Chapter 95: Unintentional Insult

President Lee looked at the female board member who raised her concerns regarding Mina. His mind was trying to calculate if she would benefit any if he were to be removed as head of his father's company, but he couldn't see any obvious connection. Still, he decided he would keep an eye on the woman who singled Mina out, seemingly for no reason. When he answered her question, he made sure he was vague with his response.

"Don't worry about her," President Lee said, but the woman was not satisfied with the answer and pressed to know who Mina was. "Miss Law, I've already said that you should not worry about her," he pressed, but someone else chimed in.

"Yes, but 'who' is she?" a man asked. Looking Mina in the eye, President Lee clearly and boldly proclaimed that Mina was no one.

Mina slowly closed her eyes and forced herself to remain calm. Zane was staring at his friend who held an unreadable expression on his face. Even if he meant no harm the words were harsh, and Mina was clearly offended by them. A round of stifled laughter filled the room and the meeting continued.

When Mina opened her eyes again, it was as if her vision had gone red. It was true that she was no one compared to the people in the room, but did President Lee have to humiliate her in front of a crowd of people? He could have given her any title, a scribe, a friend, an assistant, but no, he decided that she was nobody. Mina had agreed to work with him today for the sake of her parents, but there were some things that caused her to behave irrationally.

For example, Mina was not a violent person, but when that woman who confronted her earlier, lifted her hand to smack her, it triggered a deep hatred she had for people who belittled her. These feelings of disdain started when she was young and only grew in intensity when she aged. All this time, President Lee had treated her poorly; he had tortured her, starved her, and locked her up for weeks, but in all of that, he did not mock her. To him, she was an enemy who needed to be dealt with, and not once during that time did he flaunt the fact that he was better than her until now.

With a truly wicked smile on her face, Mina remained quiet throughout the meeting. At its conclusion, Mina was the first to stand, but a few of the men in the room came to introduce themselves and she could not get away from them. Zane, who had been feeling bad for Mina since his friend's comment, came to her rescue. By the time President Lee looked up the two were gone.

'Could they really not wait to be alone?' He thought.

Zane took Mina to his office and had something ordered. He had heard the woman's stomach growl several times during their brief trip from the meeting hall to his office. He did not know that his friend had not stopped to feed her once since morning, nor did he know that Mina was used to ignoring her hunger. So, he felt like it was an oversight on Ian's behalf, and the thought bothered him enough to want to confront his friend.

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Looking around Mr. Zane's office, Mina realized that it was just as professional as President Lee's except for a few splashes of color in the room that gave it signs of life. Instead of a black sofa, Zane had opted for a burgundy one. He also had several decorative items on his desk and coffee table, whereas President Lee had nothing more than a PC, a calculator, a pen holder, and a notepad. She could not understand how the two men were friends, when they seemed to be opposites at every turn, but then again, she thought about herself, her sister, and the girls she had befriended in school. They were all nothing alike, but they got along well.

There was a knock at Mr. Zane's door and a group of people brought in a table with several mouth watering dishes. Mina stood up and tried to excuse herself, she did not want to disturb the man's meal, but he stopped her before she could even finish speaking.

"The food is for you," he said, and Mina did not know how to feel about his kindness. She did not know what his intentions were but, in her experience, men were not kind for no reason.

"Mr. Zane," Mina said, "all of this… what is it for?" Zane laughed hysterically. Mina was at first flustered by his laughter but soon found herself chuckling awkwardly.

"Mina, relax. I don't want anything from you," he said. "I heard your stomach growling, so I placed an order for food. This really isn't anything special or out of the ordinary for me." Embarrassed, Mina looked at the ground. She wanted to apologize for assuming but Zane interrupted her. "Why did you memorize that book?" he asked.

Mina told him that she had only memorized the first ten pages. She told him that she could memorize anything she read three times. Since her resources were limited, she relied on her memory of text she read to help her complete assignments throughout university. Although she had never put her skills to use in such a manner, she was happy she did. Zane found himself more fascinated with Mina. She was so full of unlocked potential and he couldn't help but to think of all the ways she complemented Ian.

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President Lee was standing outside of Zane's office when he could hear the tickled sound of laughter. It was hard for him not to feel jealous, he kept imagining all the ways he could have met Mina if circumstances had not been stacked against them. He was about to knock when he thought better of it. He knew his friend well and if he were pursuing Mina, it was just a matter of time before he succeeded. As he walked away, Ian heard his employees, who were on break, gossiping about a fight between two women.

"That girl came with President Lee so she must think she is untouchable," the first woman said.

"Too bad for her she started trouble with Mr. Emming's daughter," came the reply.

"That's right, some women think being a powerful man's plaything is their key to success."

"Stop. President Lee has Miss Lisa. He wouldn't be dumb enough to fall for someone so boorish."

"Anyway, we don't know anything about that girl. She just may be a new personal assistant."

"I saw her walking into CEO Zane's office, she looked depressed."

"I saw that too. Mr. Emming must have really torn into her for touching his daughter." The women continued to ramble before one of them turned around and nearly died from fright.

"Who exactly touched whom?" President Lee asked. His eyes darkened with anger. The women explained the situation conveniently leaving out the part where Camille attempted to slap Mina.

President Lee was livid, he had only asked Mina not to cause trouble for him and yet she dared to assault one of his best employees. He headed back to Zane's office, but as he reached for the handle the door was unexpectedly opened. Barging into the office, President Lee looked at Mina, who was still angry about him referring to her as no one, she didn't even bother to look up at the man she knew was shooting her with eye daggers.

"So, you're running around assaulting my employees?" President Lee asked and Mina scoffed. She threw down her utensils and stood to leave, but Zane stopped her. He knew the truth of the matter, and he wasn't confident Mina would defend herself well.

"You stay and eat, and you follow me," Zane said while pointing to President Lee, then to his door. Ian was shocked. It was rare for Zane to order him to do anything.