses me, but I feel pleasure when I'm used by more than one man. And what happens in this house, nobody knows. I've gotten used to it. It's like an addiction. I can't give it up."
"Don't you dream of having a family?"
"No."
"Kate... They won't want you forever. I know it must be fun for you and them now, but... they'll have their families. And you'll grow old alone. You should think now about changing your life. I'm here now, and even though I know you're not my friend, I'll help you out of this situation."
Anna... I appreciate your concern, but don't waste a minute of your time thinking about my fate. I'm happy the way I am. And I'm not going to worry about a tomorrow that I don't even know will come. I choose to be happy today."
"I don't know if you're right, Kate, to think like this, but... It feels like a floating future. No security, no support. We need people. We need love."
"I love a man. I'm happy feeling his touch and smelling his scent every day and... I like floating, Anna."
"You know best. I think you're right. Does the man you love know about your feelings?" Anna asked shrewdly.
"No. Does the man you love know?"
"I told him in a moment of jealousy and drunkenness." Anna said nostalgically. "And then I kept repeating it..."
"And how did he react the first time?"
"He bought rings, and gave me two more sons and a daughter." Anna said tenderly, remembering that moment so long ago.
Kate stared at her in surprise.
"He... You had children with another man, and yet Adam wanted you back? That's unusual. He's such a proud, arrogant man... So you've spent all these years having children?"
"No. They're triplets. Their father is Adam's brother..."
"You fell in love with Max?" Kate was even more surprised.
"Why surprised? He's a wonderful man."