Chapter 111: On the House

Over her momentary fit of anger, Mina became incredibly embarrassed by what she had just done. There were so many people looking at her that she felt as if she would faint. She hated to be stared at for any reason. She was about to ask Zane if he could send her to the Lee mansion. She needed to get away as soon as possible. Even president Lee was staring at her in a way that made her feel more uneasy than usual. She opened her mouth, but Lisa spoke first.

"You didn't learn to play like that from Wayvair. Did you have private lessons?" She asked and Mina explained to her that she and her sister were given piano lessons as children. Mina admitted that she had a naturally good voice, and, in her mind, she was asking Lisa to thank President Lee for locking her up with nothing else to do but sing for weeks. The experience could be counted as exercise for her vocal cords.

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Lisa racked her brain trying to figure out why she had never heard of the Harlow family. Taking a gamble, Lisa tried to trap Mina by asking her a loaded question.

"Lessons must have been expensive for your family."

"Not really, my mother was friends with our instructor, she cleaned the woman's house in exchange. My mother told my sister and I that we could in turn use the skill to earn extra money in the future," Mina said. Feeling like she had caught her rival in an aha moment Lisa was about to dig into the girl who had yet to take her seat.

"Why would your mother…" Lisa's question was cut off when the owner of the restaurant made an appearance at their table. Cheerfully, he told Mina that she would not be receiving a bill for her meal tonight. Not understanding, Mina asked the man what was going on and he produced a small device with a video on the screen.

Apparently, someone had specifically asked them to live broadcast Mina's performance from beginning to the end. While Mina was on stage, reservations to the restaurant, which were already high, tripled. Since dining arrangements could only be made after paying a non-refundable deposit of $150, Mina had brought the man a huge profit and he wanted to show his gratitude by covering her meal.

The owner, who was gushing over Mina, did not immediately recognize the unhappy woman sitting at the table. By the time he did, he realized that praising Mina may have been bad for his business in the long run. In an attempt to correct his mistake, the man addressed the woman directly.

"Miss Lisa, you look so beautiful I hardly recognized you. Thank you for bringing such a talented woman here tonight. I'm not sure how I can show you my gratitude, so please accept my kindness. In the future, any time you come here for a meal, it will be on the house." The owner knew this 'gift' would come with a bit of a loss, but the change in Miss Lisa's demeanor assured him that his move was the right one. The owner left the table with a tight smile. He had originally been happy, but now he was feeling like he had put both feet in his mouth at the same time. The Anders family frequently sent their foreign clients to his establishment, and he did not want to lose out by incurring their ire.

Mina was still standing when a couple, who had just finished their meal, came to her, and asked if she were a professional singer. They told her that their wedding would be held soon, and they wanted to know if they could hire her as an entertainer at their banquet. Ian, who was offended by the couples offer on Mina's behalf, shooed them away with a menacing glare, but the woman still managed to shove her handwritten contact information at Mina.

Mina was about to move toward her chair when a man approached her with a single rose. He introduced himself as a future groom, and told Mina that because of her song, his girlfriend of two years had finally agreed to marry him. Mina peaked around the man and saw a shy looking girl waving in her direction. She had just accepted the couple's rose when her ears began to ring. The man who had given her the flower was still speaking but she could no longer hear anything. Her eyesight became fuzzy, and overcome by dizziness, she swayed. Mina expected to make contact with the ground, but she was caught by someone. Chuckling in embarrassment, Mina removed the person's hands from around her waist.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she lied, and she excused herself to the ladies' room.

When Lisa saw Ian reach out to catch Mina, she knew she was in trouble. The man had always been cold, but there was warmth in his eyes when he scanned the girls face. Mina on the other hand, didn't even look at him when he caught her. Once she regained her footing, she pushed his hands away and left. She thought back to when she had ignored Ian and he made himself available for her. He was probably into the fact that Mina was not interested in him. However, no matter how Lisa thought about it, Mina was a threat that needed to be dealt with.

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Mina splashed water on her face several times but was unable to shake the jittery feeling she had. The thought of being watched by hundreds of people made her feel sick and she was so distracted by it that she didn't even say thank you to the person who stopped her from falling. She eventually calmed herself down. It had been five years, it was time for her to move on and let go, but the bitter memories were hard to ignore.

Mina struggled to regain her composure and head back to her seat. This time she was actually able to sit down. Looking at the table she noticed a full spread of dishes. Taking small bites, Mina slowly filled her stomach.