Chapter 380: Rumor-2

No sooner had the thought crossed Mina's mind, a man who she had seen one time too many for it to be a coincidence, came to sit beside her. Mina ignored him and continued to stew in her anger and embarrassment; hoping that Olivia was having an enjoyable time explaining who Dom was or was not to her overprotective cousin.

"Do you really cost two million?" Mina did not have to ask where that rumor came from. It was obviously a little 'you're welcome' from President Ian Lee.

"The last I checked; humans do not come with a price tag." Mina stood up but the man blocked her path.

"If you want roles, you don't have to sleep with men as low as Peter Twan. I have more connections than he does." Mina scoffed at the man's words. She knew that rumor must have come from Mary.

"No thank you," Mina said, trying to keep herself calm. She was angry, and the man blocking her path was antagonizing her.

"Let me be straight. I want you, and I know you don't have issues with accepting money, so name your price." Mina wanted nothing more than to slap the man in front of her, but an unexpected savior arrived.

"How dare you?" Lisa asked. "You think a few rumors justify being a pig?" The man who had been speaking turned around with a calm expression, he looked as though he was going to curse Lisa, but then he caught sight of the person behind her.

"I think I may have confused the young woman for someone else," the man lied. Before anyone could say anything else, he scurried away like a cockroach.

"Thank you," Mina said. She sat back down and calmed her breathing. She had almost lost herself in front of so many people, and she did not want to embarrass either of her bosses, especially Cylus. "You look beautiful," Mina added, and it was the truth, Lisa looked more natural than usual, her face calmer, and her tone more relaxed. She could tell the woman had gone easy on the makeup and it suit her well.

"As do you," Lisa replied. "You should not have wandered away from Cylus. Had I not insisted on coming to check on you, that idiot might have-"

"Gotten slapped," Mina cut in. Lisa laughed and Mina blinked rapidly in shock. She was up to something.

"Can we start over?" She asked, extending a hand to Mina, who almost wanted to ask if the skin was poisoned, but with President Lee staring at her like she had better behave, Mina gave in.

"Why not?" Mina shot back in a casual tone. Lisa was thrilled. She sat in the chair directly beside Mina's and started a conversation.

----

Zane had seen Mina walk away, but Cylus had not. He panicked when he saw she had gone while he was talking to his cousin and her coconspirator.

Although he was taken aback by the mention of an unknown male in his cousin's life, Cylus was not genuinely angry with the women, and he feared that Mina misunderstood. He had not forgotten how she felt about public confrontation.

Cylus had only made it a few feet away from Olivia and Jay, when Zane called out to him.

"If you know what's good for you, stop now," he warned. Zane had grown to like Olivia, and for her sake he wanted to warn the man who was digging his own grave.

"People are not property," Cylus quipped. He hated that Mina was being viewed as an object that could be owned by anyone.

"No, they are not, but for the sake of argument, consider what is more important; courting a woman as dense as a rock when it comes to romance, or your family?" Cylus scanned Zane's face trying to see the arrogance in his threat, but there was nothing but pity.

"Mina should be allowed to choose her own path," Cylus added.

"I agree, and if I am being honest with you, I also find Mina… special, but there is no way you don't feel the tension." Cylus shook his head, not wanting to listen. "I have already said more than I should, but if you genuinely like Mina, don't push her into a corner. At the end of everything that has happened so far, she has been the only one consistently coming out on the losing end." Zane did not wait for a reply, he walked away knowing that Cylus would do the right thing.

----

Olivia and Jay stayed close to one another, they had seen Mina sneak off, and they had seen CEO Zane speaking with Cylus. Neither woman wanted to wander away as they both were receiving glares that carried a hint of hatred.

Jay scooted closer to Olivia, asking her why they were garnering so much attention when it was clearly Mina who was the most attractive woman in the room, but Olivia did not have an answer for her.

Rolling her eyes, Jay pulled Olivia toward a group of entertainers whose smile fell when they saw the women approaching. At least one of the women tried to walk away, but Jay stopped her.

"Spill it," she ordered. "We aren't big headed enough to think that everyone is staring because we are too beautiful." Olivia smirked. She really liked Jay's method of dealing with the unknown.

"We haven't said-"

"Not asking who said what," Jay interrupted. "I want to know what is being said." The women looked to one another before one spoke.

"It's mostly about her," the woman said pointing to Olivia. The woman continued with what the rumor was and Jay and Olivia burst out laughing.

"Eww," Olivia said. "They could have at least picked better men to lump us together with." Jay was so embarrassed by how stupid and unbelievable the rumor was that she felt bad for approaching the entertainers in an aggressive manner.

"Thanks for your honesty," Jay added. She linked arms with Olivia and the women walked away, feeling much better now that they knew the idiocy of what was being said about them.

----

Matthew walked into the venue with a single goal in mind, find Olivia Kent, find Jay, piss Jay off, and make Jay leave the event in anger. It was a petty thing, but he really hated how easy it was for her to forget about him.

Peter followed Matthew closely, he continuously tried to tell his friend that what he was doing was a bad idea, but Matthew was in denial. He obviously liked Jay more than he let on; he was just too stubborn to admit it.

Matthew was adamant that the woman had used him for an elevated position within the entertainment industry, and he lamented that he had been duped. While Jay landed a full-time position within Rouge Entertainment, he was left walking on eggshells like a common director, who was only just starting out.

Matthew had to give Jay credit for the way she made use of both he and Mina. He was well aware that if it were not for Mina, his career could have been ruined multiple times over, and he was now looking at the woman as a good luck charm.

The same was true for Jay, who Matthew believed had used her father as a tether to Mina.