Chapter 76: Lies Detected

Luna felt that she had to agree to Mina's conditions to keep the girl calm. She only hoped that her brother, who was listening in, did not barge into the room to protest after hearing her false promises.

"Mina, I can do that for you, but you must calm down. Otherwise, your polygraph results will not be accurate." she said. Mina was instantly calmed.

In fact, Mina had already mostly calmed herself before Luna even said anything. She seemed to have experience in bottling her emotions. As a professional, Luna could not help but to notice it, and she knew that it was one of the worst coping mechanisms a person could have. Luna found herself thinking that, under the conditions, Mina was probably better off dead.

Before she started the polygraph again, Luna explained to Mina that for the sake of the test, they would consider her experience with President Lee her 'first time'. She also told Mina that she would be given a chance to clarify anything she was untruthful about. Mina nodded her head in understanding. Luna continued.

"Was your experience with President Lee your first sexual experience?"

"Yes."

"Did you want to be with President Lee?" There was a long period of silence before Mina answered.

"No." Luna sighed. Mina was still lying, but she would let her brother decide if this was a significant lie or not.

After going through the questions, a second and a third time, Luna asked Mina to clarify her responses so she could compile new questions to determine if her explanations were truthful.

"Are you really the only surviving child of your parents?" Luna asked.

"I am," Mina said. "The thing is my sister's body was never found. It is not a lie to say that I hope for the best. To me she is not dead." Luna nodded. She knew that if Mina genuinely believed her sister was not dead, the polygraph would indicate her saying anything else as a lie. This was the case of her heart battling with her mind. It was rare, but it could happen. Luna skipped the question and continued.

"Mina, you previously indicated that you have been arrested, but you have no criminal record to speak of. How is that possible?"

Mina went on to explain to Luna that when she first moved to Scal, she had not even hit sixteen in age. The first thing she did upon arrival was search for every female officer she could find. She explained to them that she was alone in the city and she wanted to build relationships with trustworthy people. In a patriarchy such as Pan, the officers knew that Mina was trying to protect herself by having her presence associated with the police. They did not mind being used in this way.

Mina told Luna that her first year of university went well. She had made a couple of friends; she was doing well in her studies and everything was paid for by the school. Unfortunately, the very next year was drastically different.

In order for Mina to make ends meet she often helped a few officers manage their finances. It was a quick and easy way to make money, but after some pressure from the Arden family, those officers stopped hiring her for her services. Instead, she worked for them under the table, and helped them avoid paying taxes, something she had become extremely good at after getting her hands on a tax preparation guide in middle school.

Somehow, Mina's name made it to the chief of police who was the father to three daughters. He sympathized with Mina and he worked out a deal with her. In exchange for her free financial advice and management, his local officers would look the other way if she got caught doing anything wrong, this was of course limited to nonviolent crimes, and Mina did not hesitate to agree.

Everyone in the local police department knew that Mina was very young. They also knew that their chief had a soft spot for her, thus no one dared to try anything with her. If Mina were caught doing something wrong, the police would arrive and for show, they would slap handcuffs on her. She never stayed behind bars for more than twenty-four hours, and it was mostly to allow those in charge of keeping her safe, some time to scold her. They knew Mina was in a desperate situation but none of them could afford to help openly. In reality, many of the people she stole from would have helped, if they were not so afraid of the Arden family. Calling the police on Mina was really for their own protection as much as hers.

Mina told Luna that she was fine living like that for two years, but one day she was arrested for no reason by a different police department. Luckily, the chief of the first district police was able to intercept the arrest and he later told Mina that she needed to stay out of sight. Mina however, still had a few years left to complete her triple master's program. She did not plan on giving up because she still had her parents to take care of.

Even though Mina's scholarship no longer included room and board; it was better than nothing, and a degree from Wayvair university held more weight than if she resumed her studies at her local college. Mina sublet an apartment in a desolate part of town, and her ties with the police chief was severed. From then on, Mina was left to work as a day laborer. Mina worked hard and did not make any trouble, but she still managed to offend that daughter of the Arden family. Soon, even the most grueling and burdensome types of work were hard for her to come by.

Luckily, years had already passed, and Mina had already saved, invested, and earned enough money to cover her last year of university, but she was still pinching pennies. This led her to a job interview at the Lee Group, but she was never called. Mina's story went full circle as she described her first encounter with Adley and subsequently, President Lee.

Luna listened to Mina explain carefully while she jotted down a few notes. She would use them to create questions to ask Mina later. Ian, who was listening in, was already making calls to confirm Mina's story. Either the girl was an excellent storyteller and liar, or she was telling the truth. Luna continued with the next question.

"Mina, you said that you did not want to be with President Lee, but your test results indicate that was not a truthful answer. Can you explain it?"