Chapter 291: No Explanation Necessary

Mina was in her sitting room with the oddest gathering of people she could imagine. Somehow the topic had rolled around from 'counter rumors' to 'what it means to say sorry.'

In a group of individuals she felt confident around, Mina did not hold back in her responses. She let her honest opinion be known and was a little rude in doing so.

"So in your opinion, apologies mean nothing?" Cylus asked Mina.

"Exactly, they are just words; hollow; they mean nothing." Cylus was a little offended by Mina's rant. Not that he blamed her for being angry with someone, but to say that a person's humble words meant nothing was harsh.

"By that logic, Peter's words..." Mina cut Olivia off.

"No. Peter's words held intention. They were real," Mina argued.

"And what if an apology has intentions?" Zane asked. He was once again probing Mina for Ian's sake, but he was unsure if it was because of the way Cylus looked at Mina, or something else.

"What intention could an apology have?" Mina asked incredulously.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's to let the person know you are sorry?" Zane asked sarcastically. Mina's face flushed in confusion as she took in Zane's words. It was almost as if she had never considered that possibility.

"I personally believe there are some things beyond an apology." Mina had calmed down significantly and had turned red from the embarrassment she felt. She had always been taught that remorse was shown through actions not words. Mina had stuck with that logic growing up, but only now was she seeing that 'I'm sorry' was a necessary precursor.

----

Mina awoke in the morning with Olivia curled up next to her in bed. The woman was a peaceful sleeper which was completely opposite of her loud personality. Jessica and Jay had shared the guestroom, and that was only because Cylus had insisted on choosing the sleeping arrangement if he were to allow Olivia to stay the night. Knowing that she was not alone, Mina slept so soundly that she was reluctant to wake up.

Wanting to take advantage of having three additional people around, Mina went to take one of the longest showers she had taken since moving. She allowed the water to run along her body without fear and when she changed her clothing, she did not feel the need to look over her shoulders.

After bathing, Mina made her way into the kitchen where she prepared a quick and simple breakfast for the fast asleep women: eggs, sausages, and toast. She arranged the food on the table along with different fruit spreads and by the time she was finished, Jay and Jessica were already rubbing their eyes in greeting.

"You look cute," Mina said to Jessica, who shot her a warning glance. The only pajama Mina had that fit the woman was a pink nightgown complete with fluffy trimming and cartoon sheep.

"Shut up and feed me," Jessica ordered. Both Mina and Jay laughed. The sound must have woken Olivia who made her way toward the dinette without so much as a hello.

"Still worried?" Jay asked and Olivia nodded like a wronged child.

"Worst case scenario, you marry outside the country." Olivia shrugged. She was not opposed to marrying outside of Pan, she just did not want Peter to think poorly of her.

----

Peter's face was bruised all over, fortunately his nose was not broken, although it hurt like hell. He had not yet approached his fiancé because he wanted to wait until he had calmed down before meeting with her. He also wanted to make sure that both sets of parents were around when his decision was made, that way, no one would try to force his hand.

Peter looked over to Olivia's phone, he had seen her input the code on the device, so he was able to open it freely. He was still so thoroughly embarrassed by the revelation of his cheating fiancé that he had not even sent the photos to himself. Somehow, he felt that sending the images to his own device would make them real.

Not sure where to end or where to begin, Peter found himself scrolling through the photos in Olivia's device. Unlike what he thought he would find. All of Olivia's photos revolved around the same people; three men he recognized as some of CEO Rue's closest friends and one unknown woman.

The photo's left nothing to misinterpretation. They were the kind of photos you would find in the phone of a teenage girl, complete with bunny ears and funny faces. Peter stopped looking through the camera roll when he got to images of Olivia's family.

Unsure what he was looking for, Peter decided to go through Olivia's text messages. They were exactly what he expected, tons of men sending her images of their body parts, but what he did not expect was how Olivia responded to such images. She would either ask the person to stop or block the number completely.

Trying to find a reason not to feel guilty, Peter read some of Olivia's texts, but it only added to the heaviness he was feeling. If anything in her phone was to be believed, she had been struggling with trying to figure out who was spreading rumors about her.

Olivia had sent several messages to her cousin, begging him to help her curb the spread of one rumor or another. She had even reached out to one of the men her name had been tied to. The person of course denied any knowledge of a rumor, which Peter knew was a lie because he had heard the man with his own ears.

Angry, Peter threw Olivia's device across the room, it was only then that he remembered that the phone did not belong to him. He quickly made his way to the device, which was damaged, but still in working condition. Coming to his senses, Peter sent the images of Mary to his phone, and texted his fiancé, inviting her to brunch with their families.

----

When Peter arrived at his familial home, his parents were shocked by his appearance. He did not go into detail with an explanation, he just commented on how he deserved it, but his parents were still worried.

Mary arrived a short while later with her parents in tow. When she laid her eyes on Peter, she ran to him, but he pulled away from her in revulsion.

"Is everything ok?" Mary asked, but Peter addressed her parents instead.

Not wanting to drag the day out longer than it needed to be, Peter announced to both families that he would be cancelling the engagement between himself and Mary. Mary began to weep bitterly, tugging on Peter's clothing trying to look pathetic. Both sets of parents tried to appeal to Peter, telling him that Mary would struggle to find a husband, but Peter remained quiet.

When Mary's crying became too much to handle, Peter sent a text to her phone and asked her to check her device. As soon as she opened the message she paled and became quiet. She did not want to marry Peter badly enough to risk him sending the same photos to her parents.

Without much further protest, Mary gathered her things and left the Twan family home. Her parents stayed behind still wanting to appeal to Peter, but he assured them that he was not a good fit for their daughter. Seeing that they would be unable to convince the man, the elderly couple also left, leaving Peter alone with his parents.

"Why?" His mother asked, but instead of arguing, he simply showed her the images. No further explanation was necessary.