Chapter 261: Fear

Ian listened as Zane, his best friend for nearly half his life, justified hiding information for a near stranger as if it were the most natural thing to do. Once again, Zane put things with Mina into perspective for Ian, but he was smitten, and it was hard to push past his desire. 

Of all the women Ian had met in his life, Mina was the only one who infatuated him with just a single glance. It did not help any that she was uncaring, unmaterialistic, and hard-working. In fact, that only added to Ian's obsession. 

No, he did not love Mina. Ian knew that much, but from what he had learned about her and from the intimate details they shared with one another, he knew she was perfect for him. So perfect, that he was willing to do anything to keep her. He may not have loved Mina now, but Ian believed he could learn to love her in the future. 

"That night at your house, when Mina fell, was it all an act?" Ian asked.

"On her part, yes. I wanted to tell you, but your sister convinced Mina that Lisa is the real victim, and Mina begged me not to say anything," Zane replied. Ian fought the urge to call his sister. Her actions were becoming more and more inexcusable, but he was not done with Zane yet.

"And you listened to her?" Ian asked, in disbelief.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure you would care," said Zane. "At the time, you were still trying to fix things with Lisa."

Ian held his head in his hands and let out a deep breath. He did not want to be with Lisa, and he did not want to continue hurting Mina.  He just wanted to go back to the way things were before he had ever laid eyes on the woman. Back to a time where his focus was work. 

"Ian, listen to me, will you? Mina may never forgive you. She will probably hate you for the rest of her life and you need to come to terms with that. You may have allowed her to move out but you and I both know that it is just a matter of time before you drag her back into the Lee mansion. I will not tell you what to do, but there are literally hundreds of women in this country who are not Lisa or Mina; date one of them," Zane said and to his surprise Ian nodded.

"I will try, but Zane if anything happens while she is on her own, I won't just ignore it."

"I would never ask you to," Zane replied. He believed Mina needed her freedom, but he also knew there was a chance she was in danger, and if danger presented itself, then it was only normal for Ian to react. "Speaking of," Zane added. "I'm pretty sure Carl Marsor has a thing for Mina." Ian's eyes narrowed. He knew he noticed the man staring a little too hard.

"How long have you known?" Ian asked.

"A few weeks. I haven't seen anything, but from what I've heard around, he has been claiming Mina as his fourth." Ian chuckled and not because he was happy.

'I wonder what else Mina has been hiding from me,' Ian thought as he finished off his drink.

----

Mina stood in front of her apartment door and played with the lock. She knew she had full control over the small mechanism, but her heart still thudded in her chest at the thought of being trapped. She did not think that President Lee knew about her problem with locked doors or enclosed spaces, so she was sure it was not another sort of punishment. 

Right now, Mina was punishing herself, but no matter what method she tried, she could not calm down. Eventually, She came up with the idea of dragging the sofa across the room and pushing it up against the door in such a way that if anyone attempted to open it, they would not be able to. She quickly ran to shower and get ready for bed, but the unease in her chest would not rest. 

Mina scooped up the duvet from the bed in the master bedroom and laid on the couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. It still took her hours to fall asleep, but she managed to shut her eyes and rest. 

----

Mina was awakened by thumping on the apartment door. She flew off the sofa and hid. Dom had told her that no one knew where she now lived and if it were him, he would not have knocked so violently. 

In a panic, Mina opened the window of her apartment and started to climb out, but she lost her footing and fell. Her body kept falling but it never came to a stop. The next time she opened her eyes, she was sitting face to face with President Lee. He was opening a mint and Mina refused it. President Lee angrily tried to force the mint down Mina's throat, but she fled.

While she was running, Mina saw Dom standing in the distance and she made her way toward him, but he did not help her. Instead he watched her being thrown into a dark room where she sat weeping until her cries were drowned out by the cries of someone else. Mina opened the shut door and came face to face with her weeping mother. 

"What have you done?" Her mother asked, she was holding someone in her arms.

Mina sat straight up on the couch, the thumping noise was still coming from the door, but she was not sure if she was still dreaming or not. She sat unmoving until she heard the unmistakable sound of a key sliding into the lock. She stood up and held the lock in place.

"Who is there?" Mina demanded, but her voice cracked mid-sentence.

"It's me, Jessica," a voice called out. Mina let out her breath and moved the sofa so she could open the door. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Jessica said. She could clearly see the worried expression on Mina's face. "Dom asked me to come and drive you to work."

Mina picked up the phone she had yet to activate and checked the time, she was due to start her first day of work in three hours. She had set an alarm but either she slept through it, or the phone she purchased was unreliable. 

"Thank you," Mina said. "I will go get ready now." Jessica nodded and went to step out of the apartment, but Mina asked her to stay. The woman did not protest, she could see that Mina was scared of something.

----

When Jessica's car stopped in front of the building that housed Director Porter's office, Mina felt her heart begin to race. She was nervous. This was her first real job, and she was clueless. 

"You okay?" Jessica asked.

"Nervous," Mina replied. Jessica pinched Mina's arm and Mina yelped. "What was that for?" Mina yelled angrily.

"Are you still nervous?" Jessica asked and Mina's face fell.

"That's dumb," Mina said, but she had to admit that she was now too distracted to feel nervous. 

"Did it work?" Jessica asked, and Mina nodded. "Good. I'll be here when you get off," she said. Mina exited the car and strode into the building.