Chapter 33: Underhanded Methods

After eating, Mina sat on the ground for a while longer, she had not showered since the first day she arrived and now that she was full, she decided it would be a good time to bathe. She hoped she could fall asleep again. She had been having romantic dreams and she was the main character. Her favorite dream was the one where a handsome man was pressed on top of her body. The two smiled at each other and laughed playfully as they kissed in each other's embrace.

In the dream the man's laugh is enchanting. It radiates through the entire room and sends waves of pleasure down her body. His voice is deep and sexy, and his skin is so soft that she cannot stop touching it. But in this dream, she cannot clearly see his face.

Even without seeing his face, that dream is the best. In that dream Mina pictured herself smiling so brightly, and her laugh sounded beautiful even to her own ears. She imagined herself looking up into that man's eyes and seeing that they were so happy to be together. In that dream, she tells the man that this was going to be her first time. He smiles and laughs before whispering something in her ear. Mina always wakes up before hearing what he says, and her heart always aches. She has never and will never experience that warmth with any man. Even if President Lee lets her go tomorrow, she will never experience the blissful shyness of giving herself away for the first time.

How much crueler could life be? When she was free to love and date, she rarely took interest. Now that she had no prospect of a future, Mina suddenly craved the warmth of her imagination.

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Ian returned to his office looking thin but refreshed. He had Mina fed this morning, so he was sure she would stay alive for at least another two days. For some reason, the thought of her dying made him feel uncomfortable, but the thought of him killing her was not so bad.

He strode toward his office confidently and could feel the lingering gazes of the women around him. Today, he wore a black custom-made suit without a tie. He left two of the top buttons of his dress shirt open and it showed just a bit of his chest as he moved. Ian typically did not dress like this but after telling Lisa to dye her hair for him he felt like she deserved a bit of a treat.

A timid looking secretary stood in Ian's way before he could make it into his office, and he looked at her coldly. It seemed to him that people thought he had gotten a little soft in the recent months. Everyone was trying his patience including the lady standing in front of him.

Everyone knew that Ian hated being spoken to before he had a chance to review the work on his desk. The little lady in front of him must have forgotten this rule, he had only been gone for three days, and already so much had changed. The secretary quickly caught herself and spoke.

"Sir I am sorry, I know you do not like to be stopped before getting into your office, but this is urgent." The look of worry in the woman's face caught him off guard, and he gestured for her to follow him into his office. Once inside, the woman did not sit down, nor did she relax. She told him that she had personal knowledge of underhanded hiring practices from within the company. She handed him a large stack of files. "These people have all applied for a job here within the last six months, however none of their resumes have made it to human resources," she said.

The woman's face became serious, she had already been working for Ian for a year before he kicked all those dirty old men out of the company, and while he did not know this; their removal took a lot of pressure off of her and she looked up to him in an innocent way. She was married and loved her husband very much, and when she told her husband of how President Lee dealt with the dirty men who were harassing her, even he had become a fan of the man. They were still in a patriarchal society and some people were stuck in the past, but President Lee seemed to only look at the quality of work when hiring and for that she greatly respected him.

Ian took the files and skimmed through them when his heart skipped a beat. He immediately stacked the files back together and asked the secretary if she had told anyone else about her discovery. Fortunately, she had not. He instructed her to keep her mouth shut and keep working as if nothing happened. He did not want to involve her in whatever shady business was going on. The secretary agreed with just a nod. Before she walked out of the office she paused.

"President Lee," she said his name meekly and Ian had a sinking feeling that she was just like all the other women in his office trying to get in good with him. He did not answer but he looked up at the woman with clear agitation on his face. Sensing his mood, the woman quickly explained herself. "I broke the rules just now, if I casually walk out of this office…" she trailed off. She did not need to continue speaking as Ian immediately understood.

From outside of the office, people could hear President Lee shouting loudly. Many of them smirked in satisfaction.

'That Prissy little miss finally got what was coming to her. How dare she try to be alone with President Lee,' they thought. Zane just so happened to be walking by when he heard the commotion. He glanced around and noticed that everyone had stopped working. They could not hear what president Lee was saying but they could tell he was angry. Soon his office door flung open and a red face girl fled from his office with her head down. Ian glanced around and shouted that the girl was suspended without pay for three weeks, before slamming his door shut behind him.

Those who were not very well off shuddered at the idea of falling three weeks behind in monthly expenses. They were paid generously by President Lee but the cost of living in Scal city was exorbitant and the travel expenses associated with living outside of the city were just as bad. They had originally thought he had a soft spot for female employees, but after today's display, no one questioned his ruthlessness. The girl had merely spoken to him, and she was suspended without pay.