Chapter 140: Nancy

President Lee was in the middle of a call when Lisa strode into his office. Thinking Mina had returned without him fetching her, the man looked up and smiled. When the woman in front of him was not who he expected, his smile melted slightly, and he could tell that Lisa was put off. Guilt washed over him as he looked at the girl's hurt expression. The worst part was that he could not explain the situation to her, nor did he think his explanation would help. He held up a finger to Lisa trying to indicate that he would be with her in a minute, but his conversation lasted another half hour before he was able to end the call.

"Li Lee sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Lisa asked, clearly sensing that his smile was not meant for her eyes.

"You walked in at a bad time," he lied. Lisa was unsatisfied with his answer, she had a feeling that it was Mina he was looking forward to seeing.

"Ian, what does Mina do here?" She asked.

"Let's not talk about it. What brings you to the office?" Lisa felt her confidence deflate. Anytime Ian could not tell her the truth, that was his choice reply.

"I came to visit you," Lisa said. "I feel like we haven't spent any real time together as a couple since 'that night.'" Ian sighed. He was not comfortable with her definition of their relationship, but he had in many ways crossed the line of friendship with her. He would not humiliate her by denying her without a proper cause.

"I've been busy with handling issues overseas. There has been an attack on one of my holdings. We can't tell if the attack was targeted toward the Lee group or a specific individual," Ian said. He hoped that by confiding in her that way, she would forget about his earlier display.

"Is it something my family can help with?" Lisa asked innocently, but the look she got from Ian as a response was a clear warning.

In more recent years, the Lee and Anders family rivalry had become more intense. This was in part because both Lisa's brother and father thought Ian was using her as a pawn to control their family. Like an expert, Lisa corrected her mistake.

"Let's eat something together," she said.

----

Zane was in the middle of a very complicated 'sting operation' within the company. He had not known how many hands a Lee group job application passed through before it was finally sent to the human resources department. He wondered if the 'lost' applications were a real conspiracy or some sort of management oversight. It was possible that an absent-minded individual placed them down and they ended up being moved to storage by someone else.

Still Zane wanted to continue investigating until he hit a complete dead end. He had to work slowly because, if the incident was purposeful, he did not want to alert the culprit. There was a knock at his office door, and a very familiar woman stepped into his office.

"Get out," Zane shouted coldly. The woman dropped to her knees.

"Please give me another chance," she said. "I was weak. I know that now." Zane was unmoved by her plea. He had heard it twice before, and each time the woman ended up right back where he left her.

"Where is my father?" he asked. "He… I don't want him anymore. I don't love him," the woman said. Zane laughed cynically.

"Nancy, please leave."

"Why? Don't you still love me? If not, then why could I just walk into your office?" Zane laughed again.

"It's because I forgot to blacklist you." Nancy stood up and rushed toward Zane.

"Please, I have nowhere else to go. Can't you just help me this one time? If you ever cared about me at all you would help me now." Zane listened to the woman cry for what seemed like an eternity before there was another knock at his door. Nancy turned around and wiped her eyes. "Tell them to go away," Nancy said, but Zane did exactly the opposite.

A very innocent looking Mina poked her head into the office and looked around.

"Is this a bad time?" Mina asked, and Zane couldn't resist smiling. The girl was so unlike the women he was used to, and he wondered if all the girls where she came from were the same.

Zane made a gesture to Mina that signaled for her to come in and shut the door. He could tell that the girl was oblivious to the current situation. She may be smart, but she was completely dense when it came to certain things.

----

When Mina noticed the red rimmed eyes of the woman in Zane's office, she shot him a cold look.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Mina, this is Nancy, the ex-girlfriend I told you about," Zane replied. Mina's eyes widened in shock as she looked at the woman. She could not believe that such a person had the audacity to show their face again.

"Oh," Mina said, and she walked to Zane's side.

"Who is she?" Nancy asked. Mina could not resist the temptation.

"I am nobody," she said. The quip had become sort of an inside joke between herself and Zane.

Zane looked at the woman who had come to cry in his office and once again asked her to leave, but she refused.

"Please Zane, I really have changed this time," she said. She did not want to say too much in front of Mina, as she did not know how much of her past relationship history the girl was privy to. Mina rolled her eyes at the woman.

"I should go," Mina said. "It looks like you need some time to speak." Mina was about to walk away but Zane pulled her back.

"Nancy was just leaving," he said. Mina looked at both the man and woman and although Zane did not say much, his body language and facial expressions were begging her not to leave. She nodded her head in understanding. Mina linked arms with Zane suggestively.

"Miss Nancy, Zane doesn't want me to go. Can't you just tell him what you need in front of me? I already know everything." Nancy's face went pale.

"Are you his new girlfriend?" Nancy asked.

"I am a girl, and I am his friend," Mina said, clearly trying to mislead the woman.

"Zane, this is very personal. I don't want to talk in front of a stranger," Nancy pleaded.