Chapter 326: What If

Bastien was running out of time. He had said too much to Olivia when he thought he would successfully be able to get her back to his family home.

To Bastien it did not matter if Olivia had experience or not, because he planned to marry her as soon as she accepted him. He did not care about anything else. His father's acting school was losing its favorability, and producing less and less stars, which meant it was losing money.

Bastien had gotten used to his comfortable way of life, and he saw a golden ticket in Olivia. He had seen the girl as a sister in the beginning, but as she grew, so did his lust, and it did not hurt that Olivia was a beautiful person.

Only Connor knew through a drunken confession how Bastien felt about Olivia. The man promised to keep the information from Cylus for the sake of brotherhood, but now that Bastien had made a move against Olivia, he was afraid Connor would speak up.

Bastien had already tried to court Olivia in a traditional way, but she smoothly rejected him with the truth. She told him that she did not like the fact that he had several paternity scares, and she did not trust him. He of course laughed it off as if it were a joke, but it was only a front so that Olivia would not put her guard up around him.

For a while, Olivia was distant, but patience paid off, and she once again trusted him enough to go out for drinks with him alone. It took all the stealth Bastien possessed to slip something into Olivia's drink, and she had been taken away from him without so much as a good fight.

Bastien did not expect for someone to attack him, and now he was shaken with the guilt of perhaps having sent Olivia into the bed of a stranger. He had not gotten a clear look at the person who attacked him, and he was unable to aid Cylus in his search of the girl. That alone was more than enough to damage their relationship, but Bastien was already working on plan B.

Bastien told himself that no matter the outcome, he would still marry Olivia if she were ever found. Even if it meant that he would never touch her, he had plenty of women who he could share a bed with outside of their marriage.

For Bastien Olivia was a beautiful meal ticket and nothing more. He would strive to make her happy if he could, but if he could not, he would not allow himself to suffer.

----

Mina and Miss Meagan laid in bed chatting about life as they watched a television series about missed connections and alternate realities. Mina found the show interesting, in part because she could now appreciate the work put into its production.

The set design, location choice, scene selection, and even the wardrobe in the series were done so well that Mina questioned the validity of the film in which she was involved.

Mina was particularly touched by the secondary lead's storyline because it reminded her of herself and Paul. There was no Miss Maggie in the production, but the two side characters had not known how the other felt until after one was about to be married and the other was in a relationship.

The man and woman in the series eventually found out about their feelings, and were able to experience the 'what if,' without having an affair. Mina found herself wishing that it were possible for her and Paul. Miss Meagan must have noticed her emotional response because she started to ask questions.

Instead of lying as she usually did, Mina told the truth. She had been fond of Paul on a platonic level, but somehow, after years apart and the news of marriage, she had only just realized that she liked him as more than a friend.

"Are you not interested in Ian?" Meagan asked. Mina could tell it was an innocent question. She had lived with the man, and it was reasonable for anyone to be curious.

"No," Mina answered flatly. She did not want to be too harsh, but she also wanted to be clear. "President Lee and I are only business partners, and he has a long-term girlfriend. Besides that, the man is cold and heartless. I could not be with a person like that." Meagan nodded, she had remembered there was a girl who followed Ian around, but she had not heard they were in a relationship. She also knew how ruthless the young president Lee could be, and she did not blame Mina for being wary, but she also knew things Mina did not.

"Do you know why he is like that?" Meagan asked. Of course, Mina did not know. "Ian was raised by his nanny; you know that much, don't you?" Mina nodded. She had the pleasure of meeting President Lee's nan.

Miss Meagan followed up on her statement by going back to before President Lee had been born. Apparently, both of his parents were in committed relationships with other people when they decided to marry one another.

The sacrifice had been made for the good of two prominent families. At the time, the Lee family was experiencing so much infighting that they needed to set a clear leader within the main branch, and for Ian's mother whose surname had been Yule, her family just wanted to get a foothold in the political arena.

"What does that have to do with their son being a jerk?" Mina asked sarcastically. The question made Meagan chuckle and she playfully smacked Mina hand.

Meagan went on to tell Mina that for the first four years of Ian's life, his parents were never home. They were single handedly rooting out the 'bad apples' in the family, forgetting that they had a growing son at home.

With his parents always gone, the young Ian Lee became extremely attached to his nanny, and when he was eight years old, he almost lost the woman during an attempt on his life. From there little Ian no longer behaved like a child. He was like a little man and having a son not much older than Ian was, Meagan forbade her husband from allowing the boys to interact out of fear that her Zane would be ruined.

"President Lee never learned how to treat people fairly. In his experience, nothing had been fair to him, and no one had been fair to him. He treats everyone like a potential enemy." Mina did not feel pity for President Lee, but she understood what Miss Meagan was trying to tell her.

Mina almost wanted to tell Miss Meagan that her life was just as hard as President Lee's, but she stopped herself. She had no assurance that their conversations would remain private and she was in no mood to have her personal life tragedies exploited by President Lee as a method of torture. Mina decided that the best thing to do was to bring up Lisa again.

"That explains why he doesn't treat his girlfriend the way he should." Miss Meagan furrowed her brow. She had not been trying to throw Ian under the bus, but she managed to do just that.

Zane had told his mother that Ian was extremely interested in Mina, who was oblivious to the man's attempts at any romantic gesture. He had also warned his mother against telling that to Mina, who he said, would likely have a negative reaction to the information.

Meagan did not believe her son at first. There were almost no women, who knew who President Lee was, that were not willing to put up with his cold demeanor. However, she had just witnessed Mina casually dismiss the man's sob story, and firmly stamp her indifference by mentioning Ian's girlfriend. It made Meagan curious.

"Mina, if Ian didn't have a girlfriend-" the question was never completed. In fact, Mina denied it with so much agitation in her tone that Meagan felt the need to apologize.