Chapter 472: Take Me Away?

Mina could not believe what she was hearing. She had been drugged only once that she knew of, and President Lee had once again used it against her. If he had not invited his cousin to dinner, he would not have been in Cylus' bar, and she would not be suspected of being a political rival in disguise. Mina was a liar, but President Lee was worse, and everything he did seemed to have a hefty price attached to it.

"What do you mean take me away?"

"Cameron can literally pick you up from anywhere at any minute, but if I take you outside of Pan, he won't be able to be so bold."

"Did you send Mills in here to trick me into going to Bal with her?" Mina was furious as she spoke.

"What? No, but we are going with them."

"I am not!" Mina shouted. She stormed out of the room and shouted Mills' name. She found the woman in the small kitchen cooking for Drax. "Why did you ask me to come to Bal with you?" She question, and Mills blanched.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong? You can always change your mind and stay here."

"If she stays here Cameron will come for her again." Ian knew this because Cameron had not just pegged Mina as a potential enemy, he had marked her as a possible wife. She fit the Cinderella story he had been selling, and it would help the family in the long run.

"I can take care of myself!" Mina shouted.

"How?" Ian asked sarcastically, but Mills replied in Mina stead.

"She can get a gun."

"That is right. I can get… wait what? I can get a gun?" Mina questioned, while staring at Mills. The woman did not reply, and instead she lifted her shirt and revealed several small pistols stuffed into holsters she wore. She pulled out one of the guns and nonchalantly handed it to Mina, who took the item in her hands reverently, before having it snatched away by President Lee.

"Mills what the hell? You can't just give her a gun."

"Why not?" Mina shouted.

"Because you don't know how to use it. You could get hurt." Not really seeing a weakness in that logic, Mina shouted in frustration stomping away from the kitchen in anger.

"Evil man won't even let me have a gun," she grunted, making Ian who was following behind her chuckle.

"Don't be angry. You know you could never even use it. It's not in your nature." Mina rolled her eyes.

"You don't know me very well, because the first person I was going to shoot was you." Without words Ian reached to the back of his jacket and pulled out a weapon larger than the one Mills had given her. He placed it into Mina's hands, careful not to scare her, before stepping a few feet away.

"Shoot me then," he ordered, and Mina lined up the gun the way she had seen in movies.

Mina stood there, forcing herself to recall all the things she could remember President Lee doing to her. She thought of how he violently threw her at the hotel, she thought of how he treated her at the hospital, how he withheld medicine from her, fed her mold, and kept her in the dark. She thought of the maid he had killed, and she thought of him calling her names. She hated him and she wanted nothing more than to shoot him, but her hands started to shake, and it was distracting her.

"Shoot me Mina," he ordered again, taking a step closer, but her resolve had long since wavered and her entire body began to tremble. "Can you not do it?" He whispered. President Lee was now so close that the gun was pressed against his chest and Mina started to hyperventilate. He reached up and gently removed the gun from her hands. "That is why you don't need a gun. Everyone thinks it is easy, but it's hard to pull the trigger, especially the first time."

Mina was staring at President Lee wondering if he had ever had to shoot someone, or if he had ever killed a person himself. She found herself studying his face. She wondered who he would have been if he was not born into the Lee family, and perhaps had been born into a family more like her own. He was tall and handsome, so Mina had no doubt he would be popular, but would he have been as cold?

"What are you thinking?" President Lee questioned in a deep voice, and Mina, who had not stepped back from him was snapped out of her thoughts.

"Is this what you wanted?" she asked, and Ian having had experience with Mina and misunderstandings, pressed her to clarify, because if left up to him, he would have said yes in reference to the way she was looking at him. "I mean, your career. Is it what you wanted to do?" To her surprise, he answered in the affirmative.

"It's all I wanted since I was eight. I want to keep people I care about safe, and I can only do that if I am willing to do things others would not." Mina nodded slowly, understanding President Lee's words, because that was how she felt when she snuck into his hotel room. "Can you listen to me this time? I know my cousin; the next time he takes you, he won't allow you to return, and I won't be able to save you the way I did with Antonio Sylvan." Ian watched Mina's expression shift from one of understanding to disappointment, and he knew he had said something wrong. The problem is he did not know what.

"You really do disgust me," she said, turning around and walking away. Ian wanted to follow, but he heard Drax clear his throat and when he turned to face the man, both he and Mills were shaking their heads. They had obviously been eavesdropping, and neither of them thought it was a good idea for him to go chasing after her.

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It was early afternoon, and Mina was awakened by Mills who excitedly held a travel ticket and booklet in her hands. She flashed it in front of Mina's face and Mina looked confused. She snatched the documents and was shocked to see that they were real. She did not even have to go for a photo, because they used the one from her family registry card. Mina thought back to the day the photo was taken. Paul was the one who insisted she got the card on time, instead of waiting until the last minute like other women.

Although the age of eighteen was considered a legal adult in Pan, the official age of adulthood was twenty-one. However, with parent permission, an eighteen-year-old could legally marry, and Mina wondered why she had not seen the meaning behind Paul's actions back then. It was more than him being kind to her; he literally did everything she wanted to do without question, and when going out to eat, he would intentionally order more than he could finish so that she would scold him and finish what he did not.

Once in the past, Mina had leaned in to kiss Paul, but he had pulled away and she never tried again. Now that she thought about it, the man was four years her senior, which would have made him a legal adult while she was technically a minor at just sixteen years of age. Knowing the man, it probably did not sit well with him with their age gap, but why didn't he say anything?

Before she knew what she was doing, Mina found herself looking for her phone, wanting to send him a text, but then stopped herself, remembering that Paul was engaged.

"Why do you look so sad?" Mills asked, thinking that Mina was still bitter about whatever had occurred between herself and President Lee.

"I think my heart is broken."