Chapter 288: The Innocent Act

Peter was sitting in a shame induced silence when Mina walked into his field of vision. As soon as she saw him see her, she turned to walk away quickly. She seemed to be just as embarrassed as he was.

The second Peter's eyes met Mina's form, he thought that she was probably just like Mary, pretending to be something she was not. It was no secret that CEO Rue had his eye on the girl, as much as Mina denied it, everyone within Peter's circle was discussing her relationship with President Lee.

As if his legs had a mind of their own, Peter stood up and started to follow Mina. He was hot on her tail, but to his surprise the woman quickened her pace and ran away from him. Her actions only added to Peter's fury and he gave chase; only stopping when he caught hold of her.

Peter grabbed both of Mina's arms and shook her forcefully.

"You knew, didn't you?" He yelled into Mina's face.

"I found out shortly before you did. I-"

"Drop the act!" Peter shouted. "You're probably just like her, pretending to be innocent one minute and spreading your-" Mina never got to hear the rest of Peter's sentence because someone had punched the man in the face so hard, he fell back on his butt.

Mina turned to look at the source of the flying fist and was surprised to see Cylus, only he did not look like himself. He was fuming, and Mina knew it was not just because of what Peter had been saying.

Mina watched as Cylus squatted down and picked Peter up by his collar. He swung the man with so much force that it caused Mina to freeze in fear. The blows rained down on Peter repeatedly and Cylus only stopped when director Porter showed up and pulled him away.

"What did he do?" Mina's boss asked. He was terrified by the bloody mess of his assistant. He and Jay had snuck away for what felt like just a few minutes, and somehow, in that short amount of time, another bombshell must have been dropped.

"First you disrespect my little cousin, and then you disrespect Mina; when it's your slut of a woman that you're really angry with," Cylus shouted at Peter, who was being propped up by both Jay and Matthew.

Mina still had not spoken; her brain had gone into overdrive. She could not wrap her mind around how she had offended the man she had been nothing but kind and respectful toward. All she had done was given Peter space and time to come to terms with the news with which he was confronted. She had done nothing less than what she would have wanted people to do if she were in the same position.

Before Mina could state her piece, Cylus had pulled her by the wrist and toward the exit. His car was so close to the building, that even if Jessica had seen them leaving, she would not have been able to stop Mina from getting into the car or stop Cylus from driving off.

No one tried to stop Cylus from taking Mina, and no one spoke up for Peter, who looked like he needed medical attention.

----

Mina was seated in Cylus' car and she couldn't help but to start hyperventilating. She felt extremely uncomfortable leaving Jessica behind, and even more uncomfortable not knowing where she was being taken.

Mina tried to keep her breathing even, afraid to annoy the man, who had just ruthlessly beaten someone for everyone to see. Fortunately, he had not noticed the sweat building on her brow, or if he did, he chose to ignore it.

The pair drove for a few short minutes before the Cylus stopped in front of a building that looked identical to the one they had just left.

When the car stopped, a sobbing Olivia came running out. She was being pulled back by a man who wore similar clothing to Dom, James, and Jessica. Mina intuitively knew that the man was a hired guard.

"What did you do to him?" Olivia cried. She was desperately trying to get away from the man who was holding her, and Mina could not take what she was witnessing

Unable to contain her emotions, Mina got out of the car and began to repeatedly punch the arms of the man holding Olivia as hard as she could. Tears fell out of her own eyes as she did. All the while Cylus did nothing.

Mina managed to distract the guard enough for him to release Olivia, who dropped to the ground. Mina quickly made her way to the woman, who pushed her away before pulling her back into a hug when she saw that Mina was also crying.

"Why does everyone think that about me?" Olivia asked Mina, who was oblivious to what the woman was referring to.

"I don't think Peter is as nice of a person as we thought," Mina said affectionately. She still did not know what had occurred between the two, but she had experienced Peter's Jekyll firsthand.

Mina was still seated on the ground with Olivia when Jessica's car screeched to a halt beside Cylus'. Once Jessica exited the vehicle, she approached Mina with so much aggression in her posture that Mina flinched and Cylus blocked the woman's path.

"I don't hit women," Cylus said as a warning.

"Neither do I," Jessica shot back. She was almost positive she could beat Cylus. Albeit with much effort. Sensing that another fight would happen Mina stood up, and only then did Jessica notice she had been crying.

"What happened to you? Are you okay?" Jessica asked. She scanned Mina's body for injuries. She had not missed the blood on CEO Rue's knuckles.

"I'm fine, but can we take Olivia with us, please?" Mina begged. Jessica nodded; she had already been given notice that Mina could have as much female company as she wanted.

"You are not taking her with you," Cylus said, and Mina shot him a pleading gaze.

"Please Cylus, I've moved. It's just me in my apartment now, and Jessica will be with us. I promise nothing bad will happen." Cylus was skeptical.

Since his cousin had lost her parents, she had lived with his family. She was more like a little sister to him, but she was wild at heart. It took all of Cylus' efforts to make sure she didn't ruin herself before marriage, and even still, there were constant rumors about her.

Had Olivia been raised in Pan, she would have learned the proper etiquette of the country but having been raised for more than half her life in the Four Cities, Olivia never learned to adjust. She had not learned the boundaries between men and women and often joked about situations that made her appear knowledgeable in things she knew nothing about.

Cylus had kept Olivia close to him and his friends, hoping to keep his cousin out of gossip, but Oric, Connor and Bastien were terrible influences on her behavior. As much as Cylus loved his cousin, he knew she had a terrible reputation, through rumors alone, and he did not want that to negatively impact Mina, who was involved in several rumors as well.

"Please Cylus, if you don't believe me, I can send you the address and you can drop her off yourself."