Chapter 58: Still

Unaware of the events from the night before, brothers A and B arrived at the Lee mansion. They wore calm expressions and did not think much about their current posting. After all, the job was easy. If they were to complain about anything it would have to be that there were no chairs for them to sit, and they had to stand for ten hours, with each man taking two, one hour breaks at separate intervals.

At night brother A's wife would massage his legs with wooden rollers so they did not hurt in the morning, but brother B was still single and had no one to take care of him. He did not complain, but he constantly had to stretch his legs during his shift. Both men could not wait until this part of their job ended. Even though they felt bad for Mina, this was what they were trained to do. Brother 'A' held no real attachment to Mina but Brother B, on the other hand seemed to be too invested in the situation.

Following routine, the two men arrived at the mansion in the same car. They entered through the backdoor and made their way to the study. As they ascended the stairs, brother 'A' held out his hand to brother B causing the man to pause in his steps. The night shift guards were gone. 'Had that woman killed the men and escaped?' he thought. Brother 'A' knew it was highly unlikely Mina had any interaction with the night guards being that her door was only opened once at 8AM, but his gut told him he should proceed cautiously. With his gun in one hand and his phone in the other, a call was made to President Lee.

President Lee calmly answered the call, he was not worried about being heard. His study, like many of the other rooms in his house, was completely soundproof.

The guard on the other end of the line explained the reason for his call and President Lee gave the man the assurance he was looking for. He did not tell him that he was monitoring the situation; he just explained to the guard that he did not see a need to keep the men around.

Brother 'A' felt a pinch in his chest when he heard his boss's words. Tentatively, he asked,

"Sir, if the matter has been handled then," not sure of how he should phrase his next words, he hesitated, "Should we dismiss ourselves?" President Lee picked up on the slight uneasiness in the man's voice, but he equated it to the man not knowing if he should guard the doors or not.

"The matter is still ongoing." With that President Lee ended the call. Without really knowing why, relief washed over brother 'A'. He gestured for brother B to keep moving and the men assumed their usual positions.

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Shortly after the guard's arrival, Tara made her way up the stairs. She was carrying a food tray along with a small notebook. Lately, she had been spending around ten minutes a day being tutored by Mina. Tara had originally been struggling in her math course, but the way Mina explained problems and formulas to her was simple and easy to follow. She was still struggling, but her score on her last quiz was up by seven marks. Today, she had a few questions she wanted to have Mina look at. She even brought a book so she could take notes.

As standard, Tara greeted the guards as they opened the door for her. She strode into the room without thinking and began to speak loudly but stopped herself when she noticed that Mina was still asleep. Quietly she walked to the other side of the room and placed Mina's breakfast on the table. Scanning the room in search of the old tray, Tara noticed several sanitary napkins at her feet. Sighing, she collected them and put them near the restroom entrance. While bending, she spotted a bowl under Mina's bed and she quietly fished it out. The food had not been touched and Tara shot a disappointed look in Mina's direction.

Mina had not been eating and she had less energy lately. Tara wanted to wake the woman and force feed her, but she could not bring herself to disturb Mina's sleep. When Tara was about to leave the room, she noticed the woman in the bed shiver. Slowly, Tara crept up to the bed and pulled the blanket to fully cover Mina's body. Mina did not even stir a little.

A gentle smile lifted onto Tara's face but was soon replaced by a frown. She felt incredibly sad for Mina and tears started to flow down her cheeks without her knowledge. When she left the room, brother B noticed her solemn expression, but he did not speak. He knew that Tara just realized the truth of the situation. It was better for her to come to terms with it now.

Ian, who had been watching from his study, saw everything. The maid who just entered the room held a notebook in her hand. 'Had she been delivering messages for Mina?' He thought.

The girl's actions seemed to suggest that she was very fond of Mina. They were loving and kind, and without any background information, one would find them innocent. However, Ian felt nothing but darkness. Ellie had indirectly told him that she did not think Mina was a threat and her words gave him a ray of hope, but onto what exactly? He obviously could not keep the girl locked up forever. Either he was going to kill her or let her go and right now the latter did not seem possible. What kind of influence did this woman possess to have been able to bring others to tears on her behalf in just two weeks?

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Struggling with his own emotions, Ian decided to wait a while longer before confronting the maid. No one knew he was still in the mansion, and he had prepared food and water for himself the night before, so he had no reason to leave his study. With the study locked, not even the man responsible for dusting would open the doors. A dark calm flowed over Ian as he kept his eyes glued to the monitor.

Mina still did not move.